Sunday 5 May 2024

Decent coverage and a decent day

 
The early south breeze gradually swung round to NW by evening. A dry day with plenty of warm sunshine in the afternoon.

First some overnight news.
23:30 last night - Whimbrel "flock" flew over Angela Gillon's house in the NE of the recording area.

Middleton Nature Reserve 
Ringing report by John:

Warm again with a light wind. Arrived at 6am and three nets set.

Numbers caught were small, but all were new birds apart from one Chiffchaff.

They comprised ;

Lesser Redpoll           5

Sedge Warbler           4

Tree Pipit                  1

Great Tit                    1

Chiffchaff                    1

Lesser Whitethroat      1


North Harbour wall - Mark Prestwood 6.30 - 8.30 am
3 dark morph Arctic Skua 
26 Gannet 

Flock of 7 red-breasted Merganser in 

25 common scoter


Short seawatch prior to the high water webs survey - Pete (Marks birds additional)
10 gannet 
7 kittiwake 
1 guillemot
3 common scoter
15 sandwich tern, plus 5 on green buoy on the south side.
Whinchat 1 male briefly on Ocean Edge foreshore 
Porpoise 2

Seen from Stone Jetty, by Josh Hedley,  there will be some overlap with Pete's and Mark's records

07:21- 09:30
Red-throated Diver- 1
Gannet- 7
Common Scoter- c.25
Pink-foot- 362
Mute Swan- 3
Eider- 78
Whimbrel- 7
Turnstone- 80
Sandwich Tern- 14
Sand Martin- 5
Swallow- 20


Pete and Jeans webs included:
900 Knot on Heliport
193 Turnstone on heliport at high tide plus 22 on wooden jetty. 

I just checked Red Nab to saltmarsh towards high water (Malcolm)
No sign of the Brent geese today
Shelduck 2
Whimbrel 7
Rock,Pipit 1 on Red Nab
Wheatear 8
Wheatear
Linnet 7 on the saltmarsh 
Swallow 2 in
Lesser Whitethroat still singing from scrub behind Red Nab

Kevin and Alison checked along the sea wall in the warm afternoon sun.
Common Whitethroat 1 in the scrub near the lighthouse 
Lots of invertebrates along the wall again, despite the less than ideal wind.

Heysham skear - low water 16:50 (Malcolm)
Just a very quick check early in the ebbing tide (3 hours before low water)
Eider c70
Red-breasted Merganser 7

3 female Red-breasted Merganser

Oystercatcher c1,000
Knot c1,000
Curlew 5
Curlew

Whimbrel 3
Whimbrel and male Red-breasted Merganser


Whimbrel

Bar-Tailed Godwit 284 feeding along the water line to the south of the skear.
Mainly Godwits along the south waterline

Dunlin 80 (no Sanderling with them today)
Turnstone 30