Gorse flowers on the menu

Heysham Obs
The usual heliport roost activities - lady with dog encouraging it to chase Oystercatchers and a photographer wanting flight shots contrasted with the most unusual sight of a Roe Deer buck chewing gorse flowers on Middleton

North wall
Med Gull - Czech bird still
Twite - 4 (plus 3 Linnet and 2 Goldfinch)

Middleton NR
Gulls - just 64 large and 149 Black-headed today
Pochard - 3 males
Gadwall - 2
Snipe - 1
Tufted Duck - 12
Gadwall - 2
Mallard - 8
Moorhen - 4

Gulls and chips

Heysham Obs
Don't know whether the rubbish tip charges for excess cooked chips, but bucketfuls of the fatty remains of the previous evenings calorie-fest appeared from the back of a van and were deposited in the general direction of the Mute Swans on the model boat pond.  The episode was hijacked by hordes of gulls and if, this is repeated, this could be promising.  196 Herring/LBBG, 310 Black-headed with at least 4 Common Gulls with some undoubtedly missed still swirling around in the air.  Quite commendable as many other places would simply reheat the chips for today's fare

North harbour wall
Finches - 27 - amazingly 9 Twite (5+ unringed), 9 Linnet and 9 Goldfinch
Med Gull - Czech-ringed bird nearly in full summer plumage - only a week or so to go before departure

Model boat pond
See above
Pochard - 3 males
Tufted Duck - c7
Mallard -  5

22nd February

Heysham Obs
A horrible wet day saw 4000 Oystercatchers at the heliport, 3 male Pochard on the model boat pond

The cod army and two coot

Heysham Obs
The lack of small-fish-eating birds (e.g. Guillemot) this winter appears to down to a large, late and prolonged influx of cod - hence all the anglers - which have hoovered up all the small fish.  Don't tell the Arctic terns as they plan the spring migration


Ocean Edge flushed off saltmarsh by spring tide
Snipe - 9
Jack Snipe - 2
Reed Bunting - 1


Middleton NR wetlands
Coot - 1OY? 2
Pochard - 3 male
Tufted Duck - 26
Mallard - 6
Gadwall - 5
Teal - 2
Moorhen - 1
Mute Swan - 2 + 6 .


Waders
Ringed Plover - 11 Ocean Edge, 28 Heliport area
Dunlin - 17 heliport
Redshank - 210 heliport
Oystercatcher - 3850 heliport


Thanks to Malcolm for most of todays info

Wader checks and anglers going through the motions

Heysham Obs
No sign of any Purple Sandpiper today in coverage which saw:
Turnstone - 58 on wooden jetty
Ringed Plover - 28 on heliport
Oystercatcher - 4000 heliport

Fishing
30 anglers, two codling and a flounder - the cod bonanza seems to be over

Success! (for some)

 

Two short sessions

Heysham Obs

North harbour wall
Twite 4, Linnet 12, Goldfinch 2

Model boat pond
Pochard male, 6 Tufted Duck and increase in Lesser Black-backed Gull

Moth
Melanistic Dotted Border

Undisturbed heliport roost for a change

Heysham Obs

The view from the top of the Heliport with waders spilling over from the wall.

The heliport roost was not 'dog-walked until at least high tide today and this allowed 4000 Oystercatcher and 800 Knot to roost

No finches this morning on the NH wall

Congested NHWall

Heysham North Harbour Wall
Notwithstanding 4 cars, 1 large four-track and a camper van and some chatting fishermen, a decent finch flock of 40+ birds arrived and the majority dropped onto the feeding area. We were not able to fire the net since some were standing on the furled net. However, they flew and a reasonable proportion returned allowing 12 birds to be caught:

Twite - 11 including 4 retraps and 7 new birds.  Of the new birds 4 were probably adults - a high proportion.
Linnet - 1

Offshore
Kittiwakes - 7 flew into the Bay at 0830hrs
Hybrid crow, unfortunately not a "pure" hooded crow, flew into the Bay at 0840hrs

Heysham Reserve
No sight or sound of the Cetti's Warbler around lunchtime.

Near Naze
Knot - 800 at high tide

Red Nab
Oystercatcher - 1087 at high tide

Heysham One outfall
Wigeon - 170 at low tide

Other areas
Jay - 3 were seen flying to the NE over Trumacar Store at 08.30


ajd

Twitching the patch

Heysham Obs

Nothing much to report from me (Jean) - 155 Eider in the low tide channel.  Twitched the 3 Pochard at the Model Boat Pond on Middleton NR

Raven - this was the best bird seen today in recent context when it has suddenly become very difficult to see - purposefully south over Heysham NR at about 0840hrs

Med Gull - Czech adult north wall but just one Twite seen today.

Green Woodpecker shows well

Heysham Obs
A bit of a quiet (!) vigil by the dipping pond area for an hour produced great views of Green Woodpecker before it headed off over the golf course - gave four yaffles.   No sight nor sound of the Cetti's Warbler but it may have been up at the reed-bed end.  Ten species in song:  Blue Tit, Great Tit, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Chaffinch, Wren, Song Thrush and (sort of) Goldfinch

Middleton NR (Justine)
Grey Wagtail - P/Y colour-ringed bird seen
Pochard - now 3 males
Pheasant - SEVEN on Middleton - the most for ages (2 male)

North harbour wall
9 unringed Twite caught

Moth trappers take note:  a woodland actinic trap in the Lune valley this morning contained 80 moths - near the place that had over 1000 Mottled Umber on 17th Dec last year!