High level uniform murkiness deters landfall

Heysham Obs
Not quite right this morning - a blanket of cloud which was far too high and uniform at dawn.  Fewer birds than yesterday but a decent one in the form of a Redstart by the office at 0745hrs. Three Chiffchaff were ringed & at least 3 others were present along, four Reed Bunting were ringed but just a single Grey Wagtail.  Vis mig was a trickle of Chaffinch, Meadow Pipit and assorted (other) finch spp.  Two Redwing at dawn along with at least three olive-coloured Song Thrush (one caught) and two definite long-winged continental Blackbirds - all these seen descending from great height.   Migrant Blackbirds very unusual in September.  Yet another unringed Treecreeper caught.

More detail for the last two days tomorrow - sorry, but we are trying to mix coverage & the usual end of month rush with work, as often happens in September.

Vis mig by the office 0700-0900
Meadow Pipit - 43 SE
Grey Wagtail - 3 SE
Skylark - 4 SE
Chaffinch - 35 SW
Tree Sparrow - 4 SW
Pink-footed Goose - 45 S
Goldfinch - 9 SW
Siskin - 6 registrations but only 10 birds actually seen!
Linnet - 2 S
alba Wgtail - 15 SE 

North Harbour Wall Point

Shag (2 first winter) one bird feeding near Groyne and Mussel beds and out on mussel beds drying off.
Cormorant 60+
Pink-footed Goose 30 & 5 (1110 and 1125 hrs)
Eider 10+
Oystercatcher 3000+ flying NE to SE
Bar-tailed Godwit 140 (south of Outflow), 1 flew NE to SE
Grey Plover 2 (south of Outflow)
Dunlin 4 (south of Outflow)
Turnstone 120+
Curlew 300+
Redshank 100+
Med Gull 3 (2 adults & 1 juv/1st winter)
Common Gull 4
Meadow Pipit 12+ (mostly on Mound)
Linnet 30+ (mostly around Mound)
Grey Wagtail 1 (south)
Pied Wagtail 10+
Song Thrush (on Mound late on)
Goldfinch 15+ (on Mound then south)

High Tide at the Helipad
Oystercatcher 1500
Ringed Plover 2
Redshank 100+
Lapwing 23
White Wagtail 2

Cloud, but not low enough to produce masses of birds

Heysham Obs
Better than the bright blue skies of the last two days, but no great quantity of migrants this morning

Ringing included 5 Grey Wagtail, two Chiffchaff and two Blackcap and vis mig was dominated again by early Chaffinch passage...........but the details are all at the office.  Will update vis & grounded stuff on Wednesday

Vis mig 0700-1000
Song Thrush - 4 high from the east, then grounded
Chaffinch - 67SW
Goldfinch - 32 SW
Meadow Pipit - 5 SE
Grey Wagtail - 5 SE
Greenfinch - flock of 21 SW
Linnet - 9 SW
Long-tailed Tit - unringed flock of 8 caught at 1000hrs
Reed Bunting - 4 migrants caught at Middleton IE but none seen flying over reserve

South Harbour Wall Point

Shag (1 first winter)
Cormorant 60+
Red-breasted Merganser 3
Pink-footed Goose 22
Eider 12+
Oystercatcher 2500+
Bar-tailed Godwit 140 (south of Outflow)
Grey Plover 12 (south of Outflow)
Dunlin 52 (south of Outflow)
Turnstone 120+
Curlew 500+
Redshank 100+
Little Gull 1 (adult in winter plumage briefly midday)
Med Gull 2 (both adult birds)
Common Gull 8 (good numbers for here)
Meadow Pipit 8 (all south)
Linnet 22 + 10 (south)
Skylark 1 (south)
Grey Wagtail 2 (south)
Pied Wagtail 2

High Tide at the Helipad
Oystercatcher 100
Ringed Plover 2
Redshank 120
Lapwing 18

Lots of fishermen catching Dogfish too, must have seen 30+ pulled out of the water today!?

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