Awkward high-flying vis yet again

Thanks John  for posting the stuff from the office area which I've assimilated 

Vis south harbour by wooden jetty 0700-0800
Rubbish - reinforced that traipsing the Blakeney shingle was a better option & would have been reality but for a lunchtime appointment/first contact with a Cumbrian farmer relating to work.  Better than the ignominious 'turn-round' at Exeter services one day late for the last "Traill's" (is Alder 101% on this one?!).  Cant go tomorrow either.  Old enough not to "need" Parula:
Wigeon - 15 S
Wingbarred distant duck spp - 12 S
Meadow Pipit - 16 SE
Linnet - 36 SE
alba Wagtail - 12 SE
Skylark - 1 SE
extra birds over the Obs during this period amounted to a few Chaffinch (the seawall is not on the flightline for finches & the idea was to accurately count cross-bay stuff (with the best chance of Lap Bunt) and the "thousands of Pink-footed Geese" crossing the bay) and two Grey Wagtails

Office 0800-0900
Chaffinch - c75 S - mostly very high
Meadow Pipit - c18
Goldfinch - 8
Swallow - 1
Canada Goose - 6 north - the only geese and a good signal to give up & finish Jean's Caton Moor vis mig count off as she had to leave early

Ringing/grounded
2 GreyWagtails were caught and colour ringed and these were the only two seen. Other birds ringed included small numbers of Greenfinch, Dunnock, Blue & Great Tits, Wrens and a single Treecreeper. Also about  were several Robins, small group of Goldfinch and a singing male Chiffchaff.

The Goldcrest trapped today was the first in 2010 at Heysham! (The only other was a single bird caught at Middleton at the end of August.)

Inshore
Med Gull : adult North Harbour Wall

Middleton NR
Chiffchaff (1) & Carrion Crow eating sea buckthorn!

Insects
10 Migrant Hawker & 9 Common Darter Middleton

Elsewhere
3 Redwing at Thrushgill in the evening and at least 21 Crossbill (flock of 20 in afternoon & new arrival from the NE in the evening).  At least one Brambling Caton Moor in the morning with high-flying Chaffinch passage

Stratospheric vis

** Just heard that a Heysham-ringed Twite has recently been caught (in heavy moult still) at Clachtoll just north of Lochinver/Achmelvich (and just south of Stoer) - the furthest north by quite some distance and a presumed local breeding bird.  More details later.

Heysham Obs
An early start was not early enough as it was an open morning with quite a bit happening prior to sunrise.  Downhill after that, unless you are into Wren, Robin and Dunnock migration, the subtleties of which are only discernable at a local patch covered on a daily basis, with ringing being helpful

Vis mig by the office
Pretty dire with many birds very high and a lot undoubtedly missed.  Third hour very bad, then livened up as wind swung NW, then back NE just after 1000hrs.  Impossible to work out Greenfinch (vis from bloggers), but all the birds caught (6) were unringed and an estimate of birds passing through 0700-1100 would be in the region of 30-35

0645-0700:  Redpoll agg (2), Meadow Pipit (34), Grey wagtail (3)
0700-0800: Grey wagtail (1), Chaffinch (45), alba Wagtail (28), Meadow Pipit (39), Reed Bunting (1), Collared Dove (3+2+4+3 - unexpected), Black-headed Gull (2), Jackdaw (11+14), Siskin (1), Coal Tit (2), Goldfinch (24), Linnet (2)
0800-0900: Grey Wagtail (1), Chaffinch (46), alba Wagtail (22), Meadow Pipit (53), Reed Bunting (2), Siskin (5), Goldfinch (27), Linnet (5), Starling (5), House Sparrow (2), Dunnock (2), Black-headed Gull (1), Song Thrush (1 from east then grounded), Sparrowhawk (one high to the south)
0900-1000: Siskin (2), Chaffinch (13), Meadow Pipit (32), alba Wagtail (2)
1000-1100: Meadow Pipit (30), Chaffinch (25), Swallow (5), alba Wagtail (26), Goldfinch (7), Skylark (1), House Martin (3), Peregrine (1), Coal Tit (flock of 5), Little Egret (one high to south), Linnet (3)

Pink-footed Goose - 53 south over Middleton at 0930 were missed at the reserve!

