Heysham Obs
Reasonable coverage this morning but, as often happens on clear mornings, most of the action was in the first hour. The 'highlight' was the first Treecreeper I can find in the records, certainly the first to be ringed this year. This species seems to have reverted back to its "occasional July juvenile, occasional late autumn, usually with tit flock" status following two years of presumed proximate breeding and retrapped adults
Vis 0730-1030ish
Recording commenced too late as there were large numbers of mainly finches as soon as arrived at the site:
Reed Bunting - 7 S
Lesser Redpoll - 30 S ( a good count for autumn - 6 'lots')
Siskin - 94 S (including flocks of 42 and 30)
Chaffinch - 245 SW
Brambling - at least 10 SW
Grey Wagtail - 1 SE
alba Wagtail - 71 SE (just one at the right height/location to be identified as White, rest unspec)
Meadow Pipit - 156 SE
Redwing - 18+2 SW
Bullfinch - 1+1 S
Collared Dove - 1 S
Greenfinch - 83 SW (all very high and not interested in the peanuts c/f other autumns)
Goldfinch - 72 S
Linnet - 5 SE
Coal Tit - 8 S
Long-tailed Tit - constantly within audible range but the only definitive migrant flock was 17 high to the south
Mistle Thrush - 6 SE
Skylark - absolute minimum of 30 SE (couldnt match call to bird(s) with most of them & these were recorded as 'one bird')
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 2 headed south but may have been local birds on the rounds
Carrion Crow - 2+3+2 high to the south
Jay - 2 S
House Sparrow - 1 S
Song Thrush - 8 S/SE
Any movement by Blue Tit seems to have ground to a halt recently, despite suitable conditions. Two unringed Great Tit were caught but no obvious evidence of any movement.
Grounded
A party of 5 Goldcrest moved inland past the office first thing but only one subsequent sighting. Two (unringed) Chiffchaff by the office frist thing. 10+ Blackbird behaving like migrants and similar numbers of Song Thrush (excludes those on vis)
North wall/harbour
Adult winter Black Guillemot showing well along with at least 3 2nd W Med. Gulls. 20+ Meadow Pipit grounded on the mound along with a Wheatear
Middleton IE
At least 2 Water Rail in the new scrape. 26 Tufted Duck and a female Stonechat. One Chiffchaff.
Insects
Double-striped Pug in the moth trap - unusual in October. 17 Migrant Hawker and 50+ Common Darter with both species in tandem/ovipositing at Middleton IE. Red Admiral butterfly by the office but no sign of any Speckled Wood in e.g. the mist net ride today
Elsewhere
Bittern at Haweswater (Silverdale version). Great White Egret EM Pool and roosting overnight on the island in front of the lower hide. Hybrid adult Ross's Goose x Pink-footed Goose with c4,500 Pinkfeet around Eagland Hill, then flying to roost on the shore off Pilling Lane Ends.
