Heysham plays host, but not as gracious as it can be.

An early shower then dry till evening showers began. A SE wind.

North side - Pete

Heliport:

One wheatear

6 meadow pipit in off 

From Knowlys Rd: 

c12 great crested grebe on sea north of Heysham head and about 6 red-breasted mergansers but all quite distant.  

No shag seen but no biggish rocks exposed (c0730)

South shore 

07:30 - 11:00 - Jean with a LDBWS group

Dog-walk track: 6 Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, Kingfisher at the pond and 6 Moorhen there (2ad, 4 juvs). 

Ocean Edge: 1 Wheatear

Red Nab: 1 Little Egret

Outfalls: 8 Mediterranean Gulls between wooden jetty and H1 outfall(5ad, one with white ring), 3 x1CY. 

Guillemot 1 on sea off H1. Grey Seal near H1.

Harbour: 7 Linnet, Grey Wagtail, Rock Pipit

Vis: Pink-footed Geese flocks of 8 and 39 south, Meadow Pipit 7, Grey wagtail 1, Swallow 

09:30 - 10:45 (Malcolm)

I started at the saltmarsh before the LDBWS group checked there.

Linnet 70+ - c35 on the saltmarsh and c40 flushed from the flotsam, left by the recent spring tides at Red Nab, by a dog

A few Linnet remained on the flotsam.....

.......as did Rock Pipit

....... and Meadow Pipit

Wheatear 5 along foreshore and Red Nab

Wheatear

Meadow Pipit 3 grounded and group of 4 south

Rock Pipit 8 - 1 on Ocean Edge grass (slightly unusual), 2 on the flotsam at Red Nab. Plus 5 on the sloping wall by the lighthouse, this is after the LDBWS group had left and only saw 1. At least 3 of them came in from the north side.

Rock pipit on Ocean Edge grass

Linnet on Ocean Edge grass

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

I keep popping here at the moment as Janet is out of action for the foreseeable future (arm strapped up after remedial surgery).

More Tufted Duck today 31 - 19 on the main pond plus 12 on the "no swimming"

Gadwall 6

Other wildfowl as recent

Swallow 3

House Martin 2

Tufted Duck drake

Gadwall

For the second day running a bird flew directly towards me, I'm starting to get a complex! These Tufted were on the "no swimming" pond. I couldn't adjust the focus quickly enough to keep up with it!

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 female

Great Spotted Woodpecker 

It was feeding on dead branches, presumably Ash, as there is a lot of ash dieback affected trees here. You can see the wood chips fly.

Imperial Rd (Malcolm)

I've not reported anything from here in ages. Not for lack of observations, I stop by regularly, but for the lack of anything to report! I checked again today and apart from a couple of swallows, saw nothing. No sign of any Buzzards for weeks.