Major surprise at Middleton

Heysham Obs
Middleton IE
A late afternoon visit saw a 1st W/S Caspian Gull, probably female bathing, preening, swimming, flying (etc) on the Model Boat pond with other large gulls. It showed all the requisite features with the slight worry about overall size probably indicating it was a female. It flew towards the outfalls/Red Nab after ten minutes and could not be found as all the large gulls were quite a distance off shore in poor light courtesy of raptorial gull-scaring activities around the power station

Four Common Sandpiper were also on the Model Boat pond [=5 for the day, a spring record!]. 3 Snipe lingering.

Two singing male Grasshopper Warbler - please observe these birds ONLY from the concrete roads. Thanks

The rest of the day was a bit of a disappointment

Grounded/ringing
Wheatear - At least 15
Redstart - 2 males (one ringed)
Willow Warbler - disappointing with just 4 ringed
Blackcap - 3 ringed
Lesser Whitethroat - absolute minimum of 7 singing males in the Obs recording area. An odd feature of this week has been listening to this species daily without any Common Whitethroat

Vis mig 0815-1115 mainly from the north harbour wall
Pink-footed Goose - two late flocks of 65 and 19 north
Collared Dove - 1 north
Cormorant - one high to the north
Goldfinch - 1 north
Linnet - 7 north
Meadow Pipit - 62 north
Swallow - 37 north
Siskin - 1 north

Sea passage
Just three Arctic Tern (first of the year) north together early morning
2 Sandwich Tern early morning
ZERO on the early incoming tide

Inshore
Common Sandpiper - first of the year on the rocks by the harbour
Shag - 5 juveniles
Med Gull - 1st S by the north wall first thing - female bill structure rules out the return of the wintering bird
Little Gull - adult by Stage 2 outfall late afternoon - presumably the long-stayer

Elsewhere
Osprey over Jenny Brown's Point mid-afternoon.

Other
Please note that the email address for Jean Roberts has now been corrected.