Skua kick-start

Heysham Obs
Traffic problems led to a short belated spell of seawatching after 0915hrs

North harbour wall intermittent 0915-1330hrs
Twite - at least 15
Bonxie - one rose from the sea and flew NW into the murk at 0925hrs
Gannet - 5 out, one in
Sandwich Tern - one out
also an almost certain Ad Little Gull glimpsed at long range & 3+ probables even further out!
Wheatear - one mound

Ocean Edge area
Wheatear - just one
Common Gull - 41, mostly 2CY

Routine murk

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall (one hour of vis)
Offshore visibility virtually nil
Twite - 15
Wheatear - 1
Meadow pipit - 27
Goldfinch - 7
Redpoll spp - 3
alba Wagtail - 5
Grey Wagtail - 1

Ocean Edge/Red Nab/outfalls
Wheatear - 12
Med Gull - 2CY with Common and Black-headed Gulls
Common Gull - c35
Black-headed Gull - c60

Heysham NR 0730-0930
Willow Warbler - one ringed
Chiffchaff - at least 2 migrants
Meadow Pipit - 91 NE
Linnet - 5 NE
alba Wagtail - 4 NE
Collared Dove - 2 NE
Goldfinch - 5 NE
Redpoll spp - 1 NE & 2 (& 3 Siskin) off-passage in alders

Moth
Diurnea fagella new for the year

Early Willow Warbler and 14-0 to the south side

Heysham Obs
In the days when we had a couple of mist net rides at Red Nab (now too disturbed) there were some days when migrants were pouring in there, but very few indeed on the main nature reserve until an hour or two later (and in much smaller numbers as the birds dispersed).  On other occasions, the north wall and heliport areas produced the goods with very little at the "south end".   A belated check of Ocean Edge produced 14 Wheatears and 47 grounded Meadow Pipits and, just to check whether the late morning drizzle had produced any on the north side, the heliport/north wall was re-checked.  Zero. 

North wall 0745-0930
Red-throated Diver - different ones in and out
Red-breasted Merganser - flock of 6 out
Purple Sandpiper - 2 on seawall
Twite - 15 (6 unringed)
Meadow Pipit - 66
alba Wagtail - 5
Redpoll spp - 12
Linnet - 3 plus 4 on the seed
No Sandwich terns or Wheatears

Heysham NR 0800-0930
Meadow Pipit - 42
Redpoll spp - 16 (ALL as the nets were being set, far too late!)
Willow Warbler - one ringed
Redwing - one
Song Thrush - probable migrant flew high inland
Goldcrest - 3 (2 ringed)
Ringing a bit of a disaster as the batteries gave up on the Meadow Pipit tape after 20 minutes and I arrived too late after a misunderstanding!

Ocean Edge foreshore (1230hrs)
Wheatear - 14
Meadow Pipit - 47
Pied Wagtail - 5

Time for a Sandwich before Ospreys appear

Heysham Obs
Here is some of the stuff from a pretty good morning, ringing data will be added tomorrow

North Harbour Wall 0745-1030
The first Sandwich Terns of the year appeared - 17 in total.  Probably more but the sea fret made even the ones seen a bit blurred round the edges. 
0855 - ALL the gulls went into a mad panic and the culprit, an Osprey, was seen heading in the Morecambe direction.
This was the second Osprey of the morning as one had flown over the Nature Reserve 15 minutes earlier and had headed in the direction of the Lune (per Alan).

Vis:
Meadow Pipit - 108 (the vast majority flew over between 0900 - 0915)
alba Wagtail - 7
Linnet - 3
Goldfinch - 1
Greenfinch - 3

Grounded (mound area):
Wheatear - 6 (4 arrived between 0900 and 0915)

Other:
Purple Sandpiper - 1
Twite - 8
Mute Swan - 1 on the sea

The first Swallow for here seen by Janet on Middleton NR today


Elsewhere
150 Brambling (with many singing), Mealy Redpoll (an 'obvious' bird seen very well), 35 Lesser Redpoll, c18 Crossbill at Thrushgill plantation this morning, but only small numbers visible from public right of way. Visitors are requested to park in one of the laybys between Botton Mill and Lower Thrushgill, rather than drive through all the sheep and new-born lambs strewn across the 'open' road between Lower Thrushgill and Higher Thrushgill


Osprey over Arkholme at 1410hrs, perhaps the same bird an hour or so earlier at Lloyn Bridge

Wasted sleep

Heysham Obs
A classic early morning waste of time as a barrier of murk to the south blocked all migration bar a faint dribble of Meadow Pipit.  A few started to move as it gradually cleared.

