The mist nets below the old obs tower saw a blast from the past today - a decentish catch of 20 or so female Willow Warblers with a few other odds and ends including three Lesser Whitethroat. The sea was a real mixed bag with early morning reports from elsewhere suggest quite a few terns from early doors (eg 100+ Arctic and a few Black off JBP early am). Heysham observations saw the back end of this movement with nothing subsequently other than a few blogging Sandwich Terns. However, following an extremely distant probable, the incoming tide once again produced skuas, this time three Arctic in conditions which were clear and flat calm! Unfortunately there was no known coverage when the easterly kicked in again later in the tide sequence. The first Middleton CES was carried out and the single Willow Warbler showed just how more concentrated migrants are at Heysham NR, much nearer the landfalling area
North harbour wall am
Vis
Lesser Redpoll 2
Swallow 18
Meadow Pipit 1
Grounded
Willow Warbler singing by twite feeder but no Wheatear or any other migrants
At sea
Arctic Tern 78 (36, 38, 4)
Black Tern 1 (with the 38 Arctics)
Red-throated Diver 2 in
Little Egret 1 south, close inshore
skua spp - very distant bird, almost certainly dark Arctic
South harbour/O edge
Wheatear - 7
Early incoming tide north wall (lunchtime)
Arctic Skua - single dark morph in then two together in close inshore
Little Gull - two summer adults in with a flurry of Black-headed Gulls
Eider 127 off the skear
Sandwich Tern 8 blogging
Dunlin - 20 on skeer
Whimbrel - one on skeer
NO hirundine passage during this calm spell
Moneyclose Lane
Pied Flycatcher - male singing briefly from two locations as it moved north along the lane
Heysham village
Swift - 1 (IOY)
Grey Seal offshore
