Harbour area-fest

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall area
Black Redstart: The adult male was seen between the sand plant and the centrica storage area mid-morning, then a Bk Red was flushed from the gravel alongside the centrica s.a. before flying under some pallets at 1310hrs. The views were brief and almost exclusively rear-end but it didnt appear to be an adult male!!
Little Gull - adult blogging offshore mid morning. This is the first for some time in the absence of a regular outfalls bird this autumn
Shag - juvenile on the wooden jetty
Twite - up to 5
Med Gull - 2 x 2nd W & adult

Red Nab/outfalls
230 Black-headed Gull, 89 Wigeon and an adult Med Gull

Insects
Mottled Umber and Light brown Apple Moth in the trap

Elsewhere
The light-bellied Brent Goose was again off Sunny Slopes. The Black-necked Grebe still on the borrow pit at the end of Lancaster Quay. Great White Egret still Leighton Moss

A very good day's birding in this area.............

Heysham Obs
...........with Heysham Obs playing a full part

Thanks for the early posting, John.
Highlights
Black Redstart: adult male Heysham NHW found by John Wood at 1130 hrs just past gate adjacent to sand plant using mounded earth, fence and sea wall between many feeding flights. Unfortunately could not be found in the afternoon but may have flown across the harbour to other suitable habitat (SD36V Atlas record)
Black Guillemot: on and around the wooden jetty (SD35Z Atlas record)
Pale-bellied Brent Goose: A 'seen-from' juvenile just to the north of Heysham Head on the skeer off Sunny Slopes. A bit of a sense of shame with this bird as it was surely the same one recorded on the HT WeBS in mid-October by the Regent road groyne. Poor coverage! (46B)

North harbour wall
Twite: 3 at feeding station - two with blue over yellow rings, indicating old birds ringed in the 2002/3 winter. Also on mound were: 5 Goldfinch, 8 Meadow Pipit, 2 Robin and one Wren (SD36V). Adult and just one 2nd W Med around

Sea
The only observation was: Shelduck 11 'in'. Might improve later this week (Pom Skua??)

Vis from the Obs 0800 - 1000 hrs.
Woodpigeon 131 W/SW, 21 NW, 3 E, 2 S
Starling 126 N/NW, 11 S/SW
Carrion crow 3 S, 5 SW then E with 7 Jackdaw (SW then E)
Jackdaw (see above)
Siskin 4 NE
Greenfinch 15 S
Chaffinch 2 S
Mistle thrush 2 S
Skylark 2 E
Grey wagtail 1 W
Sparrowhawk 2 over Reserve at same time, one low SW, one NE at pylon height.

In addition, 5 Whooper Swan flew south past the north harbour wall at about 0745hrs

Middleton IE
4 Mute Swan, 6 Coot, 8 Moorhen, 7 teal, 5 Tufted Duck, 1 male Pochard, 29 Snipe (45E)

Insects
Migrant Hawker on Middleton IE - first November record. Two Common Darter NR dipping pond. NNEW moth trap but White Speck trapped JUST outside the recording ares at 342 Heysham Road. Definitely a potential 'seen from'!

Elsewhere
Black-necked Grebe still on the borrow pit at the end of Lancaster Quay. Great Grey Shrike adult Dalton Crag. At least 29 Common Crossbill Thrushgill (possibly 38). Great White Egret came to roost on the island mere, Leighton Moss, at 1650 and there were 13 Little Egrets also roosting there. Polish-ringed Med Gull P96 on Lancaster City football pitch and Belgian-ringed 36W north Morecambe promenade. Via the Fylde BC website: near-adult Yellow-legged Gull Glasson (for SECOND day)

Migration continues

Heysham Obs
Vis mig from by the office
0745 - 1045 hrs. All SW unless stated:

Starling 571 NW; 157 SW; 8 E (high up). A total of 28 flocks.
Greenfinch 18
Jackdaw 11 SE (late for this species to be on the move still)
Chaffinch 5
Woodpigeon 9
Mistle thrush 8 + 3 E
Kestrel 2 N
Mute swan 2 N
Skylark 3 SE
Great spotted woodpecker 3 SW
Siskin 4 E
Goldfinch 1 & others (<10) 'blogging' (or were they? - a tricky species to document) Raven on one of pylons (46A)

