Excellent coverage, average to reasonably good day!

Thanks to Janet for the Migrant Hawker, Mike Baron for the Gannet and Sean for the good comparative shot of a 1CY Shag which visited the harbourmouth late afternoon.  The Gannet was one of two present today, sadly probably on the way out, despite at least being able to fly..........maybe not, they were nowhere to be seen in the afternoon

Heysham Obs
Southerly winds are normally fairly useless, especially when you dont expect them to be in spring.  This morning was a little better than usual helped by early morning cloud cover & a smattering of first light drizzle

NR office area 0700-1200 ('conscientious' vis to 0930)
Chiffchaff - at least 15 moved rapidly through by the NR office c0730-0815hrs & 6 were subsequently ringed at Middleton
Chaffinch - more than seen previously this early in the autumn with 131 S by 0930hrs and a further 15 casually recorded afterwards
Goldcrest - 2-3 with the Chiffchaffs
Grey Wagtail - about 20 SE (5 ringed)
Meadow Pipit - c120 (70 pre-0930) SE 0700-1200
alba Wagtail - 14 SE 0700-0930
Linnet - 5 SE 0700-0930, c40 grounded on the mound
Goldfinch - 18 SE 0700-0930
Reed Bunting - 1 SE (north wall)
Robin - smattering of migrants with 8-10 chased through by residents by the NR office
Lesser Whitethroat - one (still?) in brambles
Blackcap - one seen

Middleton IE
Common Whitethroat - one ringed
Reed Bunting - 7 ringed

Inshore
Gannet - see above
Arctic tern - juvenile outfalls
Wheatear - one north wall
Med Gull - Czech-ringed adult (& see below)
Guillemot - one
Pink-footed Goose - 20+40+18SW (& see below for later birds)
Thanks to Mike & a couple from Yorkshire for these records

pre-High Tide at the Helipad (Sean)

Oystercatcher 1500
Ringed Plover 6
Redshank 60
Lapwing 12
Wheatear 1
Alba Wagtail 8

Red Nab and South Harbour Wall Point (Sean)
Shag - 1CY flew into the harbour mouth late afternoon
Little Egret 1 (new bird for me here! )
Pink-footed Goose 24 and 44 (from N to S at 13:00)
Eider 20+
Oystercatcher 5000+
Turnstone 140+
Curlew 300+
Redshank 50+
Little Gull 1 (adult in winter plumage all day around harbour and jetty)
Med Gull 2 (adult and second winter birds, adult with dark patch on its side)
Leucistic Black-headed Gull (only had a few very thin black primary feathers)
Common Gull 2 (both first winters)
Sandwich Tern 3
Alba Wagtail 20+

Combined ringing totals from Heysham office nets & Middleton:  Grey Wagtail (5), Reed Bunting (7), Chiffchaff (9), Robin (3), Dunnock (2), Meadow Pipit (15), Chaffinch (2), Greenfinch (8), Long-tailed Tit (4), Blue Tit (8), Great Tit (3), Coal Tit (1), Wren (1), Whitethroat (1)

Insects
Good late butterfly day with Large White, Meadow Brown, Comma, Small White, lots of Speckled Wood, Small Copper, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Brimstone.  At least 4 Migrant Hawker seen.  Large Wainscot new for the year in the moth trap

All day Leach's Petrels!

Heysham Obs
A nice selection of late afternoon waifs and strays in the harbour.  Thanks to Margaret Breaks

Leach's Petrel - 33-35 out between 0730 and 1630hrs, some nice and close.  In fairly continuous view until about 1120, with some blogging and backtracking making estimates a little difficult.  These figures are on the cautious side.  Thanks To Ian, Tom, Margaret, Tom again, Jean and many others (including people sneaking away from the Oxenhope vis megaspot) for documenting this passage today in what was "shirt-sleeve" weather by late afternoon - NEVER seen Leach's moving in such benign conditions before!

