Deadlines!!

Heysham Obs
Brambling - one flew over whilst walking from the car to the HNR office

Mossgate park in NE of recording area (thanks Helen)
A good day at the bird feeders in our garden today with 4 siskins visiting, a male bullfinch and up to 6 bramblings.


Moths
Single Mottled Umber and Winter Moth in the trap

More moths

male Winter Moth (thanks Janet)

Heysham Obs
Having just emptied a trap at Millhouses with an amazing 103 moths therein (51 Mottled Umber, 33 Winter Moth, 2 Scarce Umber, 15 December Moth, 1 Satellite, 1 Chestnut), it was not unexpected to find 3 Winter Moth, another Parsnip Moth and one Mottled Umber in the Heysham trap!

North & south harbour walls (thanks Sean)
Purple Sandpiper - at the harbour mouth below the north harbour wall
Med Gull - 2 adults
Red-breasted Merganser - 2 in the harbour
Cormorant - 49 on jetty
Starling - c10,000 roosting on wooden jetty in the calm weather

Insects on the prowl

Heysham Obs
A shortish visit to the office included 1.5 hours with the feeder mist nets and a walk round the top end of the reserve.  It was positively spring-like, full of singing Great Tits and winter-gnat-type-things.  No Bramblings seen/heard today

Heysham NR 1045-1330
Reed Bunting - one briefly at the feeder
Pink-footed Goose - c180 south at 1205hrs
Skylark - one south at 1110hrs
Song Thrush - at least 4 round the office
Goldcrest - one below the obs tower

Moth trap
Two Winter Moth and a Parsnip Moth was an instant response to a cloudy above-zero night (12 moths in the Millhouses trap)

Grey day with nasty black ice

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall
Red-breasted Merganser - four
Great-crested Grebe- 1
Song Thrush - 1
Twite - 30+

Reserve
Brambling - at least 2 by the feeder late afternoon

Ice had virtually gone by late afternoon but still needed to take care off the main vehicle track down the entrance hill

A silent nature reserve

Heysham Obs
Alan & John - anything to add, please?

A walk round Heysham nature reserve early afternoon in an increasing southerly & rapid melt brought just 4-5 Blackbird, a Redwing and a Chaffinch, despite a bit of strategic pishing to elicit response from e.g. Wrens

The exception was the feeder by the office where there were at least three Brambling late afternoon and, perhaps ominously, a male Pheasant was strutting around.  In the past, when they were common on the reserve, they completely costed-out any ground feeding

North harbour wall
Twite - increased to 68 and included two Machrihanish-ringed birds (see sidebar), 8 unringed birds.
Linnet - 1 at least with Twite.
Meadow Pipit - wandering about by sand plant.

Fractious Twite & Linnet

Heysham Obs
The Twite & Linnet were a bit fractious on a small amount of available seed until I turned up as peacemaker with a tub full of nyger

Twite - 27, 8 unringed, 5 with red/white, rest this last autumn's birds
Linnet - 2 ringed birds
Brambling - at least one at the office feeder
Teal - male Red Nab
Mallard - pair Red Nab
Wigeon - c160 Red Nab
Med Gull - ad Red Nab

Female Brambling influx and a flock of Waxwing

Heysham Obs
Happy Christmas everyone.  First please note the colour-ringed Waxwing from Aberdeen which was seen at Leighton Moss about 10 days ago was seen in Ely, Cambridgshire yesterday; 284km in 10 days!   Noting that plenty are still around Leighton, presumably including some of the 'originals' in the flock, it just shows firstly the value of colour-marking and secondly just how 'erratically' mobile they are. 

Heysham Nature Reserve area
Very short mid/late morning ringing session.  Four Brambling were ringed - all 1CY females, along with a few unringed Greenfinch, Chaffinch and Blue Tit.  All the weights were higher than average by about 2-3 grams.  Idle thoughts included wondering if the newly branded BTO ought to change the very negative 5-letter species code of DUNNO to SHUFF - also ticks the 'use of traditional language' box.

Waxwing - 7 flew over heading for Heysham village at 1205hrs - the impression was that they had come from the SW end of the tank farm where there were a few rowan berries not so long ago
Snipe - one grounded briefly by the office
Reed Bunting - one by the NR feeder just as I left
Med Gull - adult north harbour wall
Twite - no nyger seed left when I got there (rabbits?) & 6 Twite were immediately down on the new supply (3 unringed)
Cormorant - 47 wooden jetty
Purple Sandpiper - one wooden jetty but hard to see on lower tiers of outer section

Elsewhere
Nothing of note on Pine Lake (incl. one Little Grebe & Black-headed Gull Brit Mus E?45011 - think we have had this before, but just couldn't clinch the important second letter, but it was a G or C, therefore surely:

EG45011 - 4 - Bowness on Windermere - Cumbria - 23/11/07

06/10/10 - Pine Lake, Carnforth, Lancashire - 26km

Not enough time!

Heysham Obs
Not enough time to do the rounds at Heysham at the end of the day, given potential work/shopping traffic (and also put off by the low afternoon sun which also made southbound motorway driving really tricky, given the screenwash kept freezing), so absconded to Thrushgill via the A65 after returning from work in north Cumbria.  Anyone manage to get out?

Elsewhere
7 Crossbill Thrushgill plantation by the entrance gate late afternoon (2+5)

Cold & Quiet

Heysham
Please note new mobile number (the old one does not exist now; apologies if people have been trying to contact me this week) for Pete Marsh in the Links on the sidebar.  Thanks

N Harbour Wall
Twite - seed topped up around 1100hrs & no birds seen on tour round area but 20 appeared at 1300hrs
Linnet - one with Twite at 1300hrs.
Song Thrush - 1 on mound plus 1 by Heliport
Med Gull - Czech ringed bird patrolling

ajd & Derek Gallagher

Blackbirds still prominent

Heysham Obs
Blackbird - at least 20 round the reserve (NE corner not checked) and at least 15 down Moneyclose Lane
Song Thrush - one reserve
Twite - 12 at the feeder on the north wall

No moths!

Any records for the next three days gratefully received