Blasts from the last century and a half

1960's pics from Pete Cook/Keith Hague with a very young, now well-known and respected rock-climber and birder behind the Kittiwake!  The top bird is an Iceland Gull present 27-28/5/60 - a late spring record but by no means unprecedented.  Thanks Pete

Foggy thrush trickle and a long-winged owl

Heysham Obs
A trickle of migration did not seem to include anything better than a couple of  Blackcaps with the numeracy highlight being an influx (from zero the last few days) of at least 22 Redwing.

Heysham NR
Eared owl spp - flushed from blackthorn scrub on the east side of the marsh during a Woodcock(less) search but didnt allow a clear view (including where it went) other than ruling out Tawny
Blackbird - slight increase from a very low ebb to about 20 individuals
Redwing - c22, mostly in one gang in the tank farm early morning
Fieldfare - 2 Red Nab bushes
Chaffinch - a few flying over which may have been 'vis' (c10)
Blackcap - 1 male and 1 female ringed
No Goldcrest heard on a circuit of the reserve in calm conditions!  Only one retrapped bird caught during the morning session.

Ringing
A trickle of 'new' birds, mostly Blackbird and Green/Gold/Chaffinches,
North harbour wall
Twite - 15, all ringed except two
Goldfinch - 5 (4 trapped)
Purple Sandpiper - 2

Insectfest

Heysham Obs
After emptying a moth trap near home at Millhouses containing 216 moths and an assortment of midges/'mossies', caddis and dung flies, including a late migrant Dark Sword Grass and an early Pale Brindled Beauty, a few sorties from Heysham NR office also indicated many insects still on the prowl.  Two Red Admiral, at least three drone flies, many "bluebottle type things", three worker social wasps heading in the same direction (nest still extant?) and innumerable 'gnat-type things'.  Must do better with aerial insect id.

Indeed, it was rather odd seeing all these insects and so few birds as, for them, the migration season appears to be over, with even Blackbird down to the 'usual winter numbers'.

North harbour wall 
Purple Sandpiper 'targeters', please try not to flush the obviously "not needed" Twite by slamming car doors/boots!  Thanks.
Twite - 15 , mostly ringed, 3 briefly thereafter.
Goldfinch - 3
Purple Sandpiper - no sign early morning with fishing tackle scavengers on the skeers
Meadow Pipit - 9-10 - all unringed (9 ringed a few days ago, shows there is still turnover)
Rock Pipit - one at the harbour mouth
Med Gull - adult following boat

South of harbour
Twite - 56
Linnet - 7
Med Gull - 1CY on the mudflats

Insects
See above
Red Admiral - two together by the office at lunchtime
Moths - None - still too much east in the wind for the hut trap - shame, but its had a good year with the  otherwise predominance of westerly winds!

Unobtrusively doubled

Two Purple Sandpipers along the north wall. Thanks Pete

Heysham Obs
Bits and bobs today included a heaving great mass of waders to the south of Ocean Edge totalling about 27,000, mainly Knot but significant numbers of Bar-tailed Godwit, Dunlin and Grey Plover.  If you are a Leighton Moss Starling roost fan, you'll like this little lot.

Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Med Gull - two adults and a probable 1CY distantly behind the departing Ben My Chree
Dark-bellied Brent Goose - adult Red Nab

North harbour wall
Purple Sandpiper - now TWO - both seen early this morning on a skeer
Twite - 14 early morning

Insects
A geriatric worker social wasp was a surprise at the Near Naze

Return of the unassuming unobtrusive...plus interesting twite sighting

Heysham Obs
It took two visiting birders to point us in the right direction this morning with a species we had inexcusably "forgotten about" in the quest for further late migrants.  No check made of the Ocean Edge/Red Nab area today (c/f e.g. Brent Goose)

North harbour wall
Purple Sandpiper - first sighting of the autumn on skeer alongside north wall
Meadow Pipit - up to 11 with no obviously ringed birds
Twite - flock of 7 early morning flew off high to the south
Med Gull - 1CY and two adults behind the departing Clipper, feeding over the 'whirlpool' as it turned the corner past the wooden jetty
Pink-footed Goose - c45 south late morning

Heysham NR
Dead with no obvious vis mig or new grounded birds but:
Greenfinch - a singleton provided a long overdue bird ringed elsewhere (TS something)
Blue Tit - unringed bird caught
Woodcock - one by dipping pond

Late news for yesterday
Reeve's Pheasant - male along Moneyclose Lane by the entrance gate (new release??) 

