Sunday 18 April 2010

Hoopoe day

More pics to come - these are from Chris Piner & Tony Moriarty.  Thanks for these.

Heysham Obs
Cloud cover accompanying the poor vis - yippee....................

Hoopoe
Found by John Mason on the north harbour wall in the old sandworks.   Photographs later.  Later present on and off around the harbour area before flying over towards the nature reserve and being located by the office next to the mist nets ride.  Here it sat on fence posts and fed on the ground before heading off over the 'cream store' and thence north-east towards the traffic light at about 1235hrs

Reserve office area
3 male Redstart - these disappeared, but at lunchtime, these or three others were around the office area with one using the bird table as a perch!
30+ Willow Warbler around office (9 ringed)
2 x singing Sedge Warbler
singing Lesser Whitethroat
2 x Tree Pipit over (0902 & 1017hrs)
Lesser Redpoll - 17 NE
Goldfinch - 27 NE
Linnet - 5 NE
Swallow - 37 NE
Meadow Pipit - 26 NE
alba Wagtail - 3 NE

Middleton IE
singing male Grasshopper Warbler
singing male Lesser Whitethroat (afternoon)
yesterdays Sedge Warbler still singing
Greylag - two blogging late afternoon

North wall (vis from 0700-0920 then severely distracted by the Hoopoe. Virtually no movement until 8am when the mist began to lift)
Purple Sandpiper -one wooden jetty
Wheatear - 2-3
Linnet - 11 NE
Goldfinch 1
Meadow Pipit 14
Sparrowhawk 1 (very high and heading N)
Swallow 20

In the low tide channels:
Sandwich Tern 18
Great-crested Grebe 11
Red-breasted Merganser 9

On the skears:
Turnstone - 170
Whimbrel - 11
Eider - 97
Ocean Edge
Wheatear - 8