Moneyclose Lane/Ocean Edge/Red Nab area
Redwing - 5 on Moneyclose Lane (45E)
Linnet - 27 on Ocean Edge south field (45E)
Twite - 6 on Ocean Edge south field in separate flock to above (45E)
Med Gull - the large Ad sat on the sand off OE saltmarsh (45E)
Rock Pipit - one on OE saltmarsh (45E)

North harbour wall
Windswept in the morning with just one 2nd W Med seen

Insects
5 Feathered Thorn and a White-shouldered House Moth in the trap. Two active wasps near the feeder

Elsewhere
A quality new arrival in the form of a Black-necked Grebe on the new 'borrow' pit between the Lune and Freeman's Wood at the south end of Lancaster Quay. Great White Egret from Griesdale Hide Leighton Moss. Hawfinch at Woodwell. A late afternoon visit to Thrushgill was too late but Crossbill and Redpoll spp. heard. Late news concerns a Waxwing seen well sitting on a tree, loosely associated with Fieldfare and Redwing, on the west = golf-course side of the road between Leighton reception and the causeway late afternoon on Thursday 1st Nov (per two Scottish birders).

Atlasing in SD36V!

Heysham Obs
The first visit since the dawning of the new Atlas. SD36V was given the treatment - this is a tetrad where the only high tide land is the sandworks section of the north harbour wall. It can be very birdless in mid-winter so it was important to snaffle some lingering seed eaters etc.!

North harbour wall (SD36V)
Highlighted by a Wren, a Linnet, 7 very short-staying Twite (no good for photography this autumn - very skittish in the absence of a proper feeding station which has been hijacked by feral pigeon), 8 Goldfinch with the usual also-rans including 3 (Ad & 2 x 2nd W) Med Gull and the resident Robin. Three Whooper Swan flew south-east over Heysham head.

No sign of the Black Guillemot or any Shag.

Heysham reserve and area
The open-aspect non-op land failed to register any Black Redstart although 3 Meadow Pipit were useful for the Atlas, along with a Bullfinch on the tank farm. The main feature was the virtual lack of thrushes compared to the end of October, with Blackbird particularly reduced and just a single Redwing seen

Ocean Edge
36 Linnet on the football pitch and area

Forgot to check the moth trap in the rush to beat the traffic/check Thrushgill in daylight

Elsewhere
At least 17 Common Crossbill (a flock of 17 seen, then a flock of 11 which was assumed to involve some of the same birds), 36 Lesser (or unident in some cases) Redpoll, 11 Siskin in Thrushgill plantation with an abundance of cones this year. Good stuff for the Atlas!
Very few thrushes in upper Hindburn with just one flock of 36 Fieldfare and 4 Redwing encountered. This is a contrast with reports of abundance in the yew-filled limestone woodlands around Arnside/Silverdale. Great White Egret Leighton Moss.

October summary

Heysham Obs
Three key observers unavailable today and the weather in northern England was what was supposed to be in southern Scotland (e.g. A1 awful between Angel o.t.n. and S. Corner early afternoon, never mind the west coast) so ringing was not an option. The only news item so far was a Light Brown Apple Moth and Angle Shades in the moth trap. Am I really going to trail up to North Uist this evening/early morning.......[Mourning Dove at Clachan]

Here is a summary for October:

Systematic observation took place at Heysham Obs on all but two days (4th, when Flamborough was a better option and 11th when the weather was rubbish). This usually involved an attempt to census grounded night migrants (+/- mist netting) and an average of two hours per day counting visible migrants. Also the usual routine checks of the coastal areas counting Mediterranean Gulls, checking for Black Guillemot etc..

