Heysham Obs
A small pocket of calmer air in the middle of a generally fresh north-north-westerly was a bit of a novelty, synopsis-wise and certainly seemed suitable for mist-netting. No-one told the birds, presumably grounded by the strong wind to the north which hit us with a notable 'whoosh' in tidal bore-fashion at about 0845hrs. So we had perfect vis conditions with no vis.
Overhead dawn to about 1000hrs
Grey Wagtail - 7 (3 ringed)
Meadow Pipit - 18, with a gap of 1.5 hrs 0630-0800 without any!
alba Wagtail - group of 7 then just one other
Chaffinch - at least 19 tree-hopping southbound presumed migrants, as usual doing a lot of contact-calling
Swallow - 13
Grounded
Goldcrest - 1 - first of autumn
Chiffchaff - c3
Blackcap - one new one
Whitethroat - one retrap
Robin - one new one
Swallow roost last night
At least 500 birds in roost, but only a very cautious 41 ringed due to some nasty weather, albeit approaching slowly, along the north-western horizon. That will do for the Swallow ringing sample for the year - just over 500.
Coastal at high tide
Wheatear - 4 inner end of wooden jetty
Med Gull - 5 off Ocean Edge
Moths
After the inexplicable 'nil' yesterday, a nice variety given the cold conditions with 10 species including Copper Underwing and Angle Shades and dominated by Treble Bar and Silver Y
