Uninspiring weather

Heysham Obs
Drizzle and poor visibility from the west is a poor recipe. No lunchtime passenger ferry today. NB Dont believe the Metcheck forecast for tomorrow (see Link)!

North harbour wall - early dropping tide
Single Purple Sandpiper feeding along the wall with what appeared to be another sleeping with Turnstone on the wooden jetty but light/distance difficult
Med Gull - 2nd W north wall
Twite - 2 around the sandplant area

Insects
Considering the number of moths seen at High Tatham last night (76 in 2km of road involving at least 3 species), it was disappointing to find none in the trap. Any readers with traps/sheet & light facilities - may be worth trying to find your nearest deciduous woodland [although tonight is Noah's Ark weather]. There are unprecedented numbers of moths for this time of year and, in the case of Spring Usher and Early Moth, it may be the only chance!

Elsewhere
Barnacle Goose of dubious but unknown origin with Canadas on Heaton Marsh (& Little Egret). Adult European White-fronted Goose still on Catshaw Fellside. Pale-bellied Brent still off Royd's by the Sunny Slopes Groyne. At least 4 Little Egret in the Leighton roost. Yet again, nothing of interest on Pine Lake but persistence will surely pay off! The Ferruginous Duck x Pochard has disappeared again and may be the bird back at Stocks Res. See above re-moths - Dotted Border, Pale Brindled Beauty, Early Moth, Spring Usher, Dark Chestnut and Chestnut recorded at High Tatham last night/morning trap check.

Distant Ducks

Heysham Obs
The Wigeon flock is usually a discrete feature, with no others in sight looking south along the water's edge. Not so today, but unfortunately views were late afternoon at low tide from the north wall looking through the fresh air sections of the wooden jetty with a 50 x lens. Therefore whilst most of the 300 or so additional ducks seemed to be Wigeon, there may have been Pintail (NEVER seen at rest on the sea in the Heysham Obs area despite many passage birds!) & Mallard involved as per the usual mix to the south of here. Also visible at extreme range in the Walney direction were at least 25 of the 3000+ Eider counted in the 'mouth' of the Bay the other day! Otherwise a very poor day, given reasonable morning & late afternoon coverage.

Vis mig
c150 Pink-footed Goose north early morning

North wall
Linnet - single bird on the sandworks was the only small finch seen
Med. Gull - single Ad visible through the wooden jetty on the mudflats between the outfalls
Eider - male close inshore (see intro)

Outfalls area
127 Wigeon in the usual low tide area between the outfalls channels (see above for additional birds which were beyond the old sewage pipe off Ocean Edge)

Middleton IE
5 Goldeneye (1 male), 6 Tufted Duck, female Pochard, 35 Teal, 2 Mute Swan, 6 Coot, 14 Mallard, 1 Snipe. 2 Bullfinch.

No Purple Sandpiper [but no check made of the skeer around Heysham One outfall] or north harbour wall Med Gulls seen (including a check of the harbour)

Elsewhere
Adult European White-fronted Goose still on the side of Catshaw fell - visible from the road. Male Common Crossbill Thrushgill plantation in the larches near the entrance but the only other finch seen was a single Goldfinch. NO Nordic Jackdaw out of c200 checked in SD66 but very flighty due to shooting. Male Hen Harrier Clougha area (56K) & day-flying Barn Owl (disturbance, rather than hunting, from the behaviour) in the same area.

No sign of Iceland Gull during lunchtime visit in poor visibility

Heysham Obs
Didn't really expect to see it, even in decent visibility, as it seemed very much in transit yesterday. If we still had the rubbish tip...........

North harbour wall/IOM passenger ferry
Due to the wind & poor visibility, birds following the ferry were just shapes in the mist unless attracted to the turbulence created by the right angled turn into the harbour. Several presumed Kittiwake seemed to be heading out in the mist, but the only birds of interest feeding in the turbulence were:

Med Gull: large adult, presumably the 'south of the harbour bird'.
Little Gull: adult
Kittiwake: adult

None of these followed the boat into the harbour

A less than conscientious check of the skeer along the north wall did not reveal any Purple Sandpiper & no finches seen on the mound/sandworks in the strong wind. Two Cormorant feeding at the harbour waterfall.

Elsewhere
Pale-bellied Brent Goose on the tideline off Sunny Slopes. Otherwise zero on the pager/websites for this area (to 1800 at least)

A day of two halves

Heysham Obs
'Wet and wetter', the early update headline.........referred to the morning opening & closing of the NHW gate. The afternoon visit, coinciding with the passing of the cold front was altogether much better with a juv Iceland Gull accompanying a small 'passage' of Herring Gulls which appeared to have been tidally displaced from the Ulverston direction. It was lost into the sun heading down the main boat channel at 1505hrs and did not follow the incoming freight ferry back into port. Unfortunately it was too far out/I was not quick enough to get a record shot as the priority was to rule out a small Glaucous! See Bill Aspins site which has just been added to the Links. Caspian, Glaucous and Iceland found on the same day in Lancs - not bad in these rubbish-tip-free times! Well done with the Caspian, Bill. I have decided not to submit the Middleton bird from early 2007 as I was still in the pre-dinosaur period as regards cameras & this species needs to be documented as such so far NW.

