Distant and murky seaduck

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall
A low tide check was not blessed with good light:
Scaup - 2 distant females
Eider - 86, mostly in 'second' channel
Red-breasted Merganser - 7
Twite - 28 at feeder in the afternoon
Med Gull - two adults in afternoon
Song Thrush - still on mound

Ocean Edge
Very large numbers of waders along the tideline towards Potts Corner but not a lot of time & a lot of silhoeuttes!
Knot - 3k+
Dunlin - 300+
Bar-tailed Godwit - pretty accurate 1,700
Black-tailed Godwit - 2

Elsewhere
Med Gull adult still Skerton bridge

Low-key ringing

Heysham Obs
What is the difference between a Dunnock and a Robin with respect to surviving a hard winter? OK, Robins are aggressive and do not like other birds at the feeder but others usually get a look in at some time or other and reasonable numbers are 'usually' caught in the single feeder net at Heysham. Indeed, there is usually very little difference between the numbers of Dunnock and Robin caught at the feeding station. Dunnocks do average up to 5 grams heavier, but the size and eating habits would seem basically similar.

Seven 2-3 hour mist net sessions at the feeder since the damagingly cold spell finished in mid-January has produced the following different individuals:
11 Dunnock
14 Long-tailed Tit
3 Robin
1 Wren

Breeding season data will undoubtedly determine whether Robins have really been clobbered or whether they have simply moved. In this respect, there is little evidence of any scattered around the nature reserve. The Long-tailed Tit survival and presumed relationship with regular attendance at the feeder is notable for here, but simply following the national trend

Ringing by the office
Back to today - a "record" six retrap Dunnock was the 'highlight' along with another unringed Long-tailed Tit

However, this was at the expense of a good look at the sea at low tide before the fog rolled in

Middleton IE
Iced up again: Pheasant, 4 Mute Swan, 14 Coot, 3 Moorhen, 2 Teal, 3 Goldeneye, 15 Mallard, 3 Pochard (2 males), one Little Grebe

North harbour wall
Med Gull - 2 adults on the railings - these birds have been very reliable of late at/near high tide - one Czech ringed (metal above the knee right leg)
Dead offshore at high tide, as it has been recently & no Twite (noisy anglers & several dogs)

Elsewhere
The usual lack of sightings in this area in the public domain on Saturday!

Low tide for ducks, high tide for snipe

Heysham Obs
The Black-tailed Godwit with Icelandic colour-rings/flag seen recently here was at Cockersands today (per Pete Woodruff). Full details should be available soon (thanks Richard)

North harbour wall at low tide on flat calm sea, then over the tide
Scaup - male and three females in 'second' channel
Eider - 96 within view, more than usual directly offshore
Great-crested Grebe - 10
Purple Sandpiper - one under wooden jetty
Red-breasted Merganser - 6
Med Gull - 2 adults
Twite - 14 on seed pm

Ocean Edge/Red Nab area
Jack Snipe - 2-3 Ocean Edge saltmarsh
Common Snipe - an impressive 52 OE saltmarsh high tide
Grey Plover - 3 OE saltmarsh
Rock Pipit - one OE saltmarsh - uncommon in February
Wigeon - 60 outfalls

Mammals
Grey Seal off north wall

Elsewhere
Smew still at Freemans Pool

Two dates for one

Wednesday 17th February 2009
Twite - at least 6 at the feeding station
Med Gull - 2 adults on the north wall railings

Thursday 18th February 2009
Med Gull - 2 on railings
Black-tailed Godwit - 4 Ocean Edge creek
Knot - 2100 Ocean Edge/Red Nab foreshore
Gadwall - male Middleton IE

Elsewhere
Smew Freeman's Pool still

Mixed bags

Heysham Obs
Ringing by the office
Managed to dodge the showers and the following unringed birds were caught: 4 Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Blue Tit and, surprisingly, a female Bullfinch. A retrap Dunnock burst into song on release!

Ocean Edge
Jack Snipe - one showing really well HT
Snipe - at least 16 HT
Black-tailed Godwit - just four late pm
Bar-tailed Godwit - one late pm

Red Nab (all birds pushed off by dog)
Snipe - 3

North harbour wall
Med Gull - two adults on the railings, including Czech-ringed bird
Red-throated Diver - one far offshore late pm
Twite - 6 on food late pm, one with metal-only on right leg (i.e. no c.rs)

Elsewhere
Tundra Bean Goose Jeremy Lane

Quick Visit

Heysham

North Harbour Wall
Adult Med Gull
6 Twite (all with rings)

No twittering

North Harbour Wall
Sorry there were no Twite yesterday! There were none this morning either when I went to place feed.
Med Gull - 2 adults.

