First Sandwich Terns

A dry day with sunny spells. A light variable wind.

Pete checked from the back of the harbour

Heysham sea totals on and off 0700-0900: 

whooper swan 177 inbound either flying or floating with flock max 78. All but four were in Cumbria

Kittiwake flocks of 9,7,8 inbound

7 Canada geese

Red throated Diver 1,1,1 

2 Sandwich Tern in then out  (first this year)

12 Sand Martin in 

Dan Haywood checked from the Stone jetty

Movements 0900-1100, incoming tide;

Eider 220 flew or floated ‘in’ (ie NE)

Sanderling 41 SW
Bar-tailed Godwit 35 NE
Red-breasted Merganser 23 ‘in’ (floating or flying)
Kittiwake 18 flew ‘in’
Common Gull 9 ‘in’
Whooper Swan 7 floated ‘in’
Great Crested Grebe 7 floated ‘in’
Red-throated Diver 5 floated ‘in’ (all in non-breeding plumage)
Sandwich Tern 4 flew ‘in’ then ‘out’ ie SW

Common Scoter 2 (injured fem floated in, male flew ‘in’ then ‘out’)

Goosander 3 ‘in’

Little Gull 1 ‘in’

This report from Dan posted on LDBWS web page, follow this link for his full report.

https://lancasterbirdwatching.org.uk/forums/topic/stone-jetty-21/

Heysham Nature Reserve

Jean was underwhelmed with her ringing session

Ringed two Goldcrest and caught a retrapped Dunnock and a retrapped Goldfinch. 

As soon as I took the net down I heard two Redpoll - they had been sitting in a nearby tree watching me take down. One Linnet flew over.

South shore - Janet

Pale-bellied Brent goose 17 on Red Nab

Pale-bellied Brent geese

Redshank 

Little Egret - look how lush the gutweed has grown 

Cormorant and Little Egret

White Wagtail

Wheatear. Both the Wheatear and the White Wagtail quickly moved on

This Cormorant has caught a Common Blenny. This is just about as big as
Blennies get. This one certainly won't get any bigger!

2nd calendar year (2cy) Kittiwake on No.2 outfall

Later when Kevin Eaves checked the outfall the 2cy had been joined by two adults.

Kittiwake

Middleton Nature Reserve - Malcolm 

Main pond

Mute Swan pair, both on the water, plus an immature 

Mallard 4 males

No Shoveler seen

Little Grebe at least 3

Coot taking nesting material to the reedbed. Little Grebe behind

Then the grebe sees a rival and shoots off to see it off.

This is the rival being seen off, a third grebe in the background. They all duck under the water when the gulls pass low over the pond.

These are the courting pair. You can hear them trilling in this clip.

"no swimming" pond

Mute pair both on the water

Mallard 2 males

Tufted Duck 7 (2 female)

Gadwall pair

Cetti's warbler 1 and Chiffchaff 1 singing

Peacock Butterfly 2 flying together

Fence pond and central marshes

Mallard 2 male

Cetti's warbler 3 and Chiffchaff 2 singing

Common Buzzard 1 over to the north

Peacock butterfly 3

Kittiwake lingers

An overcast day with just a few light showers. A light SW wind.

Janet made an early start

Middleton Nature Reserve 

just after sun rise, but I didn't see any sun, It was too dark for any decent photos!!

A fine Roebuck

Female Pheasant 

Wren singing its little heart out!

Mute Swan pair

Along the south sea wall

This Little Egret has caught a Common Goby by Red Nab....

.......it didn't last long!

2nd calendar year Kittiwake on No.2 outfall. Likely the one that arrived yesterday 

Wheatear by the lighthouse 

Rock Pipit near the lighthouse 

It certainly doesn't look undernourished!

Heysham skear - Malcolm 15:00 16:00

Something lifted everything as I was walking out. I couldn't see any specific cause and suspected that a Peregrine attack on the Knot was most likely. These don't normally lift the Oystercatchers but they are probably skittish after at least one Osprey passed over yesterday.

Brent, Oystercatcher and gulls, the Knot were already distant

Pale-bellied Brent goose 25 the most seen at one time

Eider 85 close in, more further out

Red-breasted Merganser - it was difficult keeping track of them 13 minimum but suspect more

c1000 Knot returned for a while before 750 flew north again. Only four flagged birds seen from three different schemes, but all previously recorded.

