A few bits at low tide

Could do with a vis migger this autumn - our most regular observer is not available. Please contact Jean. Thanks.

Heysham Obs
Med Gull - 2 juv/1st W off Red Nab
Common Tern - juv Stage one outfall
Arctic Tern - juv (with above) Stage one outfall
Grey wagtail - 4SE
no Meadow Pipit vis early morning
Wheatear on North Harbour Wall

Vis by the office 0900-0930 & casually
Swallow - 3 S + 16S late afternoon
Meadow Pipit - 2S
alba Wagtail - 1S
Carrion Crow - flock of 6 SE - quite early the the autumn for obviously migrating corvids
Siskin - 2 flew south late afternoon

Grounded by the office
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Whitethroat - 1

Ringing
Some scintillating ringing late afternoon, as the wind relented, comprising a mixture of Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Dunnock and Blue Tit

Elsewhere
Osprey high over Aldcliffe early pm

Thorough check of outfalls at low tide

Todays German-ringed Med being ringed on the Elbe estuary!

Heysham Obs
This just goes to show that quick scans with a scope from the Ocean Edge end are not enough. A lot of the Meds were on the mudflats between the wooden jetty and Stage one outfall and these are not visible from quick from-the-car-scanning on the north harbour wall or Ocean Edge. Thanks to Mark Prestwood for sorting out last week's green darvic individual (see below) and also confirming the continued presence of the Czech-ringed adult

Ringing recovery
Med Gull
Ringed: Pionierinsel Luhe, Elbe Est, Niedersachen, Germany, Ad F nest 23/5/09
Seen: Knott End, Preesall Sands 6/8-21/8/09 (4 occasions)
Seen: Heysham outfalls 30/8 & 6/9/09

Outfalls area early-mid morning
Arctic Tern - one juv
Common Tern - ad & juv
Med Gull - 5 adult, one 3CY & 4 juv/1st W (see above) - presumably 2 of these ads on Red Nab
Common Gull - 2 juv
Wheatear - 6

North harbour wall
Fulmar - 1
Shag reported

Vis 1025-1050 office area
Grey Wagtail - 3 SE together at 1040
Meadow Pipit - 1SE!
Swallow - 6S

Middleton IE
Tufted Duck - 11 (including 4 juvs)
Raven - pr & 3 young

Elsewhere
Nothing yet on pager

Trumped by the Mersey

Heysham Obs
Fairly decent wind for us today with quite a bit of 'S' in it compared to yesterday. So the Mersey mouth should be 'rubbish' compared to Morecambe Bay, but this wasn't the case with prolonged views of what appears to be Lancashire's (forget the 'north merseyside' bit) first Wilson's Petrel. As regards here, its amazing how a bird as cumulatively common as Leach's Petrel, where I have personally seen hundreds over the years at Heysham, creates so much excitement when the first of the year=usually autumn is seen! This happened today.

North harbour wall 0915-0945 & 1130ish to 1415ish
Leach's Petrel - one out at about 1146hrs (& possibly it or another, or indeed a completely different species/genus/taxon, wheeling in at very long range at c1220hrs)
Black Tern - juvenile out close inshore at 1214hrs (but not on outfalls=HT)
Gannet - 5 adult out, 2CY in (very close)
Med Gull - juvenile & adult blogging - still not sure whether this is the Czech -ringed bird (see also below)
Sandwich tern - 2 ad out, ringed bird close inshore at HT (see Lee Harrison site)

Ocean Edge/Red Nab/outfalls various times during the morning (4 observers)
Med Gull - large adult & different juvenile
Common Tern - 2 adult, 2 juv
Arctic Tern - one juv, still inshore at HT
Wheatear - 7 along recording area coastline

Elsewhere
Ad F Marsh Harrier SW over Braides Farm, Cockerham 1845hrs

Bit of early morning seawatching

Weather watch: Anyone targeting tomorrow; might be best to stay local and not 'waste your time' on the Mersey (unless there is a lingering 'one-off' (aaaargh, there was)). The strength of the wind is not particularly clever, but it is the right direction over the tide for Heysham & even JBP. Fingers crossed for a decent bird on the (power station) outfalls. Please could you leave interesting bird sightings = e.g. all seabirds in the letterbox on the HNR car park fence. Thanks - this includes all terns these days!