The theme of this month was the rapid transit by many of the migrants as periods of clear weather on most nights allowed birds to move on, as did a fair nunmber of clear, calm sunny days. Therefore I would be extremely wary of wording such as Redwing and Fieldfares "arrived at" as opposed to "passed through" when assessing the nature of this month's migration. For example, there were several mornings late in the month with "50+ or 50-60 Blackbird" and it would be easy to dismiss them as being "in residence, having discovered the hawthorn berries". Careful observation, however, especially of those within range of the vis mig site by the office, revealed that there was a continuous 'through-put' of birds with individuals occasionally taking off and flying high inland, others moving, usually in a generally SE direction through the bushes to be replaced by a new gang of berry eaters.....and so on. This period was punctuated by much larger influxes on 21st and 28th which helped to confirm the impressions as four Blackbirds at any one time in a given hawthorn bush suddenly became eight on those two mornings!

Another theme was a few species which are not normally conspicuous on vis mig. In this respect, only the high-flying individuals were logged - some of the other sightings may also have been birds on more than a 'local circuit'. The main species were Great Spotted Woodpecker, Coal Tit, Jay and especially Bullfinch. See vis mig list below for actual total.

One species which IS conspicuous on vis and which occurred in good numbers (although nothing like nearby Walney) was Jackdaw - this species does not nest at Heysham and therefore migrants can be easily discerned The other noticeable theme concerned the number of species which were either way above par or conspicuous by their absence - very few species seemed to be occurring in "average" numbers for the 27 year dataset Species conspicuous by their absence on the ground were: Wren (usually a noticeable passage early-mid month), Blackcap (no birds accompanying the thrush passage late in the month) and Goldcrest (just no mornings producing more than 20 individuals - this was most unexpected following a good spring passage and does imply a very poor breeding season) Conspicuous by their absence on vis mig were Redwing and Fieldfare, yet there were plenty flying over more inland sites - this is the way it goes some autumns - the grand total for both species has been beaten by single migratory flock on many occasions in previous Octobers

It was quite a good month for scarce species without coming up with a major rarity: Treecreeper - one on 10th, Yellow-browed Warbler - one ringed on 7th, almost certainly another on 8th (almost certainly not ringed). Suitable conditions for one often produce another with this species - indeed the first record for Heysham involved three individuals. Garden Warbler - late bird on 7th. Black Redstart - one for a couple of hours on 15th. Lesser Whitethroat - latest ever records for here - one ringed on 14th and perhaps the same on 18th - sadly not one of the eastern forms. Common Buzzard - one on 20th . Reed Warbler - late bird on 19th. Firecrest - male with a LTT flock on 18th. Woodcock - migrant on 27th. Ring Ouzel - 1st winter male with migrant Blackbirds on 26th

Vis mig totals for the month saw record numbers of common finch species. Most of these birds were flying S or SW:
Pink-footed Goose 4593
Starling 3019
Chaffinch 2322
Greenfinch 1028
Meadow Pipit 742
Goldfinch 611
Redwing 503
Siskin 497
Jackdaw 452
alba Wagtail 405*
Woodpigeon 190
Fieldfare 164
Skylark 122
Linnet 116
Blackbird 115**
Song Thrush 102**
Mistle Thrush 96
Carrion Crow 87
Brambling 76
Rook 71
Long-tailed Tit 68***
Bullfinch 42
Swallow 36
Grey Wagtail 32
Reed Bunting 31
Collared Dove 29
Coal Tit 29***
Great Spotted Woodp. 13
Jay 12
Crossbill 11
Dunnock 10***
House Martin 7
Kestrel 4***
Whooper Swan 4
Sparrowhawk 4***
Cormorant 4***
Pintail 3
Tree Sparrow 3
House Sparrow 3
Grey Heron 1
Twite 1
Merlin 1
Rock Pipit 1
Green Woodpecker 1
Golden Plover 1

* many specifically identified as White
** many more than usual either flying over high or rising out of bushes and heading off general SE high. These were all, of course, presumed to be continental birds
***Only the most obvious "purposeful high-flying birds" included in this category. Cormorant are very rare over this site and all 4 were together and this is the first Pintail record actually over the 'vis' site.

In conclusion, Heysham is not a particularly special location for migrants but it is a good site for combining all aspects of migration (seabirds/vis/ringing/counting grounded birds) and the systematic coverage provides very useful comparative information which can be entered on national or even international visible migration sites and, at the end of the year, it provides consistent annually-comparative data which can be used in county and local bird reports

Thanks to the team for ensuring such good coverage this autumn - pity about the (lack of) Leach's Petrels and other storm-blown seabirds - no storms!