Bar-Tailed Godwit a solitary bird with the Knot

Bar-Tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher and Knot

Out of area news:

Osprey headed out to sea over Knott end towards Walney 1100ish 

Bonapartes gull 1st w Myerscough quarry. It may end up in our area (watch the outfalls or low tide channels). If you want to see images check out Paul Slade's Facebook page

Paul Slade - 1st winter Bonaparte's Gull, Myerscough... | Facebook

High Brent count and first Osprey

A light west(ish) wind. Mainly overcast with the odd sunny spell, but it did remain dry after early morning rain.

Pete did a couple of early checks:

from back of the harbour looking through harbour mouth 0735-0835. Calmer than expected and light poor:  

single ad Little gull

flock 22 Kittiwake

3 Red-throated diver

4 Common Scoter

single razorbill or guillemot.  

All inbound 

singing rock pipit

single Harbour porpoise

From Ocean Edge

Pale-bellied Brent goose 98 on Red Nab- this is the highest count so far this winter period

Ad plus 2Cy Kittiwake Heysham 2 outfall

Janet had a walk around later

Wheatear 4 quickly moved along the foreshore to Red Nab

This male was carrying food. Clearly not to feed any young,
 perhaps an offering for a mate

Rock Pipit 1 on Red Nab

Rock Pipit

Male Chaffinch in the Nature Park 

Great Spotted-Woodpecker 1 male along the path at the southern edge of Middleton Nature Reserve 

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Pairs of Shoveler and Gadwall on the spit

Male Gadwall

One of two male Mallards, no sign of the females

This Little Grebe was being chased by a Coot

Male Greenfinch under the feeders

Heysham Skear - Malcolm 14:00 - 15:45

Pale-bellied Brent all over again. Most seen at one time was 74, but presumably most of what Pete counted would have been around.

As well as the Brent in this clip you can see Knot and Oystercatcher amongst the rough terrain of the skear.

It was quite hazy, and the sunlight filtering through the mist seemed to
make it harder to see. Makes for atmospheric shots though!

Eider 55

Red-breasted Merganser 5

Little Egret 2

Osprey 1 (not too long ago this would be highlighted in red, but there has been a significant increase in the frequency of sightings in recent years. So much so that at one point last year one was classified as "a nuisance" when its arrival spooked the Mediterranean gulls!). 

At 15:15 all the birds on the skear lifted and started screaming (don't think they regarded it as just a nuisance, although in fact Ospreys are no threat to birds at all). Unfortunately the Osprey was in front of the hazy sunlight making for difficult seeing, but this clip paints the picture as the Oystercatchers quickly move it on. It continued NW across the bay.

It's difficult to say how many Knot there were. Initially there were 1500 on the skear, then about half of these flew north. I was checking the remaining birds on the northern edge when the Osprey lifted everything. When everything settled again there were at least 1200 sat in a freshwater runoff in the southern corner. Some if not all of these would have been additional, possibly spooked from further south by the passing Osprey.

Just a few of the Knot in the freshwater runoff. They then flew to western 
edge of the skear. No point in trying to follow them. A few flagged birds
were seen earlier, but no new ones.

Better

 A fresh WNW wind. Showers till mid afternoon then increasingly bright.

Pete managed an hour seawatch from the back of the harbour 0745-0845

kittiwake 158 inbound (largest flocks 40 and 45), 15 out

Gannet 1 out

Common scoter 1,1,1,5 inbound

red throated diver 2,1,1,1 inbound

Middleton Nature Reserve main pond - Janet

Still at least one Shoveler pair

The adult male Mute Swan is barely tolerating the immature bird

Heysham skear - Malcolm 13:30 - 14:00 (foreshortened by a shower) 18:00 - 19:30

Pale-bellied Brent goose 80 in the afternoon, I only managed to count 79 in the evening but that was probably down to my counting.

This evening's Brent geese with Warton Crag in the background 

Eider 8

This male Eider was just sat on the skear this evening 

I had to pass close by as the tide was coming in. He didn't move till I was almost
on top of him, then he flew off with no problem. Clearly resting there by choice.

Red-breasted Merganser 5

Female Red-breasted Merganser

Little Egret 1

Knot 500 in the afternoon including one new flagged bird. 120 in two groups flew north from the outer skear when moved on by the tide this evening.

Redshank 150. This clip are some of this evening's birds. As the tide moves back up the drains and recovering the mud. Small (no longer tiny) shrimps emerge from the mud where they buried themselves as the tide ebbed. The Redshank were waiting for them.

It was really nice to get out in the late evening sunshine again