Just One Twite

Heysham
N Harbour Wall
Linnet - 24
Goldfinch - 2
Twite - 1 wearing white colour ring from this winter

Middleton
Model Boat Pond only checked
Scaup - 1 2ndCY still present
Tufted Duck - 6
Gadwall - 2
Lapwing -2
Oystercatcher - 2
Chiffchaff - 1 singing

Reserve
Small Tortoiseshell - 2

ajd

Just the Scaup

Heysham Obs
Nothing else on offer today other than a rain-drenched 2CY male Scaup still on Middleton model boat pond

Coverage gratefully received the next three days - might be a bit of Kittiwake passage for a start...plus spring passage Bonxie?

Mass Twite migration

Heysham Obs
A short earlyish morning session on the north harbour wall was a bit more interesting than of late


Twite - 16 around the seed area then flew out to sea in a northerly direction at c0920 gaining height whilst 'dropping' a single Linnet which returned to the north wall (couldn't see whether these were ringed).  A circuit revealed three further Twite, one of which was a male in full song, on the sea buckthorn and then another flock of 8 flew from the south and joined these.  At least 5 of these were unringed.  The gang then flew towards the harbour mouth.
Linnet - about 7 around - see above
Goldfinch - 2
Pied Wagtail - 4 grounded, one north
Reed Bunting - one north
Meadow Pipit - 8 north (and a further 6 over the nature reserve)
Red-throated Diver - one on the sea
Kittiwake - dead legless adult under the met mast - has someone removed rings from it I wonder?


Heysham N Reserve
Siskin - 2+ flew over


Middleton NR (thanks Malcolm)
Mute Swan - 6 adults (!) and 6 young still
Long-tailed Tit - pair nest building

1 2CY male Scaup

18 tufted

2 gadwall

4 teal

4 mallard

8 coot

5 moorhen

1 little egret

2 lapwing

2 pheasant

1 chiffchaff

41 linnet

6 reed bunting

2 meadow pipit

2 bullfinch

Insects

Dotted Border in trap - a bit late

Middleton: 2 small tortoiseshell, 1 peacock

Thrush at Heysham on the nature path near Ocean Edge with nesting material.

A bit of territorial behaviour on the model pond at Middleton

Post-winter, pre-spring migratory void

Heysham Obs
Perhaps the deadest morning this year with nothing on the sea, nothing left in the harbour, no vis, no new grounded stuff and just one or to leftovers:


Middleton
Scaup - 2CY Middleton model boat pond
Tufted Duck - 14
Teal - 2
Gadwall - pair and single male


North harbour wall
Twite - 17 - looked like yesterdays birds, including the Machrihanish-ringed green/white on both legs, but only 11/17 seen properly
Linnet - 7


Moths
Much more like it!   Shoulder Stripe and Twin-spot Quaker (rare here) both new for the year.  March Moth late in the context of this spring and six each of Common Quaker and Hebrew Character

Adult Twite gathering

Heysham Obs


Pretty dire this morning, although the pristine 2CY male Scaup continues to favour the Middleton model boat pond.


The rest of it saw the sea, land and sky given 10-15 minutes each and producing nothing Kittiwake or Meadow Pipit-wise, the "dead sea" backed up by John Webb's more conscientious vigil at JB Point.


The feeding station on the north harbour wall was topped up and visited an hour later for the WeBS and this revealed a settled group of birds allowing ring combinations to be noted


Twite - all bar three of the 17 birds were adults ringed during the 2012/13 winter period.  The remainder were what was presumably the usual (3CY or +) Machrihanish-ringed adult with green/white on both legs, a pre-2012/13 Heysham bird with orange/blue combination and just one with the new individually-inscribed white rings from the 2013/14 winter.  The greater coverts etc appeared to indicate this was the only 2CY bird in the flock, but the number could not be read.
Linnet - 14, 10 of these ringed
Goldfinch - 2 - both ringed


Middleton model boat pond
Scaup - 2CY male
Gadwall - 3
Little Egret - 1
Mute Swan - 2 adult and 6 young
Teal - pair
Mallard -male
Lapwing - 2
Tufted Duck - 10-12


Moths
Hebrew Character and March Moth

Clearing Mist Replaced by Drizzle!