Heysham Obs
The wind was too north-westerly to drive any numbers of seabirds into the Bay today but did produce some terns to look at after what has been a tern-starved year for lingering, especially perching birds. Ocean Edge south beach roost held a nice 'combo' at 1315hrs of juvenile Arctic Tern, adult Common Tern, ad & juv Meds and.....Mute Swan. Need to get the camera organised.

North harbour wall & Ocean Edge on & off until c1050hrs
Arctic Skua - 2 juv into the bay, one close
Arctic Tern - 1 ad Red Nab, i juv roosting OE early afternoon
Common Tern - 2 juv outfalls for a short time, ad roosting OE early afternoon
Sandwich Tern - 3; one juv outfalls, 2 out
Kittiwake - juv out
Gannet - 3 offshore
Guillemot - one 2CY in harbour
Med Gull - ad & juv Red Nab, later OE south beach/saltmarsh
Mute Swan - adult Ocean Edge off south shore

See new link http://leeharrisonsnaturephotography.blogspot.com/ for photos of ad & juv Meds at Heysham Harbour mouth

Elsewhere
Wood Sandpiper Conder area, Curlew Sandpiper juv at Braides Farm fields

Coverage of sorts produces a few seabirds

Not a lot of optimism about tomorrow re- decent numbers of seabirds and anyone at JBP is probably completely wasting their time, as it is going to be a very marginal direction for even Heysham. Also no obvious influx of Leach's Petrel today - remember the current depression, formerly storm 'Danny', was originally tropical and therefore on perhaps too southerly a track over the Atlantic. Early to mid-morning probably worth a look for a few bits and bobs

Heysham Obs
Rather belated intermittent coverage from 1000-1300 from both the outfalls and north harbour wall side. A sizeable wheeling thing at about 1150hrs looked interesting but it was too far away... By far the commonest birds were wheeling juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gulls!

Coastal area
Skua spp - one out rather distantly at 1020hrs was probably a juv/dm Arctic
Bonxie - 2 seeming to follow the IOM ferry in about 1155hrs, then across the bay
Gannet - 7
Fulmar - 4
Manx Shearwater - 17, including a straggling flock of 14
Arctic Tern - one juv
Sandwich Tern - 2
Med Gull - ad & 2nd W off Ocean Edge, the latter perhaps a 'new' bird
Eider - 2 off Ocean Edge
Wheatear - one n.h. wall

Elsewhere
Wood Sandpiper Conder area. 4 Bonxies flew out as seen from JBP at about 1300hrs

Osprey & Grey Wagtails liven things up

Heysham Obs
That rarity, an erected mist net, made its first appearance for some time, as did two Grey Wagtail which were duly colour-ringed (see right hand column)

Osprey
Seen flying south along the coast & flushing everything by a car-load of visiting birders at c1230hrs (Lee Harrison et al)

Ocean Edge etc
Med Gull - adult Red Nab, & 2 juvs seen (one with 1st W head pattern) (juv Common Gull on outfalls)
Grey Plover - 313, mostly moulting adults, c1/2 mile south of Ocean Edge

HNR office area
Chiffchaff - one ringed
Grey Wagtail - 7 SE, 2 ringed (the ONLY vis!!)
Robin - one ringed

Insects
Wall Brown Middleton IE

Elsewhere
The elusive juv Wood Sandpiper again at Conder area 0700hrs & photographed at 1230hrs (see LDBWS site). Osprey Conder 1530ish. Juvenile Marsh Harrier Caton Moor at 0720hrs this morning

