Couldn't resist a Bluethroat pic - it only just missed Heysham on landfall! Thanks Margaret (Breaks)
Herald was new for the year in the moth trap
Heysham Obs
A (very) low tide observation from the NHW during (fairly) early morning saw a distant Iceland Gull, almost certainly a juv. Fortunately it was quite a small one in relation to nearby Herring and LBBG, otherwise ruling out small Glaucous or even a leucistic 'Hessing' might have been a problem. The structure was spot-on for Iceland.
North harbour wall 0810-0910
Iceland Gull - Probably a juv on a rather distant Lancashire sandbank, first noticed at 0830 with Herring and LBBG, then at 0840, coinciding with a burst of sunlight and heat-haze flew towards a distant Cumbrian sandbank and landed as an unidentifiable shimmering dot in the direction of Piel Castle. It was impossible to keep tabs on it amongst other similar shimmering dots and it was lost from view. I'll name the sandbanks later when can view detailed map - closest views approx SD380610.
Sandwich Tern - 2 in distant channel
Purple Sandpiper - one underneath the wooden jetty with Turnstone
Red-breasted Merganser - at least 13 offshore
Twite - 5 on the nyger seed
Linnet - 3 on the nyger seed
Meadow Pipit - 72 NNE in the hour - in a series of small groups during gaps between the showers
Alba Wagtail - 6 NNE
Linnet - 2 NNE
Negative on Wheatear or any other grounded migrants on OE foreshore, Red Nab & Heliport 0910-0920. No Willow Warbler anywhere today.
Office 0930-1000
Meadow Pipit - just 16 N
Goldfinch - 7 N
alba Wagtail - 1 N
Elsewhere
Despite the clear starry night, the male White-spotted Bluethroat was still in the same place as yesterday. Please make sure you leave a gap for farm vehicles to access the lower (barriered) track at the Aldcliffe Lane parking area & try and car-share by parking alongside the canal before Aldcliffe village. Pale-bellied Brent Goose still Sunny Slopes groyne & Spotted Redshank on the 'bend' groyne between the Town Hall & Broadway. Northbound Osprey over Aldcliffe Marsh at 1510hrs. Three Spotted Redshank at Conder. Chough seen at Warton Crag quarry on evening of 7/4 but NNEW since. Two Med Gulls on Allen Pool (ages unknown). Ross's Goose Pilling Lane Ends area
Herald was new for the year in the moth trap
Heysham Obs
A (very) low tide observation from the NHW during (fairly) early morning saw a distant Iceland Gull, almost certainly a juv. Fortunately it was quite a small one in relation to nearby Herring and LBBG, otherwise ruling out small Glaucous or even a leucistic 'Hessing' might have been a problem. The structure was spot-on for Iceland.
North harbour wall 0810-0910
Iceland Gull - Probably a juv on a rather distant Lancashire sandbank, first noticed at 0830 with Herring and LBBG, then at 0840, coinciding with a burst of sunlight and heat-haze flew towards a distant Cumbrian sandbank and landed as an unidentifiable shimmering dot in the direction of Piel Castle. It was impossible to keep tabs on it amongst other similar shimmering dots and it was lost from view. I'll name the sandbanks later when can view detailed map - closest views approx SD380610.
Sandwich Tern - 2 in distant channel
Purple Sandpiper - one underneath the wooden jetty with Turnstone
Red-breasted Merganser - at least 13 offshore
Twite - 5 on the nyger seed
Linnet - 3 on the nyger seed
Meadow Pipit - 72 NNE in the hour - in a series of small groups during gaps between the showers
Alba Wagtail - 6 NNE
Linnet - 2 NNE
Negative on Wheatear or any other grounded migrants on OE foreshore, Red Nab & Heliport 0910-0920. No Willow Warbler anywhere today.
Office 0930-1000
Meadow Pipit - just 16 N
Goldfinch - 7 N
alba Wagtail - 1 N
Elsewhere
Despite the clear starry night, the male White-spotted Bluethroat was still in the same place as yesterday. Please make sure you leave a gap for farm vehicles to access the lower (barriered) track at the Aldcliffe Lane parking area & try and car-share by parking alongside the canal before Aldcliffe village. Pale-bellied Brent Goose still Sunny Slopes groyne & Spotted Redshank on the 'bend' groyne between the Town Hall & Broadway. Northbound Osprey over Aldcliffe Marsh at 1510hrs. Three Spotted Redshank at Conder. Chough seen at Warton Crag quarry on evening of 7/4 but NNEW since. Two Med Gulls on Allen Pool (ages unknown). Ross's Goose Pilling Lane Ends area
