Back to normal after today

Heysham Obs
Quite a decent little day for migrants in weather which did not exactly look any big deal

Landbird migrants
5 Grey Wagtail ringed - only one other bird known to have flown over
11 Chiffchaff caught - one a 'control' = ringed elsewhere
4 Willow Warbler ringed
Whitethroat, Blackcap and Lesser Whitethroat in low double figures
Goldcrest - just one heard

Outfalls pre-high tide
Med Gull - 9 x 2CY, 1 x Ad - where are all the 1CY?
Little Gull - usual ad
Oystercatcher - 2750 Red Nab
Redshank - 210 Red Nab

Moths
Red-line Quaker early

Will play catch-up with last few days tomorrow

An already ringed Grey Wagtail!

Heysham Obs
A Grey Wagtail ringed as a nestling by the five gate road Upper Roeburndale ford on 21/5/15 (much nearer my house than Heysham NR!) was caught along with an unringed bird at Heysham NR at 0815hrs.  Given that the usual flightline of vis mig birds is NNW to SSE it was a bit unexpected to find a movement of 19km SSW.  Its obviously had a good wander since fledging.  A case of 'scrutinise properly and you will find' with the neap high tide roost this morning - 13 easy to miss 2CY Meds!

Red Nab/Ocean Edge high tide
Mediterranean Gull - 5 adult, 13 2CY but only one 1CY - usually far more than this.   13 of the Meds were in the small flocks of roosting gulls on the sand-flats south of Ocean Edge
Little Gull - the usual adult bathing in the stream - the easiest time to find it!
Grey Plover - 260
Bar-tailed Godwit - 82
Curlew - 230 Red Nab
Redshank - 220 Red Nab

Heysham NR
Large bird of prey - one in-off very high, then south, seaward side of the power station - light very poor but structure, flight mode and size suggested a migratory Common Buzzard - c1305hrs
Grey Wagtail - flock of four, then two caught (one already ringed elsewhere) - no others seen/heard - an excellent ratio of captures to sightings so far this autumn
Meadow Pipit - 2
Goldcrest - 4
Willow Warbler - one ringed
Blackcap - 4 ringed
Whitethroat - one ringed
Treecreeper - one ringed - unusual in early September

Middleton NR
52 Goldfinch ringed but otherwise just two Blackcap, two Whitethroat, a Reed Warbler and a Chiffchaff

More vis, less grounded

Heysham Obs
Another clear morning saw nets being set at Middleton and Heysham.  Despite the half-light at least one Grey Wagtail was over at Heysham before the nets were set along with a very early morning Meadow Pipit.  The vis was tricky to keep tabs on with the clear blue sky but a fair amount was on the move.  The first mist net round saw seven Grey Wagtail in the net with an additional bird 'hovering around'.

Heysham nature reserve
Vis mig intermittently 0620-1100
Grey Wagtail - at least 14 over, 9 ringed, but the sun was on the nets preventing captures 0715-0900
Meadow Pipit - c40 SE, mostly early on
alba Wagtail - 12 SE
Siskin - at least 15 registrations in rapid transit but birds impossible to see
Swallow - difficult to separate off passage from movement but at least 50 birds SE
House Martin - 7 SE
Tree Pipit - 2 separately SE and 2 heard at midday
Goldfinch - appeared to be on the move but so difficult to isolate from off-passage birds
Chaffinch - 25 south early on, including a flock of 14

Grounded by office
Very little
Goldcrest - 3
Blackcap - 2
Whitethroat - 2
Chiffchaff - just one

Middleton NR
Vis mig 0600-1100
Lesser Redpoll - 1
Siskin - 15
Grey Wagtail - 4 over, 1 ringed
Swallow - 46
Alba wagtail - 2
Meadow Pipit - 14
House Martin - 2
Carrion Crow - 1

Grasshopper Warbler - one juvenile ringed

Water Rail still squealing
Snipe 1
Sparrowhawk 2
Reed Bunting 1
Goldfinch 15 in one flock

Not quite what was expected yet again!

Heysham Obs
A very clear night with a decreasing north-westerly leading to a cold flat-calm morning did not seem a good recipe for night migrants, but conversely seemed promising enough for e.g. Grey Wagtail passage.   Instead the nets were 'full' of night migrants with Middleton seeing the 'full house' of common warbler species being ringed - not bad for the end of the first week in September.  There were no Grey Wagtail seen or heard at Middleton and just two (three birds?) seen/ringed at Heysham NR.  Some really good photography from Janet during the afternoon

Middleton NR
Some of the ringing data:
Lesser Whitethroat - 2 ringed
Sedge Warbler - 1 ringed, one retrapped
Reed Warbler - 2 ringed
Willow Warbler - one ringed
Chiffchaff - 5 ringed
Whitethroat - 6 ringed, one retrap
Blackcap - 4 ringed, one retrap
Garden Warbler - one ringed
Dunnock - 7 ringed and two escaped (!) - definitely on the move this morning
Robin - 3 presumed migrants ringed

