Heavenly squeaks

Heysham Obs
Much calmer conditions this morning and potential observers under the cosh with work or looking after mist nets. Therefore a vis morning which required the utmost attention, due to the height of the birds, received just 'sample' coverage. Mist netting saw most of the Goldcrests being females, signalling that we are definitely in the "second half" as regards passage of this species.

Vis mig
Meadow Pipit
Three sample counts reducing in duration as the end of day work deadline loomed! 133 between 0800-0900, 25 in 15 minutes early afternoon and 15 in 10 minutes at 1600-1610hrs. This gives a pretty consistent all-day passage, albeit very high and indiscernable in a noisy environment.

Other species 0800-0900 comprised: 1 Chaffinch, 8 Pied Wagtail, one Redpoll spp (very early for Lesser to be on the move), 4 Linnet, 3 Greenfinch

Grounded/ringing
15 Goldcrest, 3 Wren, 1 Robin, 1 Blackbird, 1 Blue Tit, 2 Chiffchaff were ringed. These were probably all at least short-distant migrants. A single Wheatear was at Red Nab.

Misc.
1st W Little Gull still around Heysham 2 outfall but no Shag seen around the waterfall or on the wooden jetty

Elsewhere
..........suggests we missed a passage Osprey within viewing range of Heysham - one seen flying over Warton Crag following at least one over south Lancashire. Returning male Marsh Harrier to Leighton Moss - identified as the bird of at least the last three years. Drake Scaup off the Stone jetty

Bits and bobs

Heysham Obs
A few problems this morning so coverage was not as intended.

Visible migration
Suggestion of about 50/hour Meadow Pipit north during the morning. 9 Siskin were recorded heading north during the period just before and after midday

Middleton IE
Same as yesterday plus the dubious highlight of the first grounded (feral) Greylag (4) for the recording area this year. It is a measure of how slow things are that a visit to the Portland Bird Observatory website saw a similar 'daily highlight' - two Canada Geese!

Elsewhere
Adult Med Gull in the Lune valley near Loyne Bridge

A bit too clear

Heysham Obs
Grounded migrants
Very few birds which could be determined as migrants during the course of the first breeding bird census of the year for the British Energy properties. Only 6 Goldcrest could be found and just one (of these) was ringed. No sign of any Wheatear on the coastal areas

Visible migration
Slightly better with c58 Meadow Pipit and 12 Pied Wagtail north during the period 0830-1000hrs.

Middleton IE
Female Pochard still, also 7 Tufted Duck, 4 Goldeneye, 6 Teal and 3 Snipe.

Miscellaneous bird sightings
Just one 1st W Little Gull noted on the outfalls. No time to check the harbour area. Highlight of the first mapping session of territorial birds on British Energy properties was a staggering 36 singing male Wren...........and this did not include the ideal habitat in the 'tank farm'.

Insects
Male Brimstone on Middleton IE & sightings of 2 Small Tortoiseshell and one Peacock

Elsewhere (locally)
'Dead' according to the pager and LDBWS website!

Trickle of early migrants

Heysham Obs
Visible migration
Meadow pipit 62 generally North 0900 - 1015hrs, part count prior to 0900 suggesting similar numbers.
Pied wagtail 6
Goldfinch 2
Carrion crow 3 'in' past wooden jetty
Greylag Goose: 7 'in'
Red-throated Diver: one 'in' at 1235hrs

Inshore records
Shelduck 36 off Ocean Edge + 10 off RN
Little Gull adult & 2 1st W outfalls
Shag 2 juv in harbour + 1 wooden jetty
Great crested grebe on sea
Red-breasted merganser 2m + 1f

Ringing
29 new birds including 12 Goldcrest, 5 Blue Tit, 3 Robin and surprisingly 2 Dunnock

Insects
First (male) Brimstone of the year. 7 Common Quaker and 5 Hebrew Charcater in moth trap

Poor visibility = thrushes

Heysham Obs
This morning saw weak frontal cloud and poor visibility. When this happens in March, it often produces a rather autumnal-style grounding of migrant thrushes (and any mist netting usually reveals this to be accompanied by unringed Robins). Grounded thrushes at Heysham are rare in spring with most of them presumably racing overhead during hours of darkness as can sometimes be ascertained by flight calls. A fairly early morning visit saw 15 Redwing and two Fieldfare in the willows to the north of the car park - these flew high inland. A few minutes later, 2 (continental) Song Thrush lifted out of the tank farm scrub and similarly headed inland. More tricky to evaluate was the 'impression' of migrant Blackbird with three males together along the entrance road.

A short late afternoon visit to the outfalls produced the now 'resident' adult & 2 1stW Little Gull. 500 Knot on the mudflats off Red Nab as the tide was ebbing. 2nd year Med Gull & 3 juv Shag seen. Two Raven hanging around the reserve, landing on pylons during the afternoon

Elsewhere
An increase in islandica Black-tailed Godwit in the Carnforth Marsh area to 720, including three with colour rings.

A low ebb

.....in more ways than one. The lowest low tide I have ever seen at Heysham this late afternoon..........and the only opportunity for birding = the 'guaranteed' Little Gulls on Heysham 2 outfall - just 2 x 1st W - and a bonus in the form of 7 Eiders plonking down off the seaward end.