North Harbour Wall 1045hrs
Twite - 4
Purple Sandpiper - one on rocks on the south side of the harbour mouth

North Harbour wall from 1500-1525hrs
Juv Iceland Gull out at 1505hrs (about 500m offshore at the closest point)
Purple Sandpiper - one on the end of the NHW, then ten minutes later, two with small group of Turnstones flying & landing on wooden jetty. I suspect, but couldnt prove, three birds
Med Gull - 2 Ads and the usual 2nd W joined the freight ferry as it turned into port
Kittiwake - 5 behind the freight ferry soon returned out of the bay

Elsewhere
Single Purple Sandpiper at the seaward end of the Stone Jetty at Morecambe. Water Pipit at a wet Leighton Moss. Zilch on Pine Lake (16 Goosander)

TWO Purps again

Heysham Obs
Just a very quick North Harbour wall trawl - TWO Purple Sands at the base of the south harbour wall next to the wooden jetty. Med Gull (Ad) offshore. Nothing finch-wise on the mound and the harbour waterfall remains celibate.

Elsewhere
TWO Purple Sandpiper Morecambe Stone Jetty morning and lunchtime. 3 Scaup in Glasson area still.

A moth!

Heysham Obs
Moth trap
A Dotted Border was the first moth of 2008

North wall early stages of incoming tide
Twite - 9
Med Gull - ad offshore
Purple Sandpiper - one below the south harbour wall next to wooden jetty

Elsewhere
Two Purple Sandpipers Morecambe Stone jetty and a Water Pipit at Leighton Moss

New Med behind ferry

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall
Just 11 Twite seen on the journey to and from the end at lunchtime

IOM passenger ferry
Kittiwake - 5 adults following, 4 of which peeled off and flew out and the fifth fed in the turbulence created by the sharp turn after rounding the wooden jetty, then also flew out. It is unusual that the only chance of this species at present is following ferries or in 'gale transit'.

Med Gull - Adult and a 2nd W following the ferry until the turbulence then both quickly 'out' along the main boat channel. The 2nd W was a new bird, large with quite a bit of black on the head and just small amounts of black on the primary tips. The usual 2nd W (see previous pics for the extensive black outer primary shafts) and the Czech-ringed adult were not seen today.

Elsewhere
European White-fronted Goose still at Catshaw Fell from at least mid-morning. Two Purple Sandpiper as yesterday at Morecambe Stone Jetty near high tide. Four Bewick's Swan with 76 Mute Swan Jeremy Lane and three unringed Twite on the fence next to Conder Pool at high tide - c15 Linnet were in the vicinity. Ad Med Gull (female size, with dark on the head limited to very clearly defined masks which did not appear to join over the rear crown) with very muddy rear end in field of similar ilk along Hillam Lane. Hundreds of gulls grilled.

WeBS lowlights

Quality photographs taken in 2007 of any dragonflies, Purple Sandpiper and the Pale-bellied Brent Goose gratefully received for the annual report and will be fully acknowledged with contact e-mail if requested. Thanks in anticipation. Please send to Jean Roberts or Reuben Neville, NOT Pete Marsh who cannot receive Broadband!

Heysham Obs
Difficulties accessing the site this evening - probably ashamed of the quality of this posting.

North harbour wall
Ad & 2nd W Med Gulls
12 Twite

South of harbour
12 Snipe flushed from Ocean Edge saltmarsh by the tide otherwise....

Elsewhere
In the context of this winter and indeed former track record, the presence of three Blackcap at the Leighton Moss main feeder this last two days is unexpected (2 males). The Morecambe Prom WeBS produced the Light-bellied Brent at Sunny Slopes, TWO Purple Sandpipers at the Stone Jetty and the female Scaup close inshore at Bare. Much reduced numbers of Redshank and small gull species - presumably wet fields being the answer. Two Scaup and two Greenshank in the Conder area. European White-fronted Goose still by Catshaw Fell

Traffic census of the Barrow-Ulverston coast road

Heysham Obs
Seawatching from the north harbour wall
A bit of long-range scoping a fairly calm incoming tide in the hope of one or two of the Walney 'goodies' from yesterday - see Links. In one hour, 234 vehicles went north and 155 south. No birds were seen during the two hour watch other than:

Common Scoter - male flew in (first of the year)
Red-throated Diver - 2 very distant in & landed on water
Eider - 2 in

There were not even any Great-crested Grebe floating in with the tide - this would have been unthinkable 15 years ago.

Closer inshore/onshore
Ad & 2nd winter Med Gulls
Single Purple Sandpiper on the rocks at the end- flew over to south side of the harbour
Twite - 10 at the sandworks entrance

Middleton IE webs
2 Pochard (male new in), one Tufted Duck, c20 Mallard, 10 Coot, 2 Mute Swan, 13 Teal, 3 Goldeneye, 18 Snipe. Also 2 Raven east and c350 Pink-footed Geese north

Elsewhere
Little Egret over the Stone Jetty early morning was unusual

Half a whistle stop

Heysham Obs
Apologies to the hordes accessing the site this evening for the late posting. I have been working away, then what turned out to be far too major a detour to pick a revamped accordion up from near Consett!

North wall
Drove down to the sandworks gate, then drove back again & away (1000ish).
Twite - 2 on seed by gate
Goldfinch - 4 on seed by gate
Med Gull - 2nd W along wall

Anything else?

Elsewhere
Nothing startling other than perhaps 60 Goldfinch at Conder. Three Scaup still at Glasson basin and the female off Morecambe Stone jetty but no Purple Sandpipers reported/nearly run over today