Grounded
At a premium in the clear conditions
Robin - the most interesting sighting of the morning was one descending from a great height into the bushes by the office, only to be immediately chased off.  This was at 0855 hrs if this qualifies as 'vis'.  At least 5 other migrants seen (chasing & one ringed).
Chiffchaff - one ringed - a silent bird and the only one encountered
Goldcrest - one passed through
Lesser Whitethroat - one (ringed on left leg) still around in the brambles opposite the office door, which means that if it is ours, it must have either been ringed at Middleton around the turn of the month or pre-last week of August at Heysham NR
Dunnock - 3 "fidgety" birds in addition to the 2 on vis mig & two unringed birds caught
Wren - one unringed bird seen and another unringed bird caught
Green Woodpecker - first for a bit (& certainly second half of the year) by the office at midday

Inshore
Little Gull - adult Red Nab at high tide
Shag - 1CY on wooden jetty at high tide
Med Gull - 2 x ad & 1CY on north harbour wall railings at high tide
No sign of any terns

Elsewhere
5+ Crossbill Thrushgill, including adult pair feeding on ash keys!   Migrant Whinchat showing very well roadside at Lower Thrushgill

Vis-mig-fest

Heysham Obs
A late start - no chance of any mist-netting and an arrival at Heysham office at 0855hrs was greeted by overhead Meadow Pipits - how many had been missed.  Work took a back seat for the morning as follows:

Office area 0855-0925
Meadow Pipit - 102 SE
Chaffinch - 24 SW
alba Wagtail - 15 SE
Grey Wagtail - 3 SE
Linnet - 10 SE
Swallow - 2 SE

Ocean Edge to wooden jetty 0930-1200
Meadow Pipit - 515 SE (definitely undercount)
alba Wagtail - 68 SE (all which landed on the seawall bar one were White/indet)
Grey Wagtail - 4 SE
Skylark - 38 SE
Reed Bunting - one SE
Rock Pipit - one SE
Linnet - 14 SE
Swallow - 69 SE
House Martin - 5 SE
Goldfinch - 3 SE

Non-vis
Little Egret - one OE saltmarsh
Arctic Tern - juv on and off throughout
Common Tern - one juv on outfalls briefly then flew off SW
Sandwich Tern - adult briefly at about 1145hrs
Shag - 1CY on wooden jetty - flew in from Morecambe direction
Turnstone - 75 wooden jetty
Bar-tailed Godwit - 3 juvs Red Nab
Med Gull - 3 adults and 1CY Red Nab/OE
Little Gull - adult outfalls until c0945
Grey Plover - 45 off OE
Dunlin - 167 off OE
Curlew Sandpiper - one juv off OE

Elsewhere
Great White Egret came into roost last night at Leighton Moss and has been hanging around during today

Nocturnal Blue Tit

Heysham Obs
Scraping the barrel this morning and the only remotely unusual thing was an unringed Blue Tit entering a mist net as it was being set in the dark.  This is probably the earliest in relation to dawn that a Blue Tit has ever been caught here. 

By the office 0700-0900
Chiffchaff - 2 (two ringed - one a 'swee' bird with brown-tinged plumage and fairly well-defined supercilium)
Chaffinch - just 36 SW
Goldfinch - 16 SW
Lesser Whitethroat - one still in the brambles
Robin - up to 10 migrants being chased off by residents first thing but only two ringed
No Meadow Pipits or Grey wagtails or any other cross-bay vis with low cloud 'blocking' progress

Red Nab area high tide/incoming ferry
Little Gull - adult winter
Arctic Tern - juv
No sign of any Shag on the wooden jetty (91 Cormorant) & no Meds (in wet fields?) or anything else behind the IOM ferry

Low water/Evening
1 Wheatear

Moths
Pinion-streaked Snout in the trap

More well above-average for September Chaffinch passage

Heysham Obs
A brisk SE wind this morning sent most of the cross-bay vis to the south of the power station as per the count from just 30 minutes at Sunderland by John G. whilst checking a moth trap.  Virtually nothing from across the bay passed over the NR.  However, there was quite a bit of coatsl passage from the direction of Heysham Head, dominated by Chaffinch but also including a very early Woodpigeon flock.  Vis increased after wind went further S at about 0910hrs.........but had to go!

Office area 0700-0930
Chaffinch - 188 SW (mainly flocks of 5-15) - an unprecedently high count for so early in the autumn (see also Phil Slade blog (in links sidebar))
Goldfinch - 23 SW
Linnet - 4 SW
Meadow Pipit - just 13 SE pre-0900, then 28 SE before 0930
Grey Wagtail - just two SE (one ringed) pre-0900, then 2 SE 0925hrs
Song Thrush - one high from the east then grounded
Skylark - 3 S
Swallow - 8 S, all after 0900hrs
Woodpigeon - flock of 13 high to south
Goldcrest - one heard 0930hrs
alba Wagtail - 6 SE pre-0900, then 5 SE before 0930hrs
Absolutely no sign of any warbler species until a single Chiffchaff at 0930hrs

Ocean Edge/outfalls area late pm (thanks Malcolm)
Arctic Tern - 1CY still stage 2 outfall
Wheatear - one Red Nab

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