Middleton
Much of the water surfaces frozen.
Pink footed Goose - 75 & c400 north (87 north on Saturday 13th)
Mute Swan - 4
Coot - 6
Moorhen - 1
Goldeneye- 2
Mallard - 18
Water Rail - 1 on ice
Snipe - 1
Woodcock - 1
Pheasant - 1
Reed Bunting - 2

Heysham Moth Trap
First logged moth for this year!
Dotted Border - 1

Routine calm weather fare

Heysham Obs
....including a survey vessel in and around the Kent channel which prevented a thorough diver count

North harbour wall
Med Gull - 2 adults around the angler rubbish tip
Purple Sandpiper - one on a lower section of the wooden jetty - hard to see (& 36 Turnstone, most of which were 'missed' on yesterdays WeBS)
Twite - two targeters moaning that "no-one had fed them recently and there weren't any there" (per angler). 15 on the south side of the mound
Red-throated Diver - one close inshore and definitely floating through the British Energy high seas just off Heysham One outfall!! Just one seen further out.

Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Med Gull - adult Red Nab
Black-tailed Godwit - 3 on Ocean Edge saltmarsh included the colour-ringed bird, plus another 7 by Red Nab

Elsewhere
Absolutely zero of specific interest today on the LDBWS website - a male Ruff during a WeBS count at Bank End was a good winter record

Potentially tricky species in the BTO bag

Heysham Obs
An early WeBS count was the order of the day this morning as weekend work looms. Any results from coverage of the Obs area on Sunday & Monday gratefully received. Thanks. Kingfisher has been on the 'guaranteed' year list for some time now, but doubts after this last winter whether it would indeed make the 2010 BTO Business Challenge. No worries! The Red-throat was given the benefit of any doubt c/f the rather arbitrary line in the sea which denotes "British Energy property" and therefore also a BTO challenge qualifier.

Ocean Edge/Red Nab high tide
Kingfisher - a welcome return after no sightings so far this year (BTO challenge qualifier as landed on a rock on Red Nab)
Black-tailed Godwit - 21 remained to roost on the edge of OE saltmarsh (plus one Bar-tailed Godwit). Late afternoon - flock increased to 24 and included the colour-ringed bird.
Med Gull - adult roosting on Red Nab
Shelduck - 121 remaining by Red Nab at high tide
Wigeon - 89
Red-throated Diver - singleton off outfalls/Red Nab as close as they get here & just about(ish) within the requisite sea area re-BTO challenge. Three further birds miles out on the sea.

Offshore
Diver in flight which appeared to show characters of Black-throated, but it was miles away & getting even further away, heading towards the "left hand side" of the windfarm at about 1005hrs. Not having checked the pager, I was informed a BTD was seen of Rossall yesterday after making a phone call, so hopefully, if it is off-passage, clinching views from here in the next few days as the tides are getting higher. Three RTD miles out (see above)

Wooden jetty
Purple Sandpiper - one eventually crept out from behind a cross-piece
Old Fisher's roof
Med Gull - single adult - light bad - possibly another bird half-hidden

North harbour wall
18 Twite

Elsewhere
Unringed ad Med Skerton Weir.

LImited birding provides good local patch rewards

Heysham Obs
Ocean Edge foreshore
A bit late in the tidal sequence for a decent total with the birds very distant and the sun creeping round. However, one valuable discovery - the first Black-tailed Godwit bearing colour rings from here - ringed as an Icelandic chick on the preliminary info.
Black-tailed Godwit - 48 in three feeding flocks Red Nab-OE saltmarsh creek
Bar-tailed Godwit - 1 by Red Nab - will do for the BTO challenge!

North harbour wall
Red-throated Diver - 7 on a fairly calm sea, all but one rather distant
Great-crested grebe - 5 distant birds on the sea
Med Gull - Czech-ringed adult - actually read the ring today!
Twite - c20 tail-ends heading away from the feeder

Ringing by the office
A couple of mist net rounds produced another Long-tailed Tit, this time an unringed bird along with a single unringed Blue Tit but the remander of the catch was just retrap Tits/Robin/Dunnock with no finches around
Pink-footed Goose - 41 NW at 0915hrs

Elsewhere
4 Snow Geese near Leighton Moss