0800ish flurry on sea, then dead

Today's Streamer - thanks Reuben

Heysham Obs
Not a lot happening other than a group of 3 Arctic Skua.
 
North wall (0615-1030hrs) High tide = 1248hrs
SSE F4/3 overcast. Rain shower at 0620hrs.  Visibility good to start with then becoming hazy.

Arctic Skua - 3 (2 light and 1 dark morph).  Seen distantly at 0700hrs floating in.  They ended up on a sandbank, then got pushed off by the tide at 0800hrs when they flew into the Bay.)
Gannet - 2 out, 4 in
Kittiwake - 16 floated in then flew up high at 0710hrs
Sandwich Tern - 12
Great Crested Grebe - 3 in
Red-breasted Merganser - 2 in
Sanderling - 4 out
Whimbrel - 7+24 out
Wheatear - 4 plus one in-off
Sandwich Tern - 3 blogging
Sparrowhawk - one 'in-off'
Knot - 200 north
Turnstone - 170
Swallow - 57 N
Sand Martin - 1
Goldfinch - 5 N
Linnet - 1N
alba wagtail - 4 N, two White Wagtail on beach
Meadow Pipit - 2
Pink-footed Goose - 8+1
Common Scoter - 17 out
absolutely nothing seabird wise 0900-1030

Ocean Edge foreshore
Common Sandpiper - 1
Whimbrel - 1

Moths & butterfly
Streamer was a good record - the first since 2004 & only about 4 in total.  Pebble Prominent was also new for the year.  A Peacock butterfly was seen heading NE along the north harbour wall - this is probably a new 10km square record (SD36)!

Wheatears
A lot of postings about 'Greenland' Wheatears on various sites over the last week or so.  The reason they havn't been mentioned here is that there have only been two candidates out of what has been a  rather late passage of (especially female) Wheatears.  We had about 30 Wheatears during survey work on moorland on western Northumbria yesterday and these were 'British-sized' birds still in 'loose flock', but (with one exception) not territorial mode.  Maybe some of these are Scandinavian birds, or even still Scottish or northern English birds?

Elsewhere
Secondhand, but evidently reliable, report of 15 Dotterel on Ward's Stone on 23rd April - report from keeper that they have been around since 15th April