Sea 0500-0645
Light morph adult Pomarine Skua close in, then turned north-west and headed high towards Black Combe at 0523hrs
Mute Swan - 3 in
Gannet - 3 out
Sandwich Tern - 1
Office area
Two Spotted Flycatcher Obs Tower pond fence 0530hrs and a ridiculous ringing statistic (we had ringed 79 between 1980 and 1999) was revised at last with one in the net at about 0915hrs
Lesser Redpoll - 2 north, 1 later
Not much else by 1000 as report-writing/mist net checking/short break to post this was the order of the day with no time for pure observation. Minor interest provided by a grey/olive-green migrant female Willow warbler in the nets and the first "1J" of the year, a speckled Robin, presumably from the office-area pair, which includes a partially-leucistic female
A text message indicated 9 Dotterel on Ingleborough - worth checking the local tops for this delayed passage?
Ringing recoveries
The following of interest. The Coal Tit was one of three lengthy movements for this species involving north Lancs, perhaps all related to autumnal movement out of upland conifer origins. The Blackcap shows that the odd admin. error can be made at Observatories which receive more birds than here - always worth checking your old ringing data for such omissions!
Shag
145062- 1 04.06.11 Puffin
Island
Sighted 5 18.02.12 Heysham 109 km
Meadow
Pipit
L742790 3 15.10.11 Sowley Pond (Hampshire)
Controlled 5 24.03.12 Heysham 376 km
Blackcap
R716088 3J 18.07.04 Heysham
Controlled 5M 15.05.05 Bardsey Is (Gwynedd) 190km
Coal
Tit
L333947 3 23.09.10 Heysham
Controlled 6 28.01.12 Topthorn Barn (Cumbria ) 40 km
Blue
Tit
Y470538 5 23.02.12 Heysham
Controlled 5 25.02.12 Brookhouse 15 km in 2 days
Y333136 3 14.10.11 Heysham
Controlled 5 11.02.12 Bowerham 8 km
Twite
L999092 3 20.09.11 Machrihanish B.O (Argyll & Bute)
Controlled 5F 03.02.12 Heysham 239
km
L999067 3 20.09.11 Machrihanish B.O (Argyll & Bute)
Controlled 5F 16.3.&25.2.12 Heysham
Reed
Bunting
T825950 4F 13.08.08 South Walney
Controlled 6F 16.03.12 Heysham 19 km
Moths
An incredible grand total of 19 moths of 10 species in the trap for the WHOLE of May so far. Not helped, of course, by the trap entrance facing east. This morning excelled itself with three moths, including a late Common Quaker and an iconic Brown House Moth