Shag - 1CY on wooden jetty, then presumably the same flew into the harbour late afternoon but promptly disappeared!

Manx Shearwater - one in at about 1130hrs

Great Skua (Bonxie) - one in c1115hrs

Med Gull - 1CY & Ad

Razorbill - 1CY in the harbour late afternoon

Red-throated Diver - one out & one diver sp. out

Kittiwake - juv Heysham 2 outfall

Meadow Pipit - 6SE 0745-0815

Grey Wagtail - 1 SE 0745-0815

Pink-footed Goose - 15+9+40 S

Arctic Tern - 2 juvs out

Guillemot - one in harbour, up to three offshore

Gannet - 2CY in the harbour, eating fisherman's bait!

Wigeon - 5 'out'

Reserve

Willow warbler by the entrance gate

Seawatching bonus

Heysham Obs
A lie-in, and a tortuous journey from High Tatham in a queue behind a driver treating every small puddle as collision course with Noah's Ark, saw an arrival at Heysham in what looked like increasingly promising conditions for a seabird or two.  The zilch visibility inland had discouraged an earlier visit.  Therefore a right turn was made down to the north harbour wall at 1045 (instead of getting on with work which needed doing)and immediately a scan halfway along saw a Leach's Petrel battling it out.  This stage of the (dropping) tide is often the best for observing any coming out of the bay

North harbour wall:  c0730-1000, 1045-1205 (watched IOM ferry into port), c1305-1430, 1530-1555, 1745-1830, plus an unknown length of time for just one bird early morning
Leach's Petrel - 22-24 in rather intermittent seawatching - four 0730-1000hrs, three in view at once 1045-1050, one (first seen) at 1100 which sat on the sea for a short time, one (first seen) at 1115, a distant one at 1131, then five seen by Gareth Morgan et al as the neap tide left plenty of water still off the north wall 1305-1410 (last seen about 1350hrs), two between 1530 and 1555 (left 1600hrs), then 4, probably 6 between 1745 and 1830 (birds kept disappearing into the mist and backtracks difficult to rule out).   All flying out of the bay at or just inside the yellow buoy range apart from the 1131 one which was at a distance which was not visible for most of the seawatch (so others could have been in the murk)
Red-throated Diver - one fsp seen
Razorbill - 1CY on the sea
Pink-footed Goose - 22(f) SW
Guillemot - one in the harbour mouth
Gannet - an imm in the mist was the only obvious seabird behind the IOM ferry but visibility very bad then
Med Gull - 1CY patrolling the north wall, adult joined the ferry in the harbour
Wheatear - 4

Outfalls
Kittiwake - juv was the only bird thereon of remote interest

Two good new sightings amongst the dross

Heysham Obs
..........with apologies to Pink-footed Geese flying overhead.  Unscheduled rain & wind first thing knocked most of the ringing on the head until well after dawn and the overhead conditions conspired against any significant vis over Heysham with what there was passing to the south of the Power Station.  The first Meadow Pipit did not pass over the nature reserve reserve office until 0900hrs!!!!  However (vis mig c0630-1000ish):

Ring Ouzel - noisy individual, looked like 1CY male byt the office, then on the tank farm 0730hrs - very unexpected in the met. circumstances and surely of British origin?
Common Buzzard - one heading south, soaring, at about 0945hrs - rare over the reserve - just about annual
Chiffchaff - 2 ringed Middleton (none by the reserve office for the first time this month)
Robin - definite influx with 3 ringed in a small amount of mist netting
Meadow Pipit - no more than 20 recorded heading SE
Grey Wagtail - just the one seen heading SE
Swallow - 42 SE
House Martin - 6 SE
Chaffinch - 11 SE
Pink-footed Goose - 64+53+70 S plus others seen from Caton Moor heading S/SE over the Bay!
Lesser Whitethroat - one calling by the office

No known coastal coverage this morning

Elsewhere
Curlew Sandpiper & Ruff Sunderland mudflats

Good vis but not helping the Grey Wagtail study

Heysham Obs
Have got so used to catching Grey Wagtails in mist nets, I had forgotten about the dreaded north-westerlies where birds move in relatively strong winds, having been held up by even stronger winds for a few days.  None of our mist net sites are north-westerly-friendly.  I had forgotten how to set the 'whoosh' net - the ideal method in these conditions- not good when an error with the elastics can be at the very least quite painful!

