Still stuff moving through

It just managed to stay dry, but mainly overcast. A light SE breeze.

South shore (Malcolm)

Just a high water (10:20) check from the saltmarsh to Red Nab.

Linnet 42 in one flock lifted by a 

Merlin female or immature - once again flying low and fast. It disappeared after lifting the Linnet, so I assumed it got one and settled down in the saltmarsh. 

Sparrowhawk 1 attacked the flock whilst they were airborne but failed to catch one. At least it had the decency to pose for a picture.

Sparrowhawk 

Kestrel 1 flew across the saltmarsh.

The saltmarsh is a dangerous place for small birds and rodents to feed!

Stonechat 1 female in NE corner of saltmarsh 

Female Stonechat

Pied Wagtail 2 in/off then SE

Lapwing 74 - they headed off when the Merlin attacked (and it is such a small raptor)

Common Snipe 3 flushed by the rising tide

Wigeon 79 had been on Red Nab then headed south.

Wigeon

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Report by Jean:

Thick cloud put the lid (as it were) on any vis, although when it brightened up later in the morning a couple of Skylarks and Chaffinches flew over. Ringing was fairly low key but all 12 birds were new suggesting they were on the move:

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1

Blue Tit 1

Chiffchaff 4

Goldcrest 3

Chaffinch 1

Goldfinch 2

A couple of Water Rails squealed and a couple of Cetti's Warblers called from the western side. A Grey Wagtail was around mainly near the sewage works, Three Reed Buntings evaded the nets. 

I had a quick look at the main ponds this afternoon (Malcolm).

Not really much change.

Mute Swan pair with immature plus another adult 

Mallard 12

Tufted Duck 8

Gadwall 6

Teal 2

Coot 18

Moorhen 8

Common Snipe 1

Cetti's warbler 2 singing 

Migrant Hawker 1

Lots of corvids moving through

A cold start, but quite warm by the afternoon. Plenty of sunshine and a light east breeze.

The title says corvids, but the vast majority were Jackdaws flying south(ish).

228 headed south over the saltmarsh at 09:30. Then headed back before disappearing to the east.

120 headed east over my house (Malcolm) at 11:20

77 flew south over Middleton Nature Reserve 14:40. Plus another 43 milling around on the south side.

So 425 Jackdaws over plus 43 possibly residents. And that must only be a sample, the saltmarsh and MNR sightings from only an observational window of 90 minutes total. And the ones over my house would have gone unnoticed if I hadn't have popped into the garden.

This looks to be a blank shot, but if you open it and zoom in you can see the birds
in the saltmarsh flock. They moved over a large front and were well spread out.

Not all were Jackdaws, there were at least 3 Rook in the above flock.

Rook

Other stuff 

South shore (Malcolm)

A morning check around 09:15 high water. Saltmarsh to Red Nab

Linnet c30 on saltmarsh - no sign of the Merlin this morning 

Knot 64 resting on Red Nab

Some of the Knot, also Oystercatcher and a Turnstone 

Shelduck 2 

Wigeon 46

Little Egret 6

Grey Heron 2

Kingfisher 1 female

Not so obviously a female in this shot
(females have red on the bottom of the lower bill)

She flew from this perch to the large rock on the other side of the freshwater run off. 

The tide is full at this point and just high enough to make this stream saline enough for sea fish to tolerate.

She quickly caught a common goby, this is just about as large as they grow

But it soon went down!

I know birds can't smile, but you have to say she looks content.
Not long after this she flew east along the foreshore rocks

I had a walk along the sea wall this evening. It had been sunny all afternoon, but now was clouding over. There was nothing new to see, but the evening light provided some opportunities to be "artistic".

Little Egret and the SeaTruck

Cormorants resting on No.1 outfall post

Cormorants coming in to roost on the wooden jetty

This is the dumper boat for the harbour dredger.

Red Admiral 2 came in/off along the sea wall, plus 2 more in the Nature Park

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

Just a very brief check mid afternoon.

Wildfowl pretty much unchanged

Sparrowhawk 1 - it had a go at the passing Jackdaws, but only briefly

Common Buzzard 1 to the east of the Reserve 

Migrant Hawker 1

Common Darter 6

Speckled Wood 2

Another YBW!

A cool dry day. Very light breeze from the north. 

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Report by Jean:

I arrived at Heysham full of hope for Redwings and Chaffinches. There were a few of the latter but none of the former. It was pretty quiet, the thick cloud seemed to deaden any vis and the chilly weather put off birds arriving at the feeder till mid morning. But by 1300hrs I'd caught 42 birds - 31 new ones and 11 retraps, so not a bad haul. All the retraps were recent birds.

Great Spotted Woodpecker  0 new, 1 retrap (young male that I'd caught in August)

Coal Tit 1 new

Blue Tit 1 new, 2 retraps

Great Tit 2 new, 1 retrap (all males)

Chiffchaff 1 new (early morning, none later)

Goldcrest 2 new (a male and female caught together  - do they travel together, as a pair I wonder?)

