Quiet day with clear north-westerlies

Heysham Obs
Grounded/ringing
The ringing optimist seemed to be heading for a Norwegian Eurovision entry sort of morning but four migrants were eventually caught, including this Lesser Whitethroat:.


Thanks to John Wood for this photo

Inshore
Shag 4 juv wooden jetty
Mediterranean gull 1st S around the wooden jetty
Common gull 38
Turnstone 56 wooden jetty
Oystercatcher 520 heliport
Redshank 14 Heliport/wooden jetty

Rest of WeBS (other than Cormorant (13) & large gulls) displaced elsewhere by very high tide

Offshore movement
Ringed plover 7 'in'
Shelduck 2 'out'
Mute swan 2 in/across

Vis mig
alba wagtail 2
Meadow pipit 9
Sand martin 1
Swallow 4
Linnet 1

Elsewhere
Ad summer Purple Sandpiper on Morecambe West End Battery groyne with Turnstone & Redshank (probably displaced from Regent Road groyne (next one to the north) by pit bull types being exercised there). Very dodgy Red-breasted Goose on the most SW pit of Borwick Waters fishing complex (formerly Dockacres) - visible from the footpath along the Keer or by paying £1-50 to enter the site. In a similar vein, one of the Mandarin on the pond at Ashley's Farm, High Tatham is 'wild' & not therefore part of the collection.

Upper Hindburn this evening provided the Silly Lane Short-eared Owl, a wandering 1st CY Hen Harrier over White Moss and Pied Fly and Redstart attending boxes. There were still 45+ Fieldfare.

The Pied Fly was ring-read attending the nest (earliest ever in Britain?!) = male ringed as a nestling at Colleyholme Wood, Slaidburn on 10/6/04. Thanks for the details.

NB check Portland BO website this evening to find out what a 'fall' really is as the cross channel birds hit the weak cold front over the south coast this morning !