Office vis
Meadow Pipit - 59 north in 3 hours (8 ringed)
alba Wagtail - 6 north
Goldfinch - 3 north

North wall
vis not worth writing down!
Shelduck - pair hovering offshore (eyeing up the rabbit burrows on the mound)
Twite - just 10
Linnet - 3
Purple Sandpiper - 2 

A cocktail of fresh north-easterly, brambles and superfine nets

Heysham Obs
Wind a bit fresher than forecasted and a horrible direction for ringing activities here.  Nets taken down at the first availability of someone to help me do so (thanks Jean).  Quite a few Meadow Pipits on the move but not a lot else in weather which was also clearer than forecasted

Heysham NR office area vis/grounded 0700-0830
Coal Tit - unringed bird headed off north
Dunnock - one unringed bird caught
Meadow Pipit - 279 north (about 20 minutes of coverage missed) [6 ringed!].
Redpoll spp - 1 north
Chaffinch - 4 north
Goldfinch - 8 north
alba Wagtail - 2 north
Goldcrest - one grounded

North wall early morning
Red-throated Diver - 7
Turnstone 84
Twite - 8 on seed

Meadow Pipit - 48 NE
Redpoll sp - 2
alba Wagtail - 6 NE
Linnet - 4 NE

Ozone-layer vis

Heysham Obs
A well-recorded day, which was more like late April than late March, with post-hibernation butterflies everywhere. An attempt was made to catch spring passage Meadow Pipits by the office and this sufficed to indicate just how many were up there in the bright blue sky and how difficult it was to count them in traditional vis mig fashion.   The use of a tape saw an absolute minimum of 300 grounded.  This comprised a running total of birds feeding in the short turf next to the office, before heading on their way.   Spring birds seem to respond to taped song rather differently to those in autumn.  They land in very spread-out fashion, have a bit of a feed, then head onwards.  There is no concentration around the tape, as happens with (mainly young) birds in autumn.....and they are harder to catch for ringing.  8 ringed out of c300 landfalling!

Vis mig north wall 0700-1040
Meadow Pipit - just 110 (see above)
alba Wagtail - 28
Skylark - 4
Reed Bunting - 1
Goldfinch - 7
Linnet - 6
Greenfinch - 1
Siskin - 3
Redpoll spp - 3
Sand Martin - 1
Rock Pipit - 1 (vis bird, not the resident)

Grounded
Dunnock - singing male on the mound!
House Sparrow - new species for both SD36V and 35Z (single on the mound first, then south wall)
Rock Pipit - resident apparent petrosus-type still here
Red-breasted Merg - 12 offshore
Great-crested Grebe - 5 offshore
Eider - 65 offshore
Purple Sandpiper - one wooden jetty (just 59 Turnstone seen pre-high tide)

Ringing by office
Meadow Pipit - c300 grounded, 8 ringed
Chiffchaff - 2 ringed
Lesser Redpoll - 3 ringed
Goldcrest - one heard

Middleton NR
Common Snipe - 8 flushed from small area

Mammals
One Grey Seal offshore

Insects
Small Tortoiseshell - at least 6 round the office area & 20+ Heysham Head.  Comma - one Heysham Head. Brimstone - one at each of Heysham head, Middleton and Heysham NR.  The moth trap was good, despite a clear night, with TWO more Twin-spot Quaker (the ones this year so far are the 2nd-4th records, with the only previous being in 2006), a Red Chestnut (rare here, with none apparently since 2002 and about 6 previous records) and another Shoulder Stripe

Six of the best

This looks like its had six of the best.  Rather tame and scrawny fox taken by Janet at Middleton late afternoon (thanks Janet)