Red-listed football field

Some of the 17000 Knot on the helipad today

Heysham obs and area

Two of our key red-listed species were plastered over Ocean Edge football field today, comprising 72 Linnets and 150 Starling.

Vis
0830-0930
Chaffinch 5 >S
Greenfinch 15 >S
Starling 23 >NE, 27 >SW
Sparrowhawk high >W

Red Nab
Large unringed adult Med Gull, probably the elusive regular wintering bird.

North Wall
adult and second winter Meds (around anglers and the heliport end)

Insects
Feathered Thorn, 2 Angle Shades and Light Brown Apple Moth
The feathery antennae of this Feathered Thorn shows it is a male.
Elsewhere
Great White Egret still at Leighton Moss

End of season............or is it?

Heysham Obs
The radar suggests another pulse of thrushes to come in the next day or so but will the weather synopsis allow a significant landfall in this area? Today had a real 'fag end of the autumn migration season' feel........but we'll see what the next few days brings. Various weather forecasts just checked are somewhat contradictory as might be expected when highs and lows are vying for position and the north-west is in the zone of uncertainty. Looks reasonable for some late season overnight moth trapping!

Vis mig by the office 0830-1100
Greenfinch - indeterminate movement to and from the feeder undoubtedly included some passage birds (see ringing)
Jay - 1SW
Mistle Thrush - 5SW
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 1 high to the W
Redwing - 11SW
Chaffinch - 2S
Meadow Pipit - 3SE
Starling - 5S, then 295 NNW in 14 flocks
Woodpeigeon - flock of 31S
Grey Wagtail - 2S was a surprise & perhaps they were prospective winter residents appearing to be on vis mig when seen

Thanks John for most of this

Ringing
15 lightweight Greenfinch trapped with 13 of them being female, an equal mixture of adult and 1st W. This is typical of captures later in the passage period.

Heliport
'Loads' of Knot!

North harbour wall
22 Wigeon floating in on the sea was unusual. Single adult and 2nd W Med Gulls. 8 each of Goldfinch and Meadow Pipit on the 'mound'.

Insects
Late Red-line Quaker and Pink-barred Sallow in the moth trap along with Angle Shades. 10+ wasps on willows in the mist net ride by the office.

General
The road is VERY dangerous between the traffic lights and the reserve - please stick to 20mph, especially on the blind bend - there are a lot of non-car owners with young families on Ocean Edge. Sympathy and a quick recovery to the people involved in the accident today.....fortunately not involving pedestrians.

Elsewhere
Ad & 2nd W Med Gulls at Bank End. NNEW on the Great White Egret - a BBRC rarity such as this should really be phoned in on a daily basis.......please.

Another example of the 10 metre tide and solitary Sanderling

Heysham Obs
Landbirds were at a premium today in a stiff westerly wind and the bushes were conspicuously devoid of Blackbird with no more than 10 around the office/visible tank farm. A few bits on the coast but little time to seawatch.

Vis from the office 0830-1015
Thanks for persevering John

Greenfinch - 36SW
Chaffinch - 4SW
Jay - 1SW
Starling - 184NW, 77N and 12SW - none of these sightings suggested dispersing roosting birds

Two Raven passed through as is becoming a virtually daily event

Seawatching
15 minutes from Ocean Edge foreshore near HT revealed a flock of 16 Kittiwake and 2 Razorbill flying 'out'

Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Highlighted by a Sanderling accompanying 11 Ringed plover and 5 Dunlin. 41 Linnet were also on the upper tideline (the only tideline!)

Wooden jetty/north harbour wall
You are hardly worthy of a caravan and some tarot cards by predicting a juvenile Shag on the wooden jetty during westerly winds and indeed one obliged today along with what I think is a record 58 Cormorant. Just one 2nd W Med Gull was noted today but no bread used.

Heliport
A flock of 17,500 Knot was estimated from all different angles & came to roughly the same number! This roost does considerably vary in numbers each day

Insects/mammals
Angle Shades in the moth trap and yet anoth in a good recent run of daytime fox records by the Obs Tower.