Wren 0 new, 1 retrap

Blackbird 1 new (a female)

Robin 1 new, 1 retrap

Dunnock 1 new, 2 retraps

Chaffinch 6 new

Goldfinch 13 new, 11 retraps

Other birds of note:

2 Mistle Thrushes dropped in.

This report and excellent pictures by Craig Bell:

Yellow-Browed warbler - at the gate/galvanised fence on left hand side of road before the entrance to Ocean Edge

Located mid afternoon, it was still present at 16:00. This was after a thorough search of Heysham Nature Reserve had found nothing of note.

Yellow-Browed Warbler 

South shore 

I Just had a walk along foreshore and sea wall at 08:30 high water (Malcolm)

I started the walk past the galvanised fence and didn't see or hear any warbler at that time.

When I got to the saltmarsh, there wasn't a single small passerine. I suspected that they had been moved on by a raptor. So I had my camera and my wits ready - neither proved to be good enough! 

As I approached the slipway a Merlin flew from that direction low and fast over the saltmarsh, then disappeared . All I managed were a few blurry shots!

As I walked along the foreshore Linnets were returning to the saltmarsh, 2, 20, 1 and 12. When I checked again on the way back there was a flock of 80+ finches. Mainly Linnet, but some Goldfinch amongst them. No sign of the Merlin this time.

Rock Pipit 3 (foreshore, Red Nab and lighthouse)

Meadow Pipit 3 SE

Shelduck 43 - 34 feeding, 8 south and 1 north

Shelduck flying south past along the shipping lane

Wigeon 35

Some of the birds on Red Nab. Wigeon, Redshank, Curlew,
Black-Headed and Lesser Black-Backed gull

Grey Heron 1

Little Egret 6

Little Egret resting on No.2 outfall rail, with Black-Headed and Herring gulls
This bird later flew off NW

Great White Egret 1 - flew NW from the direction of the Lune estuary

This Common Gull was the only gull feeding on No.1 outfall

Immature Herring Gull with a plastic bottle - oh dear!

More wagtail details......but little else

The light early south wind freshened as it shifted to the west. By evening it was very strong. Heavy afternoon and evening showers.

The Pembroke grey wagtail was seen at St David’s 4/10/24.  Ringed Middleton Sept 2022, a distance of 288km SW

South shore (Malcolm)

I was busy this morning and couldn't get out till mid afternoon as the heavy rain was easing. I was hoping the rain might have grounded something, but the Foreshore was deserted.

Shelduck 49 - 46 feeding plus 3 south

Wigeon 29

There is still lush gutweed, even on the outer Red Nab rocks

Some of the male Wigeon are getting their yellow foreheads now

Little Egret 3

Linnet 77 at least - one flock of 70 on the saltmarsh plus 3 and 4 seen along the sea wall.

A small raptor, probably a Merlin, flew across the saltmarsh, unfortunately the sun was out at that point and behind the bird.

Some of the Linnet landing on the saltmarsh, Shelduck on the mud
and Blackpool Tower on the skyline

And that was about it for the birds. Plenty of Black-Headed gulls feeding on the outfalls, but nothing else. The wind is battering heavy rain against my west facing window as I type this, but it is scheduled to ease long before morning.

The strong west wind blew straight into the harbour. This Cormorant 
sat down to brace against it. Also two Great Black-Backed gulls.

30,Cormorants on the wooden jetty.
Another squall was approaching, time to leave

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

Just the briefest of checks of the two main ponds on the way home.

Mute Swan pair with cygnet on main pond. Just one adult on the "no swimming" pond.

Mallard 19

The mute family with Mallard and Coot

Gadwall 11

Tufted Duck 9

Gadwall, Tufted Duck and Coot

Coot 18

Moorhen 7 including 2 immature - the Moorhen strategy in the strong west wind was to wait on the east banks and pick food from the surface that had been blown across the ponds. This is an immature bird.

Grey Wagtail ringing effort paying dividends

A light west wind. Dry but cool, despite prolonged sunny spells.

First this from yesterday:

Whinnysty lane - just prior to high tide

single skylark over head, 14 little egrets moving inland, plus Great Crested grebe beyond the groyne - Kevin Singleton 

Turnstone, turning stones

There have been two resent sightings of colour ringed Grey Wagtails (see sidebar for scheme details):

One in south west Wales (Pembroke) 

the other ‘down the road’ at Grimsnargh Wetlands near Longridge (30km SE)

Seen by Mark Breaks today, ringed at Middleton Nature Reserve 18/09/24

North shore (Malcolm)

Just a very quick check of the rocks below the heliport wall.

Common Snipe 11

Lapwing 14

Rock Pipit 2

South shore this morning (Malcolm)

A walk along the sea wall at low water was very pleasant, but not very productive.

Shelduck 43 - these are some of them vacuuming up the small molluscs from the surface of the mud.

Wigeon 15

Little Egret 4

This little Egret came from the north side, rested by the wooden jetty a 
while, then continued south

Grey Heron 1

This Heron was sheltering from the cool west wind and taking advantage
of the warmth from No.1 outfall sides. Warm as it was in full sun, but also
the cooling water behind will be a few degrees warmer than ambient.