Heysham Obs
An initiative which unfortunately only reached the planning stage may have cost us a nice addition to the ringing list if the birds had decided to emulate Adam and Eve.  The scenario at 0655hrs was a flock of 6 Waxwings sat in a hawthorn behind a double mist-net set at the feeding station.  The "initiative" which failed was to stick some apples on the branches, in case Waxwing return passage materialised.....................  After a bit of trilling, they headed off towards Heysham Head, dragging a single Redwing in their wake

North wall 0630-0800
Too clear with a trickle of vis:
Pied Wagtail - 12
Meadow Pipit - 13
Linnet - 3
Grey Wagtail - 1
Chaffinch - 1
Siskin - 1
Greenfinch - 2
Redpoll sp - 2
Woodpigeon - 2 flew "in-off"
Red-throated Diver - 2 in and 1 on

Feeder: 33 Twite
Low tide channel: 121 Eider, 8 Red-breasted Merganser, 4 Great-crested Grebe.


Office area 0645-0930
Meadow Pipit - 113 NE (most of these only seen due to tape/ringing)
Reed Bunting - 2 NE
Siskin - 2 "lots" heard only plus a singleton north
alba Wagtail - 11 NE
Goldfinch - 14 NE
Waxwing - flock of 6 NE at 0758hrs
Redwing - one grounded then NE with Waxwings
Wren - unringed bird trapped
Bullfinch - unringed female trapped - a real surprise
Chiffchaff - seemingly one local bird and 2-3 males passing through by office (one ringed)
Goldcrest - zero past the office early on but two calling in the NE corner (thanks Pete) and one appeared by the office mid-morning

Middleton NR
Jack Snipe - 2 in the afternoon (& 5 Snipe), 5 Tufted Duck, sitting Mute Swan

Moths
Shoulder Stripe a predictable new addition to the year list

Foggy vigil

North Harbour Wall

Standing on the edge of the harbour from the North Wall, the fog was so thick that the harbour couldn't be seen!  Yet it was clear as a bell at Trumacar Stores! The Nature Reserve, Ocean Edge and anywhere west of Middleton Road was shrouded in thick fog. However, standing on the North Wall between 0650 to 0850 I was unaware of the clear conditions just a short distance to the east.

Vis (!)
Pink-footed Goose - 55 going round in circles at the coast for half an hour before finally heading off N.
Meadow Pipit - 53 coming in from a north westerly and south westerly direction, landing briefly to grab a bite to eat on the mound and then heading off NE.
Pied Wagtail - 8 NE
Linnet  -4 NE
Goldfinch - 3 NE
Grey Wagtail - 1 NE
Siskin - c5 NE

Grounded
Meadow Pipit - 27 at Ocean Edge.
Wheatear - 1 on the mound.

Other:
Twite - 37
Rock Pipit - 1
Mistle Thrush - 1
Starling - 8
Carrion Crow - 1

A big thank you & farewell to Sean

Heysham Obs

A really nice migration morning would normally have seen me on site from first light with the mist nets up and covering the overhead Meadow Pipits and grounded Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests. Unfortunately in the middle of an equally productive redpoll study and couldn't be in two places at once, with no other ringers/vis miggers available today

Then Sean rang...............his last vigil on the south harbour wall rescued the vis mig monitoring from oblivion. Sean has been fantastic company this last two years as he has been conscientiously recording the flight paths of intertidal birds (and counting Meadow Pipits and offshore divers etc!) in relation to the proposed turbines. Thanks for your company, Sean, and hopefully we will see you again in the near future

So I was able to concentrate on the redpoll ringing without worrying about what was being missed overhead..............and the grounded stuff could be mopped up in the afternoon

South harbour wall
Guillemot - one floated in - at last it opens its 2011 account!
Turnstone - 198 - obviouskly the start of the spring passage
Purple Sandpiper - just the one
Meadow Pipit - minimum of 81 north (noise from boats hampering vis)
alba Wagtail - min of 10 north
Linnet - 2 north - first vis mig of spring
Rock Pipit - the wintering bird still in residence
Twite - 17
Pink-footed Goose - 110 north

Grounded
Goldcrest - at least 8, 7 more than in the whole of last spring!
Chiffchaff - absolute minimum of 6 birds in reserve area
Wheatear - 2 OE foreshore first thing
Goldfinch - 4 ringed at the feeder in the afternoon

Heysham Head
Rock Pipit
male Wheatear

Insects
Brimstone - one by office
Queen wasp spp - as above
Moths excelled themselves with a different Pale Pinion to yesterday and the long awaited first (for me & I dont think there have been any others, but havn't got the full MapMate database to hand) Twin-spot Quaker for the reserve. Common orthosias numbered 21.