Heysham Obs
Speculative ringing session resulted in predictably few captures of new birds in the conditions prevailing:
Goldcrest - 2
Chiffchaff - 3
Chaffinch - 2
Bullfinch - 1
Greenfinch - 1
Goldfinch - 1

N Harbour Wall
20 finches at feeding station comprising:
Twite - 6
Linnet - 11
Goldfinch - 2
Reed Bunting - 1

Middleton
Scaup 2CY male still present on model boat pond

1 Chiffchaff near car park

1 Goldcrest in alder by western scrape

1 Fieldfare - struggling to fly west against a pretty feeble breeze!

4 adult + 6 juv Mute Swan. Another juv (presumably the one missing from boat pond) dead in water - NE corner of Tim Butler.

19 Tufted Duck

4 Mallard

12 Teal

0 gadwall or pochard seen

1 Little Grebe

1 Snipe

3 Pheasant

2 Lapwing

15 Linnet.

ajd/md/jm

Migratory subtleties

Heysham Obs

Office area
Greenfinch - Low double-figures caught and all were ringed, most unexpected with many old adults.  Retrap history (if any) will be interesting
Chaffinch - 4 unringed birds caught, including a long-winged female
Goldfinch - couple of unringed birds
Long-tailed Tit - the sixth unringed bird of the month - the ultimate in subtle migration as all were singletons
Goldcrest - c5 around
Chiffchaff - at least one moved through
Meadow Pipit - 7 north as it cleared
Blackbird - at least 5 migrants
House Sparrow - probably just the one grounded briefly

Middleton NR
Scaup - 2CY male

Ocean Edge
Wheatear - male early morning only

North harbour wall
Twite - 55 reported early afternoon (but may have included Linnets) after a lot of food was put down early morning

Moth
March Moth

More clear skies

Heysham Obs
Slightly more around this morning and we should have been here a bit earlier, I suspect


Chiffchaff - singing males Middleton and Heysham NR - both on the move
Meadow Pipit - 3 north!
Scaup - 2CY male Middleton model boat pond still
Red-throated Diver - 2 offshore
Common Scoter - flock of 4 offshore

Another birdless butterfly day

Heysham Obs

Middleton NR - 06.15 - 07.30hrs.

Mute Swan - 8 (2ad/6imm) adults on SW pond

Gadwall - 1 pair

Teal - 2 (pair)

Mallard - 4 (2 pairs)

Pochard - 3m

Tufted Duck - 15 (8m/7f)

Scaup - 1m

Grey Heron - 1

Little Grebe - 2+ heard

Moorhen - 4

Coot - 8+

Lapwing - 1

Stock Dove - 2 flying south

Woodpigeon - 10+ (inc.flock of 6 flying south)

Magpie - 4

Carrion Crow - 3

Wren - 6+ singing

Robin - 5+

Dunnock - 4

Chaffinch - 2 singing

Greenfinch - 4+

Reed Bunting - 5

Heysham Harbour North Wall - 07.40hrs

Knot - c300 on Near Naze rocks (heliport disturbed)

Twite - 11 in feeding area

Pied Wagtail - 6+

Red-throated Diver - one offshore

Meadow Pipit - ONE north!!

Heysham NR

Mallard - pair on dipping pond

Long-tailed Tit - two unringed birds

Robin/Dunnock - single unringed of each

Common buzzard - a presumed migrant chased off by a pair on Heysham moss was visible from hey nr office
Siskin - at least one 

Insects

Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell (4), Brimstone Heysham NR.  Agonopterix heracliana in trap along with Early Grey 

Comma still on the dog walking path

 

Signs of spring on the Heysham Nature reserve.

 By the gate leading into Heysham reserve there was 3 seen altogether on the reserve

This was in the pond on the dog walking area

Comma on the dog walking area

Wren on the Heysham reserve