Saturday 28 March 2009

Not a lot of passage!

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall
Twite - they were fed and appreciated it by bursting into song. c40 present - c50% could be examined for rings and only one unringed bird seen
Linnet - 4 with above
Common Gull - a mixture of ages = 15 birds on the seaward end of Stage One outfall - this augurs well for the spring passage as this outfall was sorely missed last year as a temporary 'holding'/feeding area for passing odds and ends, notably Arctic Tern flocks
Purple Sandpiper - 2+ actively feeding on the outer skeer under the wooden jetty with 30 or so Turnstone
Meadow Pipit - one on the mound!
Eider - 4 close inshore
Shelduck - pair on the north wall, then in the harbour mouth - very unusual - early prospecting of rabbit holes on the mound - no history of breeding there, but looks ideal now the operations have ceased?

No passage at all offshore or overhead in the strong cold northerlies, despite excellent visibility and 30 minutes looking out to sea
Jackdaw 1 South over Smithy Ln from direction of Heysham Head 1130 hrs
Outfalls
Kittiwake - 1 adult
Ocean Edge
Bar-tailed Godwit - flock of c250, including a leucistic bird
Wheatear 1
Middleton Industrial Est
4 mute
11 coot
4 moorhen
3 little grebe
6 mallard
9 tufted
3 goldeneye
2 shelduck

We have been asked about the Black Guillemot. It was seen well last Saturday i.e. during the last day of the warm/settled spell, but has subsequently disappeared as the weather nose-dived. Back Wednesday??

Elsewhere
Nothing yet