Vis mig and other stuff north harbour wall (0630-0730), Ocean Edge (0735-0750), by the office (0755-0930)
Meadow Pipit - 432 (plus 13 casually noted afterwards) - mainly SE
Swallow - 180 (& 16 casually noted afterwards), mainly NORTH!
House Martin - 6 SE
Siskin - 5 SE
Grey Wagtail - 18 (& 2 casually noted afterwards) SE
alba Wagtail - just 9 SE
Chaffinch - 25 S/SW
Goldfinch - 37 S/SW
Pink-footed Goose - 21 (f) south & flock heard heading south to the west
Jackdaw - 15 (f) SW
Tree Sparrow - 2 grounded briefly before heading south
Kestrel - one high to SW
Coal Tit - excitable flock of 6 S

Grounded
Rock Pipit - 1CY on north harbour wall eating beetle larva (does this help racial id?!)
Wheatear - 2 north harbour wall
Linnet - 17 north harbour wall
Meadow Pipit - 3 north harbour wall
Robin - one on the mound
alba Wagtail - 8 north harbour wall
Chiffchaff - 3 by the office (one giving 'swee' calls, the other two normal collybita)
Lesser Whitethroat - 2 by the office (at least one unringed - very vocal)
Blackcap - at least two by office

Inshore
Med Gull - 1CY patrolling the north wall, another 1CY outfalls, 3rd CY Red Nab just finishing moult into adult winter, 2 2CY and at least 2 adult outfalls area
Shelduck - 54 of O Edge
Knot - 9 off O Edge
Bar-tailed Godwit - one off O Edge

Two notable absentees this autumn have been Black-tailed Godwit and Mistle Thrush

Nooks and crannies reveal a Med flock!

*** Leach's Petrel close inshore along the north harbour wall at about 1550hrs - the first ever seen at Heysham after 24 hours of north-westerlies!

Heysham Obs
Went through the motions of checking corners of the harbour etc. and there was predictably little evidence of any displacement (a few more days of WSW gales needed for this to happen).  However six gulls on the mudflats between Heysham one outfall and the wooden jetty were all Meds!

South harbour/outfalls 0930-1030
Med Gull - 3 adult, 2 2CY and one 1CY on the mudflats bwteeen Heysham one outfall and the wooden jetty, close inshore.  None darvic-ringed, but one of the adults was probably the Czech bird (wrong angle to see above tarsus metal ring)
Kittiwake - two 1CY around the harbour/outfalls
Wheatear - one by the wheel, four on the north wall
Meadow Pipit - 3 SE
Grey Wagtail - one SE

Moths
Green-brindled Crescent new for the year and very autumnal!

Marginal wind direction persists for long enough....

So near...........or eyesight not good enough/looking in the wrong direction...........this was taken from the Walney Obs Blog this morning:  "The pick of the day’s sightings was a Sooty Shearwater that flew out of Morecambe Bay at 0855hrs". In good conditions you can see seagulls sat on the pier hide at Walney and easily read Barrow Town Hall clock  (never seen a Sooty from anywhere along the eastern Irish sea coastline other than north Cornwall (and from the Stranraer-Larne ferry))

