It's the spring seawatching season with a vengeance at the moment and the good thing about this is that if observers at Heysham or the SJ are unavailable, there may be someone at JBP to "rescue" the data (and vice versa). This is what happened today and no doubt a 'healthy' situation of observers at all three sites trying to correlate e.g. skua sightings will again be a feature of the spring.
Vis. (from office and north harbour wall) 0730-1000 hrs
Meadow pipit 9
Pied wagtail 10
Grey Wagtail 1
North Harbour Wall 0730-0830:
10 Twite (3 with pale blue over white rings) and 4 Linnet.
1 Red-throated Diver "in" at 0815.
19 Red-breasted Merganser (one flock of 17) in main channel.
7 Great-crested Grebe.
2 male and 1 female Eider.
NHW 1015-1100hrs
Purple Sandpiper below wooden jetty
Turnstone min. 161
Common Scoter F 'out' 1100 hrs
NOTE: NO Kittiwake seen prior to 1100hrs, thereafter observers had to leave
Heysham Head
Sparrowhawk 4 together diving/chasing 0900 hrs & 1 soaring above Non-Op land 0950 hrs
Moths
3 Hebrew Character, 1 March Moth, 1 Clouded Drab and 1 Common Quaker in the trap this morning
Common Quaker
Elsewhere
Jenny Brown's Point: 2 Red-throated Diver & three divers perceived to be larger circled around for 30 minutes before heading overland. 1025 accurately counted Kittiwakes from 1155-1500hrs plus three other smallish 20-30ish flocks whilst the divers were being watched = c1,100 for the day. 3 Scaup Conder Pool. 8 Whooper Swan still just NE of Gressingham bridge. Ross's Goose, Barnacle Goose and two Whooper Swan Aldcliffe Marsh (& PFG flock)
