Red Nab, Outfalls & Harbour

Heysham Obs
Med Gull: Reappearance of adult in full summer plumage on NHW with 1st W also there this afternoon
Shelduck 9 off Ocean Edge.
Red-breasted Merganser pair RN.
Kittiwake 2 ad outfalls.
Little Gull Ad & 1st W outfalls.
Shag 5 in harbour + 1 wooden jetty.
Wigeon 33 RN down from 71 on the 3rd but tide much further out today.

Elsewhere
Summer adult Med Gull Battery groyne this afternoon. 10 or so Whooper Swans still viewable distantly from Farleton on A683 - in 'centre' of floodplain. Purple Sandpiper Stone Jetty this morning

Reappearance or new bird?

Heysham Obs
Thanks to John Frankland for keeping the coverage going: 1st W Med Gull around the harbour entrance along with at least one Shag

Elsewhere
A Canary-like 'fencehopper' along the A588 just south of the sewage works road at the southern end of the 30 limit. Flew across the road into the housing estate. Ad Med Gull (unringed) Stone jetty at lunchtime but no sign of the Purple Sandpiper. No sign of the Lesser Snow Goose, or indeed many PFG off Pilling Lane Ends

Useless wet strong southerlies

Heysham Obs
Ad Little Gull outfalls, two Shag harbour - both during token coverage in late afternoon

One March Moth in the trap

Elsewhere
Lesser Snow Goose & 7 Barnacle Geese Pilling Marsh before the rain, similarly 3 Spotted Redshank & 2 Greenshank Conder & 3 Scaup Glasson marina. At least 10 Whooper Swan on the Lune valley floodplain opposite Farleton, though distant.

No Sand Martin Pine lake but 4 Shoveler & a male RB Merganser new in. Sand Martin reportedly at Leighton Moss in the afternoon (no further info)

Red Nab, Outfalls & Harbour

Core area
Little Gull 1st W & adult on both outfalls then on Red Nab as tide came in 10.00 hrs.
Shag 3 in harbour + 3 on wooden jetty.
Cormorant 17 wooden jetty.
Wigeon 71 Red Nab.
Kingfisher on the south harbour wall at 0845hrs, then flew over Power Station

Middleton IE
3 Little Grebe, 8 Tufted Duck, 2 Teal, 3 Snipe

Thanks to John and Malcolm for today's news

Elsewhere
Very little news from this area today. Med Gull in the Black-headed Gull colony on the Public Mere at Leighton - aged as 2nd summer. Lesser Snow Goose on Pilling Marsh in the morning but no sign in late afternoon (but 6 Barnacle Geese & one Taiga Bean Goose). Three Little Egret on nearby Middleton Sands

2nd March 2007

Heysham Obs
Just a report of at least 2 Shags in the harbour

Elsewhere
Intermediate-morph Lesser Snow Goose, considered to be of wild origin and tracked from Norfolk, with Pinkfeet at Pilling Lane Ends and area throughout the day. Also two Taiga Bean and 5 Barnacle Geese. 3 Scaup Glasson area. Purple Sandpiper back at Morecambe Stone Jetty.

Heysham Obs
3 Kittiwake in the harbour this morning (1 1stW), ad & 1st W Little Gull around the outfalls and 2-3 Shag around harbour/wooden jetty. Goldcrest by the NR office possibly an early migrant

Elsewhere
Female Scaup Lilian's Hide Leighton Mos, 5 Avocet EM pool complex

Low key start for seabird migration

Heysham Obs
Very short time spent seawatching saw a flock of 12 Kittiwake heading into the Bay then landing in a closely-packed group on the water. Kittiwake migration, often including some very large flocks, is a feature of the forthcoming month with 800+ on one day last year. On a slightly higher key were flocks of 14 + 4 Red-throated Diver seen flying out of the Bay from the SJ by Ian Hartley. This is an early date for obvious passage birds. ALL mobile seabirds seen from anywhere between Heysham & SJ will be reported here (& reference also made to JBP records).

Ad & 1st W Little Gull outfalls

2 Shag in harbour (thanks to Tom Wilmer for this record) & 3 seen later on the wooden jetty by Ian Hartley

No sign of north harbour wall Meds by Tom or myself - adult at least presumably definitely gone

Elsewhere
Red Kite reported by Redwell Fisheries at 1330hrs (B6254 Carnforth to Kirkby road, about 2 miles east of Over Kellet)

..and slowly they disappear

Heysham Obs
No sign of the adult Med Gull along the north harbour wall for a few days and no sign either of the 1st winter today, despite wasting some Rossisky bread

The Shag seem to be down to 2 individuals, unless others were lurking around the wooden jetty/outfalls

In contrast, the ad and 1st W Little Gull were both still on Heysham 2 outfall

Elsewhere
Avocet increasing to 4 on the Allen/EM Pools. Drake Scaup off north Morecambe

Large gulls back to 'normal'

Heysham Obs
A similar visit this late afternoon failed to reveal any unusual numbers of large gulls with perhaps 50 scattered around, mainly adult LBBG, including 'scoping' the 3km or so tideline impact zone of last night's 4-wheel.

Ad & 1st W Little Gull Heysham 2 outfall in the morning

93 Shelduck on Red Nab

4 Twite along Ocean Edge foreshore

At least 2 Shag and 1st W Med Gull harbour area

Thanks to John Wood for most of this info.

Unexpected gull roost

Heysham Obs
So you think you know your local patch! A visit to the southern end of Ocean Edge to see what was on the tideline in late afternoon saw (an unprecedented??) 520 large gulls (approx 35% LBBG, 40% imm HG and 25% ad Herring Gull) on the mudflats/tide edge along with c250 Black-headed and one Ad Med Gull. A 4-wheel drive was careering around the mudflats to the south, probably celebrating the Countryside Agency now setting the tone re-behaviour on SPAs, and this may have led to some 'corralling' in the Heysham direction but most new arrivals were flying straight over the nearby old Pontins site.

If this roost continues for the next few weeks, it is surely a candidate for one of the many white-winged gulls which will presumably head north with (or without) migrant LBBGs.

At least one Shag was in the harbour and the 1st W Med Gull was along the north harbour wall. A high tide visit saw the 1st W Little Gull flying around the outfalls but no sign of the Ad which was probably sat on the sea out of sight.

60 Greenfinch were on the feeder by the office - plenty here c/f the trend elsewhere being very few at garden feeders

Middleton IE: 4 Mute, 9 Tufted Duck, 1 Pochard, 5 Goldeneye, 2 Little Grebe, 23 Teal, 20 Common Snipe, 15 Coot, 9 Mallard

Elsewhere
2 Avocet Allen/EM Pools. Male and 2 female Scaup Glasson area