The Terns today were Common

A showery day with sunny spells. A west wind.

South shore - Malcolm 09:00 - 11:00

I set off in sunshine without my leggings. Mistake. Heavy rain began as I reached the saltmarsh and continued till I got to Red Nab.

Linnet 60+ on saltmarsh 

Wheatear at least 3 at saltmarsh and foreshore 

Meadow Pipit 2 along the foreshore 

Rock Pipit 1 on foreshore, 1 on Red Nab and 1 along the sea wall

Shelduck 20 out from Red Nab

Shelduck 

On the walk out there were lots of Black-Headed gulls on No.2 outfall and
more were arriving all the time. Clearly plenty of food was coming through 

Strangely there were no gulls feeding on No.1 outfall

Mediterranean gull 2 adults, 1 on Red Nab and 1 on the beach by the wooden jetty.

A solitary Mediterranean gull surrounded by Sandmason worm tubes

Between the lighthouse and waterfall there were:

Linnet at least 3

Robin 1

Blackbird 1 male

House Sparrow 1 (not common on this side of the harbour)

Plus lots of feeding Starlings 

Starling and House Sparrow

On the walk back the Black-Headed gulls were now also feeding on No.1 outfall and there were still lots on No.2 outfall. But now they had been joined by an adult with a juvenile Common Tern.

The juvenile calling to be fed.....

......and the adult obliging. This looks to be a Sandeel, a shoal must have 
moved too close to the water intakes

It gets fed twice in this clip. You can just about make out its cries over the noise of the wind and c100 Black-Headed gulls in the clip. In real time its calls were distinct.

Juvenile Common Tern

Adult Common Tern

The adult didn't always find fish so quickly. It is searching here without any luck. You can see the juvenile waiting on the rail.

I returned towards high water, the adult and juvenile Common Terns had been joined by two more adults. At least the juvenile was flying and looking for food itself now, but you could still hear its calls over everything else, presumably when the, or perhaps any, adult had a fish.

Juvenile Common Tern

Two adult Common Terns, the juvenile is sat on the water in this shot

One of the new adults was quite worn

Wheatear 5

Wheatear on the foreshore 

In the Nature Park

Common Whitethroat 1 looked to be a juvenile 

Speckled Wood 2

Painted Lady 1

Painted Lady

Curlew - Flying off from the shore below Knowleys road this afternoon - Janet

Yesterday Alison managed to count 27 Small Copper on Heysham Head, that's probably more than are normally reported in a year for the whole recording area! 

Plenty going on

A hazy day, the sun not really breaking through till mid afternoon. A very light early south breeze freshened slightly as it moved to the west. An odd light shower.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Peter and Rosemary also checked it out yesterday 

Seen at the Southern End:

Common Darters at least 7 pairs ovipositing plus several lone males

No Ruddy Darter

Migrant Hawkers 2

Bog Hoverfly 1

Speckled Wood 1

Large White 2

Female Short Winged Conehead

Seen at the Main Pond:

Red Veined Darter 1

Brown Hawkers 2

Migrant Hawker 1

Common Darters several males

Common Blue Damselfly 3

Grey Heron

Mute Swans 2

Mallard 7

Coot 2

Immature Red-Veined Darter

Common Darter

There was a lot of mating going on

Brown Hawker

Common Blue Damselfly 

Bog Hoverfly

Grey Heron

Janet had a quick look today, and despite a light shower managed to find one Red-Veined Darter on the main pond spit.

Red-Veined Darter

Tufted Ducks

Heysham Nature Reserve

Little overhead passage today but a decent ringing session - Report by Jean

The main theme of the ringing today was warblers. 10 of the 22 birds caught were warblers. Most birds were young ones, including the Jay. Unusually there were no Blue Tits!
Chiffchaff 7
Blackcap 2
Willow Warbler 1
Sedge Warbler 1
Goldcrest 1
Grey Wagtail 3
Goldfinch 5 (1 retrap)
Dunnock 1
Jay 1

North shore 

Heysham skear - Malcolm 09:15 - 10:45

I set out 30 minutes after low water, we are on spring tides now and it was a long way out! It was eerily quiet walking out in the haze, almost no air movement and most of the birds were miles away on the outer skear. 

Even those close by were silent.

This Canada goose flew north silently 

As did these three Pink-Footed geese

Later on the way back seven Pink-Footed flew south.

They at least managed a couple of honks

Shag 1  

Immature Shag

As the incoming tide displaced the Oystercatchers many headed to the
mud below Heysham Head to rest, so it was still relatively quiet

When it is flat calm and quiet like this you can actually hear these spring tides coming in. Not the rippling of moving water but the sheer energy of millions of tonnes of water filling the bay. It's a bit like being in a large empty building, but you can just hear the thrum of a large motor somewhere deep in its bowls. I took a video hoping to catch the sound, but it didn't really work. Possibly part of the hearing is more about just "feeling" the power. I'll share it anyway as it gives a sense of conditions out here today.

