Reserve hopping Marsh Tit

Another dry day but overcast for much of the time. Calm early on then a very gentle SE breeze.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Ringing report by Jean:

The ringing list for today, dominated by Chiffchaffs:

Chiffchaff 17

Long-tailed Tit 11 Including 3 recent retraps)

Goldfinch 7

Blue Tit 7 (including one from a brood of 10 at Middleton)

Grey Wagtail 6 caught out of 10 over

Cetti's Warbler 4 (inc a recent retrap)

Great Tit 4 (all recent retraps and including 2 birds from the same brood in a Heysham nest box)

Goldcrest 3

Reed Bunting 1

Meadow Pipit 1

Robin 1

Chaffinch 1

Wren 1

Dunnock 1

Marsh Tit 1 - the same one that was at Heysham on Monday. It had travelled 2km.

7 skeins of Pinkfeet flew over. A Raven was heard to the east. Two Buzzards calling and seemed to be heading south, a Sparrowhawk flew north. A Water Rail squealed in the marsh. Kingfisher 1 mid morning.

Heysham skear (Malcolm) 08:30 - 10:00

Pink-Footed goose 180 in four skeins south. These will be additional to those seen from Middleton as they were all far to the west.

Four ducks flew in high from the north:

Shoveler 1

Wigeon 3

Shoveler leading 3 Wigeon

Eider 9

Red-Breasted Merganser 8

Red-Breasted Merganser

Great Crested Grebe 5

Great Crested grebe, juvenile on right

Shag at least 2 juvenile feeding

Shag having a spruce up

Shag diving with Great Crested Grebe and a Red-Breasted Merganser

Grey Heron 1

Little Egret 14 - these are some of the Egret and Mergansers feeding

Gulls c100 mainly Herring

Oystercatcher at least 1500 flew from the shear to rest on the shore to the south 

Curlew 25

Redshank only 30 seen 

Knot 150 many of them juveniles 

Turnstone 25

Ringed Plover 6

Common Snipe 2 came in off the sea and continued east

These are some of the Knot, it doesn't show much, but there was no wind, so all you can hear is the sound of the tide coming in and the soft calls of the Knot.

South shore (Malcolm) 14:30 - 16:00

By this time it was quite warm and there was or had been some insect movement.

Nature Park:

Migrant Hawker 1

Common Darter 3

Red Admiral 2

Painted Lady 2

Worn Painted Lady topping up on clover nectar

Large White 2

Small White 6

Common Blue 1

Common Blue

Red Nab:

Common Darter 1

Small White 5

Foreshore:

Small White 10

Saltmarsh:

Common Darter 1

Male Common Darter

Small White 26

Red Admiral 1

Small Tortoiseshell 1

Common Blue 1

I didn't go along the sea wall as I wanted to see what waders were on the shore. I'd have been better off going along the wall as there were only 5 Ringed Plover and 2 Dunlin on the mud.

Lapwing 4 on the saltmarsh 

Wheatear 3

Rock Pipit 1