Elsewhere
Mealy Redpoll ringed Thrushgill, but no sign (predictably, given the 'through put' of birds) of Sunday afternoon's Coues Arctic Redpoll

Early Thick Mist

Heysham

N Harbour Wall
Twite - 5 only seen on fresh food, all ringed, 21 later (flight only)
Purple Sandpiper - one on wooden jetty
Red-throated Diver - 2 in good late afternoon visibility - far offshore

Moths
The hut trap produced:
Hebrew Character - 1
Common Quaker - 3
Pale Pinion - 1 - second or third record of an increasing species

ajd

Meagre murk

Heysham Obs
Overcast and drizzly conditions did not produce the expected Wheatear but a singing Chiffchaff was making its way along Moneyclose Lane, providing a rather belated first

North harbour wall
Twite - no food, but 6 appeared as soon as some was put down (1 unringed)
Purple Sandpiper - one at the base of the seawall at the harbour mouth - flew over to wooden jetty

Ocean Edge
Meadow Pipit - one north!

Moneyclose Lane
Chiffchaff - singing male (on the move)

Moths
Most numerate catch so far this year of the most predictable fare: 4 Common Quaker, 6 Hebrew Character, 5 Clouded Drab, 3 March Moth

A one Wheatear day

Heysham Obs

Thanks for the Wheatear report via the Greater Manchester website!  One on the heliport.

March Moth, Clouded Drab and Hebrew Character in the trap

On the 78th day there shall be auk

At last - an auk! Thanks to the ferries for displacing it

North Harbour Wall 0800-1100
Vis
Pied Wagtail 17
Chaffinch 1
Goldfinch 3
Meadow Pipit 2
Skylark 1

On the sea:
Red-throated Diver 1 + 3
RAZORBILL 1
Eider 15

In the sea:
Harbour Porpoise - at least 3, maybe 5 (IOY).

On the ground:
Twite c20
Rock Pipit which flew to South Harbour Wall.

On the wooden jetty:
Purple Sandpiper - 2
Turnstone 79 (plus 28 on the Heliport)

Vis reserve area 0630-0830
Meadow Pipit - 61 north
Siskin - 3 north
alba Wagtail - 2 north
Sand Martin - one north (IOY)

Grounded - male Pheasant was the 'highlight'!

And they're off....

Migration was in evidence this morning, although the evidence was only slight.  There may well have been more birds flying overhead but they were difficult to hear because the ferries in the harbour were really noisy:

North Harbour Wall 0800-0900
Vis (all NE or NNE following the coast):
Meadow Pipit 8
Pied Wagtail 6
Carrion Crow 8
Siskin 1
Greenfinch 1
Grey Wagtail 1

Twite 18 at least

March Moth at last!

Heysham Obs
Insects
That spectacular thin brown species, March Moth, made its rather belated debut this morning along with an Early Grey (not very common at Heysham) and a Common Quaker.  Contrasts with 205 moths in the Millhouses trap!

Birds
No obvious early morning vis migration, although Blackbirds were subtely more noticeable than usual on the reserve with two unringed (and one very lightweighht) bird caught.  Typical murky early morning to 'drop' a few on their rather hurried mid-March return passage
Twite - c55 but flight views only
Goldfinch - definite influx with 5 ringed at the office feeder net (unprecedented in spring!) and a 'sizeable flock' in the alders by the dipping pond, seemingly replacing the similar Siskin gathering of two weeks ago
Long-tailed Tit - a seemingly 'endless' supply of retraps at the feeder net indicates they have wintered rather well

Non-existent early morning migration

Heysham Obs
Walks around the mound and then Ocean Edge foreshore revealed the following grounded birds, all on the north harbour wall:

Rock Pipit - one
Twite -  at least 56 with at least 3 unringed (out of c20 examined) plus a metal-ring-only bird
Pied Wagtail - 2