Twite ringing recoveries
We have just heard of a bird ringed at Heysham this spring being sighted at Musselburgh, just east of Edinburgh on 14/11/11.  This is the first Heysham bird seen on the east coast to the north of here, as opposed to one or two birds from within the normal wintering range of Pennine birds.  This also correlates with two Machrihanish-ringed birds along with one from Clachtoll, near Lochinver being seen in the same flock on the Northumberland coast (see Beadnell Birder in the Links)

So far this autumn we have caught two 2011 Machrihanish-ringed birds and one 2010 Machrihanish bird

Also, not for the first time, a Heysham capture from earlier this autumn decided it had "overshot" and was caught at Askam in Furness on the Duddon the other day

Butterfly
Yet another Red Admiral by the office.  Forgot to check the moth trap!!

Comings and goings

Heysham Obs
Bit more evidence of movement this morning, both departures and arrivals

North harbour wall
Bit of an exodus with no Black Redstart (but I would check the west quay area before saying it has gone as it has more suitable feeding areas in the calmer conditions) and Meadow Pipit down to 5
Med Gull - 2 adult

Heysham NR (early morning action missed - 0830 onwards)
Blackbird - increase with about 35 around
Song Thrush - 3
Redwing - 7
Blackcap - male ringed
Robin - 2 ringed, one quite an 'orange-breasted' bird
Dunnock - unexpected new unringed bird
Chaffinch - at least 27 SW
Greenfinch - 18 SW plus 5 unringed birds caught
Bullfinch - yet another unringed bird caught
Long-tailed Tit - hyperactive flock of 15 headed south (about 20m above the mist nets!)
Goldcrest - at least 3

Red Nab/Ocean Edge
No Twite/Linnet seen in very brief check, but the tide did not flood the saltmarsh
Dark-bellied Brent Goose - Red Nab at high tide

Moth
A single Winter Moth was in the trap

Butterfly
Red Admiral - one flew south by the office at 1330hrs

The delights of the north harbour wall and an unseasonal pug

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall
Black Redstart - still on the banks of the mound
Meadow Pipit - 12+ (9 ringed)
Rock Pipit - 1-2 (one ringed)
Twite - just 14 seen but 7/10 caught were new unringed birds
Pink-footed Goose - c400 north (all presumed to be this spp)
Med Gull - adult

Red Nab/Ocean Edge
Intensive scrutiny, once again, of the beaches and coastal perches revealed a much reduced number of Twite at high tide (c28) [note Sunderland numbers yesterday late pm]
Dark-bellied Brent Goose - adult still Red Nab at high tide
Wigeon - 76

Reserve
Pheasant - female seen along entrance road ('new in'!!)

Moth
A  Wormwood Pug was on the wall in the kitchen - has this emerged from a pupa near a heater?

1st W (e.g. median covert pattern/moult contrast in gcs) Rock Pipit of indeterminate form, but possibly a dispersing petrosus.  Many of the  saltmarsh-dwelling 'likely' littoralis have e.g. more prominent supercilia, less smudged underpart streaking and whiter outer tail feather.  Thanks Alan

Intertidal day

Heysham Obs
A quick trawl round the mound early morning failed to locate the Black Redstart but it "flew in" about 30 minutes later for another observer!  The Dark-bellied Brent appeared around Red Nab on the incoming tide.  "Huge" numbers of waders on the mudflats (accurate counts do exist!) were again flushed en masse by the "lady in red" (with a blue rucsac and medium-sized brown and black dogs) doing a long incoming tide tideline walk   This behaviour prevented up to 28,000 waders feeding where they wanted to for about 45 minutes.  Mr Woodburn would have enjoyed this.

