Flying belated visit

Heysham Obs
A fascinating but late night listening to a very informed discussion in the Bridge Inn between Jim Bowen & half a dozen locals on music and old shows led to a bleary mid-morning emergence [I do work w/es so take the odd weekday 'off'!].

North harbour wall
Med Gull - just one adult seen
Twite - 19 on seed, others heard
Purple Sandpiper - one visible in short scan
Quick scan offshore revealed zero

Observer: Pete Marsh

Elsewhere
4 European White-fronted Geese showing well on the Lune floodplain with Greylags just north of Bull Beck car park (& 1+ Pink-footed Goose). No obvious sign of the Black Redstart at Glasson.

Teal top the bill!

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall area
Purple Sandpiper - 4 below wooden jetty
Red-throated Diver - 1 out & 1 in, poor given the visibility & length of watch
Kittiwake - adult in harbour
Med Gull - THREE adults to bread NHW
Teal - 3 out
Wigeon - 8 on sea of Half-Moon Bay
Grey Plover - 6 stage 1 outfall
Great Crested Grebe - 2 (1 in summer plumage)
Eider - male
Red-breasted Merganser - 3 pair
Twite - 36 on seed, including 5+ unringed and one ringed at Askam in Furness end of October 2008.

Observers: Macclesfield RSPB group. John Wood, Pete Marsh

Elsewhere
Female-type Black Redstart Fishnet Point, Glasson, also 5 Bewick's Swan

The windchill sets in

Some interesting weather coming up with the cold weather coming from a much better bird-wise easterly source than the previous spells this winter (apart from Arctic Gulls - but this isnt much use when you have lost your rubbish tip). It could include some cold-weather movement following extensive snow to the immediate east (including being snow-bound at Ashley's?) on Sunday night. It would be nice to document some of this without getting hypothermia. This is also Smew weather and Pine Lake has a good history........

Coastal sightings
Purple Sandpiper - 2 wooden jetty
Med Gull - 2 adults on railings along NHW from c1330hrs but not before then
Pink-footed Goose - 88 + 2 South; 31 North
Shelduck - 1 + 1 out
Red-throated Diver - 2-3 offshore
Golden Plover - c45 + 7 in-off towards Red Nab (most unusual here; I (Pete) have never knowingly seen Golden Plover from the North Harbour Wall in nearly 30 years of regular observation (c/f a parallel with the other days Lapwing?))
Grey Plover - 7 out
Wigeon - 96 off Red Nab
Twite - none seen, but more food put out

Middleton IE model boat pond
Male Pochard & 3 Goldeneye
Rest of site
2 mute
10 coot
3 moorhen
1 female pochard 21 mallard
19 tufted
42 teal
35 & 42 pinkfoot north

Ocean edge
171 lapwing
c35 Golden plover flew across form Red Nab direction then SE overland towards Overton/Sunderland. 9:45

Observers: John Wood & Malcolm Downham

Elsewhere
4 European White-fronted Goose visible from Bull Beck car park with Greylags & one Pinkfoot. 6 Scaup north Morecambe.

North harbour wall visit

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall
Not for long - nearly axphixiated by the fumes from an incoming rust bucket called West Express.

Purple Sandpiper - 2 together on the outer section of the wooden jetty
Med Gull - one in harbour
Red-throated Diver - 2 offshore
Nothing behind the two ferries of any interest

Red Nab/outfalls
Wigeon - only 35 seen
No Little Gull

Observer: Pete Marsh

Elsewhere
6 Scaup off north Morecambe and Ad Med Gull in region of Strathmore Hotel.

Lapwing sensation

Heysham Obs
Local patch coverage over many years occasionally throws up the most amazing sighting which thoroughly unimpresses the rest of the world. Its usually to do with absences and the most regular example at Heysham is to get really excited about Jackdaws - definitely migrants; they dont like Heysham chimneys! Today's mega sighting was a long straggling gang of Lapwing flying low over the sea on a north to south heading, as observed from the north harbour wall. Unprecedented, even as a cold-weather movement!

North harbour wall 1145-1210
A pretty good 15 minutes watching the sea and a few extra minutes watching the back of the IOM ferry and checking the wooden jetty
Lapwing - 136 as above at 1205hrs
Pink-footed Goose - 31+29 SW (yes SW)
Red-throated Diver - 9 out, including gang of 4, in just 15 minutes of actual seawatching
Wigeon - flock of 42 out (unusual)
Purple Sandpiper one on the outer section of the wooden jetty
Med Gull - 2 ad following IOM ferry into port
Twite - very brief view of 25 ish in flight
Kittiwake - the adult still around the waterfall in the SW corner of the harbour but none behind the IOM ferry.