"500+" Pink-feet were seen from JBP flying over Heysham and towards the Lake District early afternoon

Moths springing back to life with 2 Hebrew Character in the trap

Elsewhere
Highlighted by 3 x Bottle-nosed Dolphin and 2+ Harbour Porpoise seen c2 miles off JBP........and therefore presumably also off Heysham but no time to look today. At least some of these were also seen at JBP yesterday.

Red Nab, Outfalls & Harbour

Shag 5 juv wooden jetty
Kittiwake 2 adult + 1 1st W harbour
Little Gull adult + 2 1st W outfalls
Shelduck 12 off Ocean Edge
Grey Plover off OE
Mistle thrush OE foreshore carrying food
Skua sp 0950 hrs 'in' heat haze hampering visibility

Elsewhere
10 Whooper Swans on Lune floodplain - displaced slightly to the north by a quadbike = opposite Wray road/A683 junction

Red Nab, Outfalls & Harbour

Little Gull TWO adult + 1 1st W outfalls & one of adults in harbour later
Kittiwake 3 ad + 1 1st W in harbour
Red-breasted Merganser 2M + 1F off Red Nab
Shag Two juv wooden jetty
Shelduck 10 off Ocean Edge; poor showing compared with recent counts here.
Raven - two of this scarce but slowly increasing visitor over the reserve
Mistle Thrush with food Ocean Edge foreshore (see John's posting for tomorrow)

Elsewhere
10 Whooper Swans still viewable distantly on the Lune floodplain from the A683 at Farleton. Purple Sandpiper still on the Bubbles Groyne, Stone Jetty mid-morning at high tide

Rougher than yesterdays photo=waves right over the top of the tower!

Heysham Obs
Seawatching
Half an hour of saltspray saw a flock of c200 (or more accurately 'a lot of') Kittiwake lift up from and then land again on the water - all appeared to be adults - and practically nothing else other than 5 singleton Kittiwake heading out close inshore.

Outfalls
Ad & 2 x 1st W Little Gull outfalls on dropping tide along with 6 Kittiwake (one 1st W)

Harbour
2 juv Shag and one 1st W Kittiwake

Wooden jetty
Single juv Shag and 21 Cormorant

Rest of WeBS
Most birds had been displaced leaving the Heliport and the grassland at the southern end of Ocean Edge as the only roosts: Oystercatcher 3,350 + 750, Turnstone 12, Ringed Plover 4

Middleton
Perhaps one of the outfalls Little Gulls at high tide. Wildfowl included: 5 Mute Swan, 4 Little Grebe, 5 Tufted Duck, 4 Goldeneye, 2 Teal........plus 5 Snipe

Insects
Amazingly another Mottled Grey (2nd ever record) plus single Clouded Drab and Hebrew Character in the moth trap which was at least on the leeward side of the building!

Elsewhere
10 Whooper Swan still on the Lune floodplain but recorded on the WeBS, not in the usual place. Scatter of Kittiwakes from coastal locations and single Fulmar past Cockersands.
7 Little Egret together on Colloway Marsh at high tide and a single Barnacle Goose accompanying the Pinkfeet at Aldcliffe. Light-bellied Brent Goose Jenny Brown's Point to mid-morning only

First Gannet of the year

If only conditions had been like this!

Heysham Obs
Seawatching
Early morning visit 'totally unproductive' (one hour). 3 adult Gannet out together c1000hrs (also seen from the Stone Jetty). Later a flock of 10 Kittiwake flew in

Miscellaneous Heysham Obs records
Ad & 2 1st W Little Gull Stage 2 outfalls
Shag: at least 4 juveniles around harbour/jetty/NH wall
Wigeon 1 male Red Nab
Shelduck 118 off Ocean Edge + 14 Red Nab; 2 "out"
Pheasant female Red Nab end of nature park. This is the first record for two years on the main BE properties!
Coal tit with metal ring seen today; probably indicating the continued presence of at least a resident male in the area. For the last two years, one has been singing along Moneyclose Lane near the main conifer area but no obvious sign of breeding success or indeed a suitable nest site.

Insects
Just a handful of Common Quaker, Hebrew Character & Clouded Drab in the trap the last few nights - mind you this could be rather more than in the next few, given the weather forecast. It is easy to forget that in some of the last twenty years, only one or two moths in total have been recorded by mid-March. Bumble Bee spp. reported today - normally this might represent the first record but this year at least two species have been out for nearly three weeks

Elsewhere
Light-bellied Brent Goose on the edge of the saltmarsh at Jenny Brown's Point - reported as looking sickly. Female Common Scoter at the most unusual location of Crook of Lune - sat in middle of river - still there at 1145hrs but not mid-late afternoon. 10 Whooper Swans still visible distantly on the Lune floodplain from the A683 at Farleton and the long-stayer still on Aldcliffe Marsh. Purple Sandpiper showing well at the end of the Stone Jetty. Low 20's of Sand Martin at Pine Lake and Leighton Moss this last three days but no wildfowl of interest on Pine Lake today. Still 2,500 Pink-footed Goose on Colloway Marsh but conditions/range prevented thorough search for other species from the cycle track