Heysham obs
An effort was made in the afternoon to search distant sandbanks and channels for the in transit pom skua seen off flookburgh in the morning. It was quite hard work as a lot of stuff was at extreme range. However it opened up new possibilities if the conditions were right. Nine geese flew on to a hitherto unnoticed skeer far into distant Cumbria. Initially assumed to be low-flying pink feet until the landing where a later switch to 60x just about made two of them out as Brent geese but the rest of the flock appeared to be 'down a slope out of sight'. They were absolutely miles away and definitely in Cumbria. Is this a regular routine visible from Heysham ?
The bluebottle seems to have disappeared from the Heysham NR kitchen, no sign of the Purple Sandpiper at high tide, just the one Ad Med Gull of note (Fishers roof at high tide) and similarly a single Twite with about a dozen each of Goldfinch and Linnet on the seed. No moths in the trap.
A ground-breaking ringing recovery of a juvenile Goldfinch ringed at Middleton on 31/8/14 caught today by John in his garden at the Beaumont end of Lancaster, 7ish km to the north-east - the first of several I suspect!
North harbour wall and far offshore at low tide
Brent goose - at least two and probably all nine geese on distant skeer were this species
Red-throated diver - one flew out
Eider - 113
Great crested grebe - one in harbour and 8 offshore
Med gull - just the one adult
Shag - 1cY on rocks just below north wall Roundhead
