Thursday 11 February 2010

LImited birding provides good local patch rewards

Heysham Obs
Ocean Edge foreshore
A bit late in the tidal sequence for a decent total with the birds very distant and the sun creeping round. However, one valuable discovery - the first Black-tailed Godwit bearing colour rings from here - ringed as an Icelandic chick on the preliminary info.
Black-tailed Godwit - 48 in three feeding flocks Red Nab-OE saltmarsh creek
Bar-tailed Godwit - 1 by Red Nab - will do for the BTO challenge!

North harbour wall
Red-throated Diver - 7 on a fairly calm sea, all but one rather distant
Great-crested grebe - 5 distant birds on the sea
Med Gull - Czech-ringed adult - actually read the ring today!
Twite - c20 tail-ends heading away from the feeder

Ringing by the office
A couple of mist net rounds produced another Long-tailed Tit, this time an unringed bird along with a single unringed Blue Tit but the remander of the catch was just retrap Tits/Robin/Dunnock with no finches around
Pink-footed Goose - 41 NW at 0915hrs

Elsewhere
4 Snow Geese near Leighton Moss