Early afternoon (thanks Sean)
Purple Sandpiper - 2

Flutterby time but the 74th consecutive day without an auk

Heysham Obs
Insects
3 Small Tortoiseshell (and another butterfly with dark underwings glimpsed) along the south-facing slope below PA Way & another very tatty one on Middleton NR.  4 Hebrew Character and yet another Chestnut in the hut trap

Middleton NR
Stonechat - female by the no swimming pond

North harbour wall
Twite - a small catch first thing contained all or most of the unringed proportion seen in the last few days with 9 unringed birds out of 17 caught.  An attempt to check later in the afternoon saw a sheepdog tethered rather too near the feeder (angler)!
Red-throated Diver - one offshore afternoon
Duck spp - dreadful light and even though they were watched for 10 minutes crossing the bay, they could only be narrowed down to 'probable Mallard' - a rare bird indeed as seen from the north wall

Late news yesterday afternoon
Male Wheatear Ocean Edge foreshore

Little change during the morning session

Heysham Obs
No obvious evidence of vis mig passerines etc in the morning (see Elsewhere).  Morning coverage by Alan, John and Mike Baron

Office area
Wood Pigeon -  6 together on grass by Hut
Moorhen - 1 by Hut

N Harbour Wall
Twite -  c70, scurrying about and impossible to count accurately.  c10 unringed
Linnet - 1+
Goldeneye - 3 offshore
Eider - 53+ offshore
Moths
None, following the first Clouded Drab of the year the previous night

Elsewhere
Given the weather and temperatures, a very unexpected mass arrival of Sand Martins with at least 20 involved in sightings at Crag Foot and Pine Lake, probably 40

Purp cooperation for a change

Heysham Obs
Thanks to Tom, Jenny & Chris, John for coverage today

Purple Sandpiper - 2 on the outfalls fence 1300-1330hrs, then presumably the same alongside the north harbour wall c1400:

Thanks Chris (one of two birds)

Twite - c65 seen in flight north wall area

First Meadow Pipit of the year!

Heysham Obs
North Harbour Wall 0725-0925
Kittiwake - 78 (3 flocks) in (and then up!)
Gannet - 2 in, 2 different ones out
Red-throated Diver - 1 in
Peregrine 1 SW along sea wall terrorising the Twite
Twite - c75, a definite increase with c15 unringed birds out of a sample of c50 checked and one ringed at Machrihanish, the first for a bit

Outfalls
Little Gull - ad winter Stage 2 outfall on incoming tide early afternoon

Vis
Meadow Pipit 1 NE (over the sea)
Pied Wagtail 2 NE

Early Red-throated Diver flock

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall seawatching c0830-1000
Red-throated Diver - flock of 22 flew 'out' very high
Gannet - 9 out and 2 in
Kittiwake - 218 in, 62 out
Little Gull - 2 distant adults out
Twite - 24 on the seed

Middleton model boat pond
Goldeneye (one female), pair of Teal, 3 Tufted Duck
Male Lapwing has returned on to territory on the spit

Kittiwake passage kickstarts in dramatic fashion

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall
Kittiwake - 1028 in, 254 out 0830-1010, 1030-1115, mostly during the first session.  The last flock (of 35) came in towards Heysham and then spiralled up and flew NE inland, very high - shades of some of the Arctic tern flocks
Eider - 168 offshore
Little Gull - 2CY out
Common Scoter - flock of 9 out
very low-flying large grey aircraft - one 'in' c1000hrs (what was it doing???)
Grey Seal - one blogging

Twite - 27 with 4/13 examined unringed
Linnet - one with above

Little Grebe sets its territory out at Middleton (thanks Janet)

Heysham Obs

Just a few moths today comprising a late Chestnut (not common here anyway & certainly not in March), Common Quaker opening its account and a Hebrew Character

Elsewhere

The 'hot' news is the reappearance of the Great Grey Shrike at Dalton Crags - definitely not there Saturday in a careful search anticipating its presence, but appeared yesterday - the bad news is that the weather is not very good for seeing it in the next few days!

Deserted!