Elsewhere
Great White Egret seen from the Griesdale Hide, Leighton Moss this afternoon. Three Scaup (eclipse ad drake and two adult female) on Glasson basin/marina. "Stubble burning" at Cockersands revealed just 35 Skylark, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Stonechat.

Yet more Blackbirds

Heysham Obs
Office-bound from dawn during quite atrocious conditions which cleared to reveal significant numbers of Blackbird and some finch vis mig. There was a lull in the wind as the weather cleared and a single mist net was set at the feeder & a small amount of vis undertaken.

Vis mig from the office 1115-1145
Chaffinch - 4 SW
Greenfinch - 28 SW +/- landing by the feeder to join other birds
Goldfinch - 26 S
Siskin - 2S

Grounded by the office
An absolute minimum of 48 Blackbird were seen in the bushes around the car park area, including 35 in one 'sweep'. A further c25 were estimated on the visible part of the 'tank farm'. This was the largest number of Blackbird I have seen this autumn and its a pity a full census could not be carried out as it would surely have beaten the previous highest of c150. These dispersed rapidly during the clear weather in late morning and the dog invasion

Ringing
The mist net round was just that as the wind increased whilst extracting the catch, which included 7 new Greenfinch.

Ocean Edge saltmarsh
The 10 metre tide watch flushed 6 Snipe and one Jack Snipe. Kingfisher in the area (as is usual these days)

North harbour wall
3 x 2nd W and one x adult Med Gulls were present early afternoon but no wind-blown Shag despite a high count of 44 Cormorant on the wooden jetty. No sign of the Black Guillemot as is usual in the afternoon

Miscellany
The star bird of the day was an eastbound Greylag over Ocean Edge

Insects
The rain cleared to leave sunshine and high temperatures for this time of year. Apart from an increase in wasp numbers after they appeared to have died off during last week's frosts, sightings included a 'large bluish dragonfly' on the reserve which was surely Migrant Hawker along with at least 9 Common Darter on Middleton IE. A Red Admiral was by the office late morning. The moth trap contained a late Silver Y and Feathered Thorn

Elsewhere
Great White Egret (and 8 Little Egret) still roosting on the island at the northern end of Leighton Moss this evening. Two Jack Snipe predictably flushed by the tide on Glasson Marsh along with 7 Twite and 2 Rock Pipit agg. Male and female Scaup on Glasson Marina and two distant Scaup off north Morecambe

Woodcock bonus

Heysham Obs
Thanks John & Malcolm for sussing out that the early morning conditions could produce another dose of migration - it did! Highlighted by a Woodcock flushed from bracken below tank farm at 1115hrs - first of the autumn. Tomorrow will hopefully see some attention switched to the sea for the first time in ages. At the very least, some of the large Razorbill passage along the Cumbrian/Lancs open sea coasts might divert in.

Vis. from by the office 0815 - 1145 hrs. All SW unless stated.
Starling 23
Greenfinch 35
Fieldfare 46 + 42 over Middleton IE
Chaffinch 142
Jackdaw 1
Goldfinch 21
Mistle thrush 6
Redwing 7 + 4 over Midd. IE
alba wagtail 4 SE
Song thrush 1SW + 1 S
Grey wagtail 1 E
Meadow pipit 2
Linnet 16 SE

Grounded/off-passage
Visible from the office during the morning: 2-3 Goldcrest, Sparrowhawk & 2 Great spotted woodpecker.

Approximately 50-60 Blackbird were located on BE properties with observations by the office suggesting some movement through the bushes in a generally southerly direction, but no birds "taking off" and flying inland as is the case during clearer conditions

North harbour wall
One 2nd W Med near the heliport

Middleton IE
Goldeneye 2 f/imm - first of autumn
Snipe 25
Jack Snipe 1

Elsewhere
Nothing on the pager/LDBWS website other than a 1st W Spotted Redshank at Sunderland - ominous silence from Leighton Moss with respect to Great White Egret etc this last few days. Is it still hanging in there for the "winter" atlas starting on 1st Nov?