No coverage of the Ocean Edge/outfalls area & no sign of any Shag on the wooden jetty/in harbour

Observers: Lou Cross, Pete Marsh

Elsewhere
No sign of any Greylags by Bull Beck but 1,850 Pink-footed Geese alongside the Heysham bypass. 6 Scaup north Morecambe

Of fog and flotsam

Heysham Obs
Visibility was seriously challenged today. An attempt to locate the IOM ferry with its bird-gathering potential led to a 25 minute vigil at the harbour entrance listening to an intermittent foghorn along the shipping channel, then realising the noise wasnt making a lot of progress

Floating objects in the harbour mouth
Guillemot - one
Murphy can - one
Plastic bottle - one worn individual with the words Strawberry and 3,612 calories (as seen at 50 x) written thereon
Anonymous white container - one
Unidentified wood spp. - one piece

Mound
c38 Twite but skittish

Elsewhere
Nothing by 1445hrs

Lunchtime visit

Heysham Obs
Guillemot - one in harbourmouth
Little Gull - 1st W Stage 2 outfall

Observer - Mario Chin

Elsewhere
6 Scaup still off north Morecambe. No obvious sign of Greylag flock off Bull Beck

Snipe surprise

Heysham Obs
Ocean Edge foreshore/Red Nab
Snipe - at least 28 roosting out in the open on Red Nab (saltmarsh not covered by tide)!
Wigeon - 94
Red-throated Diver - one on sea far offshore
Little Gull - 1st W sat on the calm sea

Moneyclose Lane
Catkins agg. (alder?)

North harbour wall
Shag - juv still on the wooden jetty
Med Gull - two adults together on the railings
Twite - 42
Red-throated Diver - one far offshore, prob same as above

Observers: Alan Draper, Jen & Jeff Butcher, Pete Marsh

Elsewhere
Egyptian Goose with Greylags in fields at northern end of Leighton Moss. 21 Little Egrets in the island roost at Leighton Moss

Shag a welcome year tick amongst a good selection

Heysham Obs
Shag occurrences are usually limited to autumn juvenile influxes which gradually disappear (e.g. about 28th December 2008) or very occasional strictly transitory birds. Therefore a juvenile roosting on the wooden jetty at high tide today was unexpected.

The other feature today was an example of the unpredictable nature of the north harbour wall. Saturday is normally much quieter than Sunday but an attempt to catch Twite was unsuccessful due to a semi-resident angler plus 3 kids & dog and, when they had finally gone, really unfortunate timing by arriving police patrol and birders. Today at 1100hrs: not a soul anywhere near the feeding station, despite high tide!

Birders could help by not getting out of their cars if a black-coloured Rover is parked next to the feeding station with a 'whoosh' net set ready for action! Thanks very much & please remember that any Twite you do see are very much courtesy of this ringing study/feeding station - they would not be here otherwise, but offering much less satisfactory and unpredictably located views on the saltmarshes

Seawatch 0920 - 1145 hrs & north harbour wall 1100hrs
Kittiwake - adult in the harbour by the "waterfall"
Pink-footed Goose - 3 South; 45+52+16 North
Greylag Goose - 1 North
Great Crested Grebe - 4 out, 1 in & 2 offshore
Red-throated Diver - 6 out; 5 in
Guillemot - 2 offshore + 1 out
Auk sp - 2 out; 1 in
Shelduck - 1 in
Common Scoter - male out 1102 hrs
Duck sp - 15 out, very fast and very low over sea
Shag - juv wooden jetty
Little Gull - 1st W Stage 2 outfall
Med Gull - adult NHW
Twite - 46 Sand Plant gate
Linnet - 1 over Reserve
Perhaps surprisingly, no sign of any Purple Sandpiper

Visible from the recording area boundary(ish)..............
Pink-footed Goose - 1076 in fields just east of the met mast alongside the A683 Heysham bypass at least 1030-1530 - thoroughly grilled & not even a neck-collar or darvic

Observers: Malcolm Downham, John Wood, Pete Marsh

In addition to above:
Red nab
1 Purple Sandpiper flew in from along South Wall 1hr before high tide
21 snipe (plus 15 from Ocean Edge)
123 wigeon (didn't count shelduck as they were scattered into several groups from Ocean Edge to outflows)
c 30 Twite/Linnet flock
(MD)

Elsewhere
At least two European Whitefront with partially obscured views of the Bull Beck Greylag flock. Little Gull off Morecambe lifeboat station at lunchtime. The Wray 'crest is a Goldcrest.

Moondance farewell

Heysham Obs
.........sailed out for the final time - Denmark awaits.

Seawatch 0905-1050 hrs (HT 1019)
Kittiwake adult near S1
Purple Sandpiper 2 very low on middle section of wooden jetty
Pink-footed Goose 65 & 104 North, from Fylde direction, then into the Bay, long way out; + 52 East, high up from Barrow direction.
Red-throated Diver minimum 3 with odd singles 'in' and 'out' could have been same birds.
Guillemot 2
Eider pair 'out'
Shelduck 3 'out' + 1 'in'
Med Gull adult
1040 hrs 75 Bar-tailed Godwit 'out'
Wigeon 3 'out'
Twite 33, later 54 by Sand Plant gate

Middleton Industrial Est (MD)
2 mute
9 coot (last species to fully re-colonise after the freeze)
3 moorhen
18 mallard
8 tufted
1 pochard (female)
16 teal
95 pinkfoot East 11:30

Elsewhere
European White-fronted Geese (2 ad & 2 juv) showing well by Bull Beck car park on the Lune floodplain. No sign of the Hooded Crow by lunchtime. Probable Firecrest visiting a garden in Wray for the last few days