Heysham Obs

What a struggle to find something worth publishing today despite a modicum of coverage of coastal sites on both sides of the harbour, plus a trip to top up the feeders

No Twite (no food left.....but rectified), no Meds (gone on recent year's form), no Purple Sandpipers (or Turnstone, yet tide well in - odd?), just 66 Wigeon left on Red Nab, no obvious early vis mig trickle, nothing offshore diver-wise, no moths

Best was two unringed Long-tailed Tits on the HNR feeder, unless you appreciate 18,000 Knot!

Lingering Gadwall & Jack Snipe reappearance

Heysham Obs

Middleton NR
14 Tufted Duck, 1 Goldeneye, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Mallard, 4 Mute Swan and a pair of Gadwall (Tim Butler pond) also 3 Snipe and 1 Jack Snipe.

Heysham NR
On the reserve the only thing of note was that I flushed a Woodcock, very top corner of the reserve close to the railway bridge

John Mason

..........and another scarce moth

Heysham Obs
This time the jumbo-sized early-season 'micro', diurnea fagella.  Definitely under 10 records for here, but MapMate may not include all of them with micro recording being a bit haphazard in the early years

Birds I'm aware of included the Czech-ringed Med Gull (should be off for the summer in the next two days, on previous form) and 9 (ringed) Twite at the feeder. 

Other birds from the North Harbour Wall:
Great-crested Grebe - 2
Red-breasted Merganser - 2
Eider - 136 in the Kent Channel (62 males at least), 7 in the low tide channel
Black-headed Gull - 73 in the low tide channel (mostly adults), 35 in the harbour (no adults), 10 behind the ferry (mixture)
Herring Gull - 29 on the roof of one of the buildings
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 4 pairs on the above building plus at least 22 birds on the Centrica building.
Turnstone - only 1 seen
Bar-tailed Godwit - 19 south of the wooden jetty
Grey Plover - 1 over
Rock Pipit - 1
Pied Wagtail - 1 at the sand plant  and 1 due north (vis).
Robin - 1 at the feeding station.

Other
170 Pink-footed Geese heading towards the Lune from the by-pass area at 0715hrs

Northbound Grey Wagtail

Moorhen have struggled at bit on HNR in the last few years, perhaps a product of foxes regularly accessing the main wetland area.  The increase in water level, coupled with rotational reed clearance has led to at least three adults being seen recently - here are two of them.  Thanks Janet  

Heysham Obs
A very short morning visit saw an adult Med Gull on  the north wall in resplendent summer plumage and a Grey Wagtail heading purposefully north over HNR at 1000hrs

Unringed Blue (2) and Great Tit were caught in a very short ringing session, indicating 'new' birds are starting to pass through.  The Greenfinches, however, were behaving like a "resident" net-shy gang, perhaps surprising for early March, when there is usually quite a bit of 'through-put'

Yet another 'under fiver'

Heysham Obs
Doing well with 'under ten' or 'under five' previous records species so far this year, with the moth scenario amazingly already producing a new species (also new for the 10k square) in the form of Grey Shoulder-knot and an 'under five records, possibly only the second or third' (Oak Beauty).  This morning, another 'under five records' appeared in the form of the rather unobtrusive Mottled Grey.  I've found this species to be most common on the moorland edge and inland deciduous wooded areas.

A Siskin was heard around the office, but no coastal coverage today 

Theres only one dotted border

Heysham Obs
Shameful lack of coverage today by two office-bound observers as admin things had to be done

Moth
A Dotted Border graced the trap

Wren
A presumed Heysham-ringed bird residing in Janet's garden in Heysham village. Thanks Janet

Motley fauna

Heysham Obs
Heysham NR
Pheasant - The male was noisily strutting around the PA way area and flushed:
Woodcock - one in the alder woodland, flew towards NE corner
Goldcrest - one in the NE corner may have been a very early migrant
Siskin - 4 ringed this morning

Mammals
Stoat - 1 seen crossing reserve entrance (RN).

Insects
Pale Brindled Beauty in the moth trap - under 10 records for here, along with 5 Dotted Border and 2 Hebrew Character.  A Red-tailed Bumblebee was along PA way (south-facing) bank

Elsewhere
Small Tortoiseshell - 1 seen Overton
Red-tailed Bumblebee - 1 Torrisholme