Heysham Obs
Unfortunately could not get on site until 0700hrs with four Leach's Petrel on the first scan.  Reasonable selection but a bit tedious during the last two hours of the morning session dropping tide with effort wrongly focused on birds coming out of the bay rather than looking towards the outer bay for those cutting across.  When this happened (c0920hrs), two seen straight away.  The afternoon Leach's Petrels were a real bonus for the multiple observers with most forecasts going for the wind turning NW just after midday

North harbour wall 0700-1000 & IOM ferry lunchtime & short mid-afternoon visit
Leach's Petrel - 10 first session, one distantly lunchtime, one 1405 - all 'out', then four others until the wind went NW at about 1630hrs [total 16]
Arctic Skua - 2 juvs (plus small skua spp, almost certainly this species) early morning, then juv out at 1630hrs
Bonxie - 1 out 0710hrs, another out at 1735hrs
Black Tern - one around ferry in harbour mouth, then flew behind wooden jetty
Common Tern - one adult around ferry
Gannet - 4 early am, two 2CY behind ferry, ad & juv later in afternoon
Razorbill - one mid-afternoon
Fulmar - 1
Kittiwake - 4 (3 juvs) & c15 around harbour/behind ferry
Arctic Tern - 3 juvs early am & 5 juvs outfalls/around ferry
Sandwich Tern - 2 juvs early am, adult around ferry, one mid-afternoon
Guillemot - one on sea, two on sea at lunchtime
Shag - mobile 1CY in the harbour
Med Gull - 1CY & two adults patrolling the seawall, two further adults on Red Nab
Little Gull - adult stage 2 outfall mid-pm
Pink-footed Goose - flocks of 19+45+50 SW mid afternoon (first of autumn)

** What was almost certainly a juvenile Long-tailed Skua was seen by a very experienced observer late yesterday evening, but too far out and not all the features were clinched to his high standards of documentation

"Lovely day isnt it" until a late afternoon trickle

Heysham Obs
The classic 'red rag' from a well-meaning member of the public as a mid/late-morning visit to the north harbour wall coincided with a most emphatic clearance of the sky of anything resembling a cloud.  Not a chance of any seabirds this far into the bay unless some squalls arrive which did happen to a minor extent on the dropping late afternoon tide:

North harbour wall
15:00-18:00 dropping tide with 3 x minor showers produced
Black Tern   1 out slowly past line of yellow buoys 15:56-15:57 age indeterminate
Bonxie          1 floating out on sea, lifted and flew out several hundred metres before landing on sea again and lost to view 17:30
Fulmar           1 out
Kittiwake       juv in then perhaps the same out on the same 'line'
Auk sp          1 in then followed by 1 prob Guillemot out soon followed by 1 prob Guillemot in, may have all been the same bird
Arctic Tern    juv out c1615hrs
Unfortunately I didn't have the stamina to see if there was a Leach's on the last part of the outgoing tide but definitely better than staying at home and watching Freeview for 3 hours! (Tom Wilmer)

Ocean edge side
Leach's Petrel - one 'drifting' distantly east at about 1600hrs - this bird definitely did not venture north of the wooden jetty (observer unknown)

Miscellaneous inshore
Wheatear - a good autumnal total of 11 between 1/2 moon bay and the harbour mouth and a further four on Ocean Edge
Pied/White Wagtail - c22 - at least 6 showing chars. of White Ocean Edge and a further 15 on the north side of the harbour (7 white)
Linnet - 12 north wall, 17 Ocean Edge
Meadow Pipit - 6 SE in 20 minutes north wall, 8 grounded Ocean Edge
Med Gull - 2 adults Red Nab

Moths
Two Black Rustic the first for the year

Very Wet & windy

Heysham

No Reports so far.

Meds About

6 Med Gulls : 3 Adults : 1 2CY ; 2 1CY

Middleton  Industrial Estate Webs

2 Mute Swans
16 Coot
2 Moorhen
5 Mallard
4 Tufted
1 Pochard
3 Little Grebe
2 Snipe
also 1 Raven

Ocean Edge
4 Wheatear
1 Little Egret