The importance of ferries

........especially when there is one ferry entering port and not others leaving Fleetwood or even Heysham turning the trail of gulls around before they are within visual range. This was the case with the IOM passenger ferry today and will also be the same at c1200hrs for any NYD listers targeting at least Kittiwake

Heysham Obs
IOM passenger ferry
Good numbers of gulls trailing this ferry included:
Kittiwake - 7 adult
Little Gull - adult and 2nd W
These all motored out of the Bay as soon as the ferry reached the harbour, therefore timing very important

North wall/harbour/wooden jetty
Purple Sandpiper - Three - One in the Heysham One/wooden jetty area on the incoming tide and two on the Near Naze (rocks by the heliport) from at least 1115hrs which flew towards the harbour at
1220hrs
Twite - mixed flock with Goldfinch - at least 11 Twite including black over white colour-ringed bird = ringed here three winters ago.
Further confirmation that there are no Shag left in the area and no reappearance of the Black Guillemot
Med Gull - Ad & 2nd W and quite probably a different 2nd W (with less black) briefly behind the IOM ferry
Red-throated Diver - one out about 1205hrs

Red Nab/Ocean Edge
Kingfisher - perhaps two again in this area
Just Common Snipe seen during the coverage of Ocean Edge saltmarsh by the tide (30ish?) plus a single Reed Bunting

Elsewhere
Pine Lake
Male Ruddy Duck new in - hope it stays for the New Year as this species is really tricky these days with the decline of the small breeding population at Leighton Moss
Female Ferruginous Duck x Pochard hybrid in exactly the same place as yesterday along the eastern side, just north of the big car parking area
Morecambe seafront
Couldnt find the Pale-bellied Brent as I also couldn't yesterday - the posting was from information earlier in the morning, but the mobile Polish-ringed Med. Gull (P96) was on the Regent Road groyne
Lune valley
Similar number of swans to yesterday but could not see any detail because of trees

A mobile Christmas!

Able to do a day's birding interrupted by work (Morecambe Groyne counts) and lots of two-way texts and calls. Pre-mobiles this would have been labelled as extreme, indeed selfish, anti-social Christmas behaviour.

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall & area
Mediterranean Gull - Ad & 2nd W on the railings
Twite - 27 around
Bar-tailed Godwit - 11 Half-Moon Bay was unusual
Kingfisher - probably 2

Red Nab/outfalls/Ocean Edge
Med Gull - one ad sat on the sea

Moth trap
One Winter Moth

Elsewhere
Pine Lake: Female Ferruginous x Pochard hybrid along the E. shore. Another odd Aythya (Tufted-type) female which may have some Ring-necked in ancestry (greyish suffused wingbar & head shape etc) but views distant & hampered by active feeding
Morecambe seafront: The new Sunny Slopes groyne is becoming a significant wader roost c/f 363 Redshank, 17 Ringed Plover, 11 Dunlin, 1670 Oystercatcher, 15 Knot, 1 Curlew (and a Kingfisher). The other major feature, other than the continued presence of the Pale-bellied Brent Goose, was 12 Reed Bunting (this is the coastal section in the middle of urban Morecambe!) by the Regent Road groyne on the rocks by the spartina. I seem to remember Jon Stagg having a similar figure a year or two ago but this is my first above the 'one-two' level. One Rock Pipit by the Battery groyne. Belgian-ringed Med Gull by the Strathmore
SD66: Quite a lot of good atlas records but nothing worthy of mention until a male Hen Harrier over Starkers Moor to the accompaniment of Bach's harpsichord Concerto in D minor (pseuds corner material?). Thrushgill was disappointing with the only finch being a single Bullfinch. No sign of the Snow Bunting yet again & presumed gone (or just displaced by a few hundred metres!)
Lune valley: At least 16 Whooper Swan still in the fields (with Mute Swan) between Melling and Hornby, viewable from the high point fo the A683

What a negative cold spell!

General
Reviewing the period of cold weather, now it has finally been broken, leads to a conclusion that there were no 'pluses' but a considerable number of 'minuses', leading to a pretty birdless North Lancs at the moment as regards the 'usual' scarcer odds and ends.

The cold spell apparently "got rid of " Great White Egret, all the Shag, Ringstones Snow Bunting and has been responsible for the lack of Kittiwake, Little Gull, Common Guillemot and other odds and ends associated with 'normal' winter weather. No additional species have materialised during this weather, with Pine Lake hosting the largest collection of wildfowl I have ever seen without any interesting feature (couldn't even find the Ferruginous x Pochard hybrid this afternoon), no extra Waxwings nationwide or movement by the ones in Scotland/NE England and nothing, other than a few extralimital records of species which are resident in the area, materialising from 'perfect' atlassing weather.

It can only get better - Cattle Egret would be a good start! Currently there is no chance of making 100 species on New Year's Day in the LDBWS recording area - we are missing far too many of the 10 or so species needed to reach the 100 mark. As a result, but also for a change, two of us who usually do dawn to dusk on 1/1 are going to do the fourth year of the eight hour 10km survey instead which will, of course, produce quite a few good Atlas records.

Heysham Obs
The only sighting of interest today was the usual Ad Med. Gull by the heliport just after HT.

Insects
See yesterdays late posting

Elsewhere
Pale-bellied Brent Goose on the northern side of the Morecambe Battery groyne at HT. Med Gull P96 back on Lancaster City Football Pitch after its cold weather sojourn on Morecambe seafront (surely Morecambe FC would be better quality, especially after yesterdays bull-bashing?). One Water Pipit seen at Leighton Moss. Thorough check of Pine Lake comprised 1000+ common wildfowl!