Vis mig
Tree Pipit - 1 south early on, then a flock of 3 grounded later on
Lesser Redpoll - 1 S
alba Wagtail - c10 SE
Swallow - c35 S all mid am onwards
Meadow Pipit - c5 SE
Siskin - 7+10+1 SE
Tree Sparrow - 4 west
Common Buzzard - heard to east
House Martin - c5 S

Heysham NR
Grey Wagtail - at least two possibly three
Robin - three ringed
Reed Warbler, Whitethroat, Chiffchaff - singletons ringed

More excellent pics from Janet

Sunday 6th September

Heysham Obs

I left a single mist net up for a couple of hours whilst finishing the county ringing report - 3 x Grey Wagtail arrived in singletons

The Swallow roost in the evening held about 80 birds and 38 Swallow and 2 Sand Marin were ringed

Water Rail in the usual area

Saturday 5th September

Heysham Obs
Little Gull and 52 Treble Bar in moth trap

So you think you know the routine...........

Heysham Obs
This was a very odd day.  Not a lot was seen but it involved two lots of unprecedented multiple records and a good individual wader sighting for here.  Also record numbers of Treble Bar.

Vis mig 0700-0730 Heysham NR office
Carrion Crow - flock of 8 south
Chaffinch - 9 singletons south
Song Thrush - one ticking from a bush then high inland - typical migrant behaviour and we do get quite early ones here from about now - 'British' plumage (one ringed at Hexham)
Black-tailed Godwit - flock of 12 high to the north!  Never seen one from the office and not common here even on the coast
Meadow Pipit - 3 SE
Linnet - 5 SE
alba Wagtail - 7 separately SE
Grey Wagtail - one heard to the east

Red Nab & area late stages of incoming tide
Golden Plover - flock of 42 on Red Nab - completely unprecedented
Spotted Redshank - winter adult with Redshank
Grey Plover - one
Redshank - c220
Dunlin - 14
Ringed Plover = 16
Curlew - 230
Oystercatcher - 2650
Med Gull - 1 x juv, 3 x 2CY, 1 x ad
Little Gull - usual ad bathing in the stream
Wheatear - two OE foreshore

Moths
Mainly two species - 52 Treble Bar and 20 Silver Y (& 3 A. latistria).  This is a record single catch for Treble Bar for at least Lancashire

Thanks for these great pics Janet

Big red

Heysham Obs
A Red Underwing graced the wall of the toilet trap along with 33 Treble Bar.  The rest of the day was rather more mundane in a useless clear north-westerly

Outfalls and Red Nab near high tide
Little Gull adult
Med Gull - 1CY
Ringed Plover - 17
Little Egret - 1

Too clear, too sunny

Heysham Obs
The light winds prompted a Grey Wagtail ringing session, but unfortunately a flock of three was missed due to a new 18m net being shorter than we expected, knocking the line of three out of sync and slowing down the net setting.  Only two subsequent birds were recorded which were both ringed and little else happening with just one Whitethroat and not even any hirundine passage

Red Nab/outfalls midday
Sandwich Tern - adult
Little Gull - moulting adult
Med Gull - 3 x 2CY, 1 x Ad, 1 x 1CY
Ringed Plover - 16

North wall
Wheatear - 2
Linnet - 20
Meadow Pipit - 2 SE

Moths
A heap of Silver Y but no sign of yesterdays escapee.  Treble Bar in double figures and the rest of the catch was strictly routine

Butterflies
Highlighted by the first September record of Small Skipper, also Painted Lady and Meadow Brown on the office buddliea

One of those mornings you need to be everywhere, especially checking the moth trap early on!!

Heysham Obs
Nice mixture of calm, a few dark clouds and a light northerly airflow for the first half of this morning.  'Bet there is a Wryneck somewhere' was the assessment - a Red-backed Shrike later materialised just to the south - but there was no way that we could cover everywhere and complete the final Middleton CES.  As I type this, rumbles of thunder to the north might liven things up again after a breezy sunny spell late morning/early afternoon

Middleton CES
There seemed to be quite a few common migrants whizzing through at a vast rate of knots, including at least four Common Whitethroat and a Wheatear.  Others migrant warblers latched themselves on to the local LTT flock
Goldcrest - 2-3
Grey Wagtail - 2 early on and one after we had packed up - SE
Swallow - c120 south, with the ex-roost birds earlier swirling up and disappearing high to south
House Martin - just one
Siskin - 5-6 registrations totally an absolute minimum of 8 birds i.e. didn't see any of them!!
Wheatear - one inland
Pied Wagtail - at least 7 SE
Reed Bunting - just one migrant - conspicuous absence of local birds
Reed Warbler - 2 ringed - no other obvious birds
Sedge Warbler - 3 ringed
WillowWarbler - 5+
Chiffchaff - 2+
Whitethroat - up to 4 rapidly passed through and one ringed
Lesser Whitethroat - one ringed
Blackcap - at least 5
Meadow Pipit - 5 SE
Goldfinch - c50 grounded
Water Rail - one in the breeding area western marsh

Moths
A NI MOTH was on the wall of the toilet trap but unfortunately tried to pot it when a pic would have been a better option and it shot out of the window.  Very good views but not a proper documentation.  This is the problem when the trap is not checked until mid-morning with the sun blazing on it