Heysham NR - vis 0715-0745, pre-dusk walk round reserve
Chaffinch - 38 SW, all fairly high, therefore presumed movement, not ex-roost (or both!)
Siskin - heard x 1 early morning
Greenfinch - 2 SW
Goldfinch - 5 SW
'Crest spp - 6 heard, including 4 in the NE corner, no reason to suggest they were not all Goldcrest
Blackbird - as John discovered three mornings ago, they have all gone.  No more than 5 seen on late afternoon reserve circuit
Treecreeper - one NE corner

North harbour wall
Black Redstart - 1st W still north wall early-mid morning
Meadow Pipit - increase to 15-17
Rock Pipit - one
Med Gull - adult
Dunnock - one
Twite - 9

Ocean Edge/outfalls area
Twite - 125
Linnet - 20
Rock Pipit - 1
Dark-bellied Brent - adult Red Nab

 Thanks Pete

Pleasant day with Barnacle Goose flock the local highlight

Heysham Obs
North wall area
Black Redstart - 1st W showing very well until at least 1215hrs frequenting the sandworks compound at the end of the north harbour wall
Med Gull - two adults, one Czech-ringed
Rock Pipit - one
Meadow Pipit - c10
Red-throated Diver - one flying out of the bay very distantly
Dark-bellied Brent Goose - the adult flew past from the Heysham Head direction late morning
Twite - 28 caught; 10 new, one 2010 Machrihanish-ringed bird, 17 Heysham retraps

Ocean Edge/outfalls/IOM ferry
Med Gull - additional adult behind the ferry, then flew out
Little Gull - adult behind the ferry but then sat on the sea 'miles out'!
Twinnet - c150, mainly Twite
Meadow Pipit - c6
Snipe - 1
Dark-bellied Brent Goose - adult on Red Nab during the high tide period

Misc
Barnacle Goose - Nine over Heysham Head at lunchtime
Insects
Red Admiral - one Ocean Edge, plus at least two NH Wall area.
Wasp spp - worker social wasp Ocean Edge

Game on for all you local coastal/bush searchers!

Todays north wall 1st winter Black Redstart before and after a bath.  Thanks Rosie and Mario

Heysham Obs
Impressive day with all sorts of odds and ends, ironically on the first day for some while without any evidence of early morning thrush arrival.  Re-the heading, note that two Snow Bunting are at the tip of Sunderland Point today

Highlights
Firecrest - (probably but not certainly a male (very rusty shoulders but crown not seen properly)) Heysham NR car park with tits 0730ish, then headed for the top path trees with the tits.  Not intensively searched for subsequently due to other things to do
Black Redstart - north harbour wall on the old control room roof (only building there) in the former sandworks compound  0945ish & in the same general area to lunchtime at least but then seemed to be flushed by walkers and may have flown over to the other side of the harbour
Dark-bellied Brent Goose - Adult appeared around Red Nab just after high tide with returning Wigeon & was still there at 1320hrs

Vis mig by the office 0730-0900, rather intermittent
Jackdaw - flock of 21 south
Chaffinch - at least 45 SW, possibly double this
Brambling - 5+2 SW early on
Siskin - 2 SE
Skylark - heard once
Greenfinch - conspicuous by its absence with just 6 SW and no grounded birds
Goldfinch - c10 SW, two unringed birds caught
alba Wagtail - 2 SE

Grounded/off-passage birds
Goldcrest - one unringed bird and at least one ringed bird
Blackbird - c25, mainly tank farm
Song Thrush - 2 tank farm
Woodcock - one flushed from 'usual spot'
Twite - 105 Ocean Edge foreshore
Linnet - 15 Ocean Edge foreshore
Reed Bunting - 2 OE
Snipe - one OE
Meadow Pipit - 10 north wall mound/sandworks
Treecreeper - one retrap

Miscellany
Pink-footed Goose - c54 & c35 south
Med Gull - ad north wall

Insects
One Red Admiral flew south past the office.  The element of east in the wind is no good for the moth trap, despite high night temperatures