Saved by the Reeve

Heysham Obs
Despite a fair bit of early morning coverage, an extra day of calm frosty weather saw nothing at all doing (even Med Gulls) apart from a most unexpected Reeve accompanying a small group of Redshank at high tide on the shingle next to Ocean Edge saltmarsh. This is the first winter record from here.

Insects
A most unexpected Common Quaker in the moth trap!

Elsewhere
Canadian-ringed Pale-bellied Brent Goose by the Battery Groyne at high tide. Belgian-ringed adult Med Gull by Morecambe Broadway. Two Water Pipit Lilian's Hide Leighton Moss. No sign of the Snow Bunting in a short late-afternoon visit to Ringstones Lane (but pair of Stonechat still). Great Grey Shrike and Green-winged Teal still just outside the LDBWS recording area at Stock's Reservoir - the former very mobile. Just the sort of record to justify the Winter Atlas has been the presence of one or two of the red-listed Marsh Tit at feeders at Botton Mill and Lower Thrushgill (Upper Hindburn) - quite a range extension for a sedentary species on recent data. No known check of nearby Thrushgill plantation c/f Crossbill etc. in the last fortnight (anyone contradict?)

Pretty dead

Heysham Obs
Yes, enough of the frosty stuff, lets get a few more waifs and strays in the harbour area. Funny time of year this; some winter periods see Kittiwake and Little Gulls as low profile 'count fodder' but others, such as this last spell, elevate anything, whose occurrence remotely relates to periods of onshore winds, to highlight status

Today was pretty rock bottom on two north harbour wall/harbour mouth/offshore checks, with apologies to 22 Twite on a secret new feeding station (dont tell the pigeons) along with a solitary Goldfinch and the usual Czech-ringed adult Med Gull.

Elsewhere
Predictable sightings of at least one Water Pipit at Leighton Moss otherwise usual Saturday shortage of records. Just outside the area but nearer my house than Heysham = Green-winged Teal at Stocks Reservoir along with a sighting of Great Grey Shrike

Pinks on the move

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall
2nd W Mediterranean Gull. There may have been two different 2nd W today and there were certainly two adults - the outfalls bird and the Czech-ringed north harbour wall bird. Also TWO Kingfisher. Twite (see below)



Ocean Edge saltmarsh - morning frost. This held c16 Snipe and a Reed Bunting but the only strictly coastal small finches logged today were 18 Twite near the sandworks entrance along the north harbour wall.

Harbour area
Negative news once again on any Shags and the Black Guillemot was not seen either today. No Purple Sandpipers located but these can be really elusive! Guillemot in the harbour

Vis mig
Flocks of 27 and 61 Pink-footed Geese heading south this early morning

Elsewhere
A sequence of low and intermediate tide counts along Morecambe foreshore revealed Polish-ringed Med Gull P96 on the Battery Groyne just after HT (it has been here before in the days when it was paired to the late 5HR but has latterly spent its time on or around Lancaster Football Club pitch! Obviously frost-displaced. A Little Egret by the Stone Jetty, before being chased off north by a gull was unusual at this site in winter (c1400hrs)

Blasts from the not too distant past

Heysham Obs
The male Black Guillemot (or at least an ad winter with similar habits) reappeared this morning and was found sitting on the wooden jetty mid-morning and then on the water in the harbour entrance at lunchtime. Last seen 4/11/07.

Purple Sandpiper on the rocks below the wooden jetty

11 or so Twite with 10 or so Goldfinch mobile between south and north harbour walls

At least one Water Rail in the Nature reserve marsh

41 Pink-footed Geese south mid -afternoon.

Definitely no Shag in the harbour at lunchtime (low tide) and no sightings of any Meds

Elsewhere
Continuing the theme, the female Ferruginous x Pochard hybrid was on Pine Lake close inshore on the eastern side just before dusk - this bird has been very hard to find this autumn/early winter. Purple Sandpiper by the Stone jetty, then flew to the old Sandylands sewer pipe.

No coverage?

Heysham Obs
Nothing as yet

Elsewhere
Brief flight-only views of the Ringstones Snow Bunting as it flew towards Loftshaw Moss on the east of Slaidburn Road at 0930hrs. Note the usual approach road through Barleybank was like a bobsleigh run this morning

What a struggle!

.......to find something to put on this site

Heysham Obs
Harbour/north wall
After c30 totally fruitless mins in the field, the usual Ad Med Gull was seen following the IOM ferry out of port. No Shags (despite a low tide check), no small passerines, no Purple Sands (see Elsewhere), no 2nd W Med.

Red Nab/Ocean Edge
c20 each of both Linnet and Twite on OE football pitch/saltmarsh respectively. Also 16 Snipe flushed from the saltmarsh

Ad Med Gull Heysham 2 outfall (the usual unringed bird on this side of the harbour) and 89 Shelduck on Red Nab along with the 'usual' Kingfisher.

Elsewhere
TWO Purple Sandpiper in the region of Morecambe Stone Jetty

..........and again

Heysham Obs
Three juv Shag in the harbour, again acting as 2+1. Ad & 2nd W Med Gulls north harbour wall. One Linnet behind the sandplant and a flock of c20 Goldfinch notable there early morning only.

Elsewhere
No reports of the GWE at Leighton Moss for the last few days and it was apparently not in the roost last night (9 Little Egret). Up to 8 Water Rails at Aldcliffe.