Quick visit to Ocean Edge

The latest, subtely changing by the minute, weather synopsis does not look very good here for seabirds with a 50% or less chance of Leach's Petrel on Friday morning (but much better in the Mersey mouth). If you have some spare time, best to cover some obscure mudflats in SW Ireland as the synopsis looks brilliant for Nearctic waders. However you will probably find yourself not alone as it is flagged up by the weather as the 'obvious thing to do', combined with a bit of seawatching (and an early Nearctic landbird?)..............or Green Darner (see Mark Break's site)

Heysham Obs
Ocean Edge/outfalls/Red Nab 1030-1100
Med Gull - juv Red Nab
Kittiwake - juv Stage 2 outfall
Knot - moulting adult
Whimbrel - 1
Redshank - 311
Ringed Plover - 62
Dunlin - 5
Wheatear - 3
No sign Grey Plover flock

Moths
Second brood White Ermine was most unusual

Elsewhere
Anonymous text re-Wryneck on "top path at Warton Crag" received about 1430hrs. Numerous phone calls and (unanswered) text to the sender, none the wiser. Hopefully this posting will be changed very soon.

Sanderling & decent Grey Plover flock

Weather watch: Keep an eye on the e.g. XC weather site ("another weather site" on the links). The current synopsis suggests that this week, to put it politely, will be rubbish unless we pick up a nearctic wader or two in the area or a 'one-off' on the outfalls. However, it is a very 'mobile' picture and, if the depression track ends up a little further to the north, we're in business for a few seabirds. Mist nets, significant vis mig and the Grey Wagtail survey definitely on hold. A Monday forecast will be a weekly feature of the autumn passage season from now on

Heysham Obs
Ocean Edge foreshore/outfalls 0930-1030ish, north harbour wall 1040
Med Gull - 2 juvs Stage 2 outfall (& 3 juv Common Gull), no adults at all!
Sanderling - juv Ocean Edge foreshore
Black-tailed Godwit - 5 Red Nab
Grey Plover - 152 on shore south of Ocean Edge
Swallow - 3 south

Moths
12 Silver Y but no other sign of any migrants in promising conditions

Elsewhere
Juvenile Common Tern Pine Lake (second day)

Misty murky uncertainty (or laziness)

Heysham Obs
A couple of checks of the outfalls, the latter one nearish high tide was accompanied by very poor visibility & driving rain.

Outfalls/Ocean Edge
Whimbrel - one
Med Gull - 1+ juv & 2 adults
Tern - a vague outline on Heysham 2 outfall late afternoon - too wet to walk down the seawall. Definitely Common/Arctic/Cayenne/Antarctic etc.

Middleton IE
Snipe & eclipse male Tufted Duck with the four surviving (now large)young

Moths
A photo essay on why Acleris variegana of a certain morph is not a Light Brown Apple Moth was foiled by its escape. Lime-speck Pug was a slight eyebrow raiser, but otherwise nothing untoward in the trap.

Elsewhere
Elusive Wood Sandpiper Conder Estuary (try looking upstream from the roadbridge??). Some unknowns appearing on the Leighton weekly summary, notably 4 juvenile Black Tern on 23rd

No morning squalls, no birds

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall 0700-0800, 1300-1330
Wheatear - one on mound, one on Middleton IE
Gannet - 4 +2
Fulmar - 4
Manx Shearwater - 2 1315ish
Common Scoter - 10 (one flock)
Med Gull - adult harbour mouth, 2 adults Red Nab, 2 juvs on outfalls

Middleton IE
Little Grebe - as is not unusual at this site with late broods, newly hatched young seen today

Ringing recovery
Decent Twite recovery received this morning; ringed here on 13/3/09 (2CY female) and found freshly dead at Kerrera, which is the island immediately next to Oban, on 20/4/09



Elsewhere
Juv Wood Sandpiper Conder creek