Sunny till early afternoon then overcast with a few light showers. A light but freshening east to SE breeze.
It was fairly quiet at Heysham NR this morning. We had 6 nets up but didn’t catch much. The highlight was a Tree Sparrow. Goldcrests could be heard but stayed feeding in the bushes, the one I managed to catch was a retrap from not long ago so it suggests Goldcrests weren’t actually on the move. The same went for Chiffchaffs, just 2 or 3 caught. Of the Redwings that poured into the east of the country yesterday, very few made it to Heysham. One was caught as it left its roost along with a grey looking continental Blackbird. Pete got excited as an obvious continental Coal Tit descended from the sky but it evaded the nets and only a few British Coal Tits were caught.
Visible migration was also low key:
07:30-11:30
Jackdaw 51 south in 3 flocks
Carrion Crow 6 north
Chaffinch 17 south
Brambling 1, possibly 2
Bullfinch 3 south
Finch sp 10 south
Redwing 7 plus 5 landed
Blackbird 16 south
Starling 13
Woodpigeon 7
Pink-footed Goose 208 north, 26 south
Pied Wagtail 2
Siskin 1
Redpoll 2 SE
Coal Tit 7 south plus the Continental one
Collared Dove 1 south
At 09:50 a SWIFT flew northwest (could it have been the Pallid Swift seen over Mull at 2pm??!! - we can dream!)
Starling roost
520 flew from the power station roost
Other
Peregrine called from one of the pylons
Two Sparrowhawks flew up from one of the copses
A single Mallard was the only remaining duck on the "no swimming" pond. It was clearly going to be one of those days! |
Grey Heron on the main pond |