Kingfisher 1 flew to No.1 outfall across the mud

Then tried fishing in the pools beside the outfall

Rock Pipit 2

In the Nature Park

No warblers seen or heard

Common Darter 1

Speckled Wood 2

Worn and battered, female Speckled Wood

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

I did the same short walk as yesterday, and got the same result as far as the wildfowl goes.

Pair of Gadwall (9 in total)

The only warbler heard was a Cetti's singing

Reed Bunting 1

Migrant Hawker 3

Migrant Hawker

Common Darter 2

Common Darter

Whoopers over

A cool dry day with a light NE wind switching to NW by evening.

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Report by Jean:

It was a clear start after a clear night so I didn't expect to catch much or be able to see much vis but surprisingly there was a steady little flow of Chiffchaffs and evidence of Icelandic birds arriving with Whooper Swans and Pink-footed Geese overhead. The latter two species take a day or two to reach the Heysham area and usually "stage" ie rest up and feed up in at Scottish sites and/or Cumbria before continuing south. The passerines listed in the vis below are the absolute minimum that flew over but give an indication of what species were going over.

Vis:

Pink-footed Goose 60

Whooper Swan 18 

Pied/White Wagtail 3

Chaffinch 9

Greenfinch 1

Goldfinch 3

Siskin 1

Reed Bunting 1

Ringing:

32 birds were caught in 5 hours, 21 were new and 11 were retraps

Blue Tit  0 new, 2 retraps (both this year's young birds)

Great Tit 1 new, 2 retraps ( ditto)

Long-tailed Tit 2 new

Chiffchaff 9 new

Goldcrest 1 new

Robin 2 new, 2 retraps (one a year old, the other this year's young)

Dunnock 1 new, 4 retraps (one a year old and the others this year's young)

Chaffinch 3 new, 1 retrap (from this year)

Greenfinch 1 new

Goldfinch 1 new

Also present on the reserve:

A Jay, probably collecting or burying acorns

13 Carrion Crows - these gather on the pylon opposite the office and call each other in forming a "parliament" of crows. They then disperse in various directions to feed or some at this time of year migrate south.

Heysham skear - low water 10:45 (Malcolm)

Shag 1 immature rested briefly on conger rock then went fishing further south.

Immature Shag

Little Egret 18 - there are 10 in this clip.

Red-breasted Merganser 2

Great Crested Grebe 6

No Eider

This young Herring gull was trying to break open a Whelk shell, probably after a Hermit crab inside. Two Carrion Crows wanted to share the prize. The gull has to judge the best height to release the shell. Too low and it won't break, too high and there is less chance of it being first to reach it on the ground.

You can see in these last shots that the whelk shell is plummeting point down, and
appearing empty. This is what you would expect for a Hermit crab, it would retreat right
to the back of its shell, placing the centre of gravity just behind the point of the shell.
Perhaps the architect of its own doom!

The gull got there first this time, but had to repeat the process. I left them to it. My money would still be on the Hermit Crab, or at least on the whelk shell not breaking. I've never found a shell broken at the tip. That said, the gulls and the crows both seemed expectant, so perhaps the pounding renders the Hermit crab senseless and then easier pickings. I do regularly find empty whelk shells.

Oystercatcher 400

Curlew 30

Redshank 60

Knot 40

Turnstone 30

Ringed Plover 2

Ringed Plover

Middleton Nature Reserve 

I just did a quick check of the main ponds (Malcolm)

Mute Swan a pair with a cygnet on the main pond. Two more adults on the "no swimming" pond, one sat on the breeding pairs old nest.

This is the new adult on the "no swimming" pond

Coot 18

Moorhen 7 including 2 immature 

Mallard 8

Gadwall 9

Tufted Duck 8

Little grebe 1

I didn't manage to see one this afternoon, but Mark Jones took
this shot shortly before I arrived

Water Rail 2 squealing 

Cetti's warblers 2 singing

Migrant Hawker 6

Common Darter 12

I thought this Brown rat was scurrying off with a wafer biscuit......

........but it turned out to be a complete fat ball!

South shore

Wheatear 3 along the foreshore this morning - Linda Renshaw

I had a walk along the sea wall this evening (Malcolm)

This young Herring gull in the harbour has a small fish (looks like a whiting). The other gulls saw an opportunity so it flew off to eat it in peace elsewhere.

Grey Heron 2 - one each Red Nab and Wooden Jetty

Heron resting on the wooden jetty

This cormorant was fishing close to the sloping wall, not after large prey, but it was doing pretty well. I saw it catch two Common Blenny in two consecutive dives.

A smallish Blenny first dive

Quite a large one, as Blennies go, the next dive

Wigeon 29 - a Peregrine Falcon lifted all the waders off Red Nab and the Wigeon flew with them.

Wigeon

In the Nature Park

When I set out at 16:30 I heard two Chiffchaff calling, as had Kevin Eaves who checked a little earlier. But when I returned at 17:45 there were at least four calling.