Eider 26

Red-Breasted Merganser 15

Great Crested grebe 10

The above three species in this shot

These are mainly mergansers, but there is also guest appearances from an Eider and Great Crested Grebe. By this time the tide is well up the shore and things are getting noisier.

Gulls c150. Mainly Herring gulls scratching out a living eating small mussels. But this Lesser Black-Backed has found a recently dead Eel, and it wasn't going to part with it.

Didn't take it ling to eat the Eel..... they are slippery 

Little Egret 16

Little Egret, Black-Headed gulls, Oystercatcher, Redshank and Curlew 
all catching small fish and shrimps as the tide races in

Oystercatcher probably 1500 but most moved directly from the outer skear to the mud shores

Curlew only 8 seen

Redshank 40 but most of those were high up the shore

Knot 6

Turnstone 30

Knot

Barnacle Goose 5 south - David Kaye

South shore 

Kevin had an afternoon walk along the sea wall

Around 80 Pink-footed Geese South as seen from the harbour entrance, flying high.

Dark Sword-grass on the arm.
A reasonably common migrant but the first I've seen here. 

Janet checked Red Nab

Little Egret - it was still very hazy

Oystercatchers about to be moved on by the tide

One of two Rock Pipits

In the Nature Park 

Chiffchaff 1 singing

This Chaffinch looks to have an infection on its foot.

Red Admiral 

Plenty of stuff on the move

An early morning shower then dry and largely sunny. A very light variable breeze.

South shore

Pete did an hour ocean edge shore vis migging etc 0710-0810: 

Swallow 190 south

Meadow Pipit 18 south 

alba wagtail 49 grounded, 16 south

Grey wagtail 8 south

Yellow Wagtail - Juvenile grounded then it or another in flight possibly same scattered with albas by dogs, 

Pinkfoot 61 north!

61 Eider mainly resting at low tide on sandbanks off harbour then headed Into bay c0800

Shag on wooden jetty (seen earlier heading that way by David Kaye from Ocean Edge)

Jean saw an additional 670 south Pink-Footed geese in 4 skeins 

Malcolm 09:00 - 10:45 it was still cloudy 

Pink-Footed goose 36 south just as I was getting out of my car, later another 3 south.

Pink-Footed geese

Swallow 4 south over the saltmarsh 

Ringed Plover 4 out from the saltmarsh 

Linnet at least 12 on the saltmarsh, probably more, 2 along the foreshore and 14 on Red Nab

Robin 3 along the foreshore plus 2 near the lighthouse 

One of the foreshore Robins

This one near the lighthouse 

Wren 1 on the foreshore 

Wren

Wheatear 1 on Red Nab and 1 by No.2 outfall

Wheatear

Pied Wagtail 3 along the sea wall

Pied Wagtail 

White Wagtail also 3 along the sea wall

White Wagtail 

By this time the sun was shining and it was quite warm. This White Wagtail was catching the flies as they lifted off the wrack.

Meadow Pipits initially there were at least 11 grounded around the roundhead, then they continued south.

Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail 

Rock Pipit 1 on foreshore, 2 on Red Nab, 1 along the sea wall and 2 between the lighthouse and waterfall.

Rock Pipit on the harbour wall

Mediterranean gulls 4 individuals 

There were just two Mediterranean gulls on the beach by the wooden jetty
despite there being plenty of Sandmason worm tubes showing 

2nd calendar year Mediterranean gull (right) with a Black-Headed gull
between the outfalls

Little Egret 4

Grey Heron 1

Heron on No.1 outfall

In the Nature Park 

Small White 5

Speckled Wood 2

Red Admiral 2

Painted Lady 2

Common Darter 3

Painted Lady

Heysham Nature Reserve - Jean

After a drizzly start, 48 birds were caught today, mostly young ones:
Goldfinch 13 (1retrap)
Grey Wagtail 8 plus 6 others over
Blue Tit 7 (2 retraps)
Robin 5
Great Tit 5 (1 retrap)
Blackcap 3
Chiffchaff 2
Wren 2
Cetti’s Warbler 1
Greenfinch 1
Dunnock 1

The mammal list was short:
1 Rat 
1 Stoat

Middleton Nature Reserve 

WeBS report by Jean

Main pond:
Grey Heron 1
Little Grebe 2
Mallard 23
Tufted Duck 9
Moorhen 4
Coot 2
Mute Swan 2
Black-headed Gull 2
Lesser Black-backed Gull 6
Cetti’s Warbler 1
Swallow 4 South

No Swimming Pond:
Mute Swan 1
Moorhen 2
Coot 2

These from Janet

Main pond

At least two Red-Veined Darters

Immature Red-Veined Darter on the main pond west bank

Immature Red-Veined Darter on the main pond spit

Common Darter - Someone was feeding the ducks as I took this shot.

Tufted Ducks

Moorhen

Cetti's warbler singing

On the southern section 

Southern Hawker

Common Darter

Sand Martin south at Knowlys Rd 13:00 - David Kaye