THE cold frosty morning of the winter according to some forecasts!

Heysham Obs
Just drawing in the sightings for this year and doing a bit of preliminary "analysis"   What an odd year!   Some of it you couldn't make up like the only tern record after 2nd September was a moulting adult White-winged Black!!

Just to reaffirm what was posted the other day.  A conversation today indicated that vehicles parked in unexpected locations and unfamiliar people will be subject to more comprehensive security checks than has hitherto been the case.

Middleton NR am (Jean and Malcolm)
Chiffchaff - recording sounds interesting but views limited to 'greyish glimpse' - couldn't be found (by me) later - interacting with Cetti's Warbler for short period in same bushes along south end of Western Marsh
Cetti's Warbler - seen and recorded as per yesterday
Water Rail - absolute minimum of 6 (3+ in western marsh reedbed) during abortive warbler search by Pete at lunchtime
Song Thrush - two olive-coloured migrants - flew inland
Mute Swan - dead unringed imm central marsh
plus 6 tufted 4 mallard 70+ teal 9 moorhen 5 common snipe

Harbour
Red-breasted Merganser - male by waterfall
Cormorant - 7 by waterfall
Guillemot - one by waterfall

Office
Bullfinch - two unringed females caught

Ringing by office
Chaffinch (1), Bullfinch (2), Goldfinch (3), Greenfinch (5) plus a few retraps

Moth
Mottled Umber

New Cetti's located as the weather calms down

Heysham Obs
So there have been "46ish Goldfinches on the seed all month".  So why were 29 out of 39 un-ringed this morning, despite two 'comprehensive' catches earlier in the month!   The answer can be found in e.g. the vis mig data from Portland (and e.g. Gibraltar Point) - November is still a major passage month for this species, even if it is not so discernable vis mig-wise on the west coast

North wall
Med Gull - Czech-ringed adult
Twite - one heard and seen in flight
Goldfinch - 45ish
Linnet - at least 8
Pink-footed Goose - 46 SE
Meadow Pipit - 1+
Guillemot - still in harbour - thanks Janet - taken today, hence sunlight!!

Middleton
Cetti's Warbler - one calling all the time, including the little churr, (but no song) in the willows along the southern bank of the western marsh - near the sewage works.  Didn't appear to be ringed but views of esp left leg very brief
Reed Bunting - 2
Tufted Duck - 6

Heysham NR
Siskin - one heard

Ringing
Goldfinch - 29 new and 10 retraps, Linnet - 3 new

Moths (Justine)
Stigmella alnetella/glutinosae on Alder at Middleton NR today. These two species need breeding through to be certain of which one it is.

Phyllonorycter rajella from MNR today. Alder is about the only species with leaves on now.

Wrong kind of cold

Heysham Obs
Not cold enough or cold long enough for here as north winds are pretty hopeless unless they encourage use of a migratory corridor (e.g. Whoopers) which has been closed for a bit or old weather movements.  Shame for the visiting birding group which seemed to disappear elsewhere in record time!   Locked gates for security and safety reasons, however, stay that way for visiting birding groups unless some form of  advance notice and a bit of negotiation is possible.  Therefore the only available bird of remote interest was an hour away rather than one minute.  Just to remind people that whilst birders are very welcome here, one of the duties of the harbour and power station police is to take details of any visitors they do not recognise, especially perhaps those with cameras. This especially applies to unsettled winter weather when the odd seabird might be tucked into a corner of the harbour or a gull of interest on Fisher's roof,  'necessitating' scopes being directed towards more sensitive areas than out to sea.  If you don't like this, simply please stay away (see sidebar).  Thanks to Malcolm for Middleton stuff

Publishable stuff of interest today
Guillemot - one in harbour by waterfall
Goldeneye - male far offshore off Heysham skeers
Woodcock - one Middleton NR
[Two 'dark geese' at extreme range in flight "along" the Barrow coast road!]

Also ran
Goldcrest - one by office
Meadow Pipit - one flew over office
Goldfinch - 20 ish north wall
Linnet - 5 ish north wall
Teal - 5 Middleton
Eider - only 8 could be found offshore around the skeers 

Plummeting early afternoon temperatures

Heysham obs
A few bits today

Kittiwake - flock of 31 am
Little gull - ad seaward end outfalls early am
Guillemot - one still in harbour - dead r/g on sea
Fulmar - one observed flying out of Heysham airspace from stone jetty
Shag - 1cy in harbour pm only (and 8 cormorant)
Pink-footed goose - 62 s pm

Middleton
First gadwall since the summer - very skittish male
Two redwing
Teal - 18 plus

Storm blown Gannet

Heysham Obs

The tired windblown Gannet

(photo taken with I-phone through the scope hence poor quality)

Guillemot in the harbour

Adult Gannet on the shore between Red Nab and the outfalls (it has been seen flying)

Adult Kittiwake Stage 2 outfall, 6 behind 1OM ferry

Whooper swan - 4 south

Goldeneye - two males by skeer off Heysham head

46 Goldfinch and 9 Linnet on seed but no Twite

No moths in trap - not even a mossie!

Poor visibility and rain

Heysham Obs
Wednesday 18th November
The search for the cutting edge involved a low point of waiting to see how many diving Tufted Duck there were on the model boat pond sitting in a warm car (8)

More credibility getting soaked and finding two storm-blown 1CY Shag sitting it out in the harbour but not feeding - by all accounts they didnt stay long

The Guillemot was also present in the harbour by the waterfall

Calm down dear!

The wind abated slightly this morning and so did the birds.
A Guillemot was still in he harbour
60 finches were on the North Harbour Wall, about 40 Goldfinches and 20 Linnet. No Twite.
Just 6 Tufted Duck on the model boat pond at Middleton NR (3M, 3F)

Nice selection over a very long time!

Heysham Obs

A little frustrating today with a male Snow Bunting heading south towards the area not located within and the Grey Phalarope's not quite clinched as the 'on the sea' views were just glimpses before being lost in the rather distant heavy seas.  One the plus side, the 'what's that' as viewed out of window by Reuben was also then seen by Steve and myself and proved to be the first 'from the office' skua spp in the form of a westbound Bonxie with a few trailing gulls warily keeping their distance,  Thanks to Bill, Andrew, Jean and Malcolm for coverage 

 

Sea on and off 1000 onwards to just before dusk

Whooper Swan - 9+7+2 south in the afternoon

Pintail - 19+3 south

Shag - 1CY afternoon

Grey Phalarope - "two very probable grey phalarope - long way out (beyond the red buoy) but they settled on the sea and then I lost them in the waves"

Leach's Petrel - one yellow buoy area late afternoon then lost in rough seas further south 

Skua spp - one very distant bird in Cumbria

Kittiwake - 15 or so behind the IOM ferry, one out

Med Gull - 2 adult

Guillemot - one in the waterfall area of harbour

Linnet - 7

Twite - 1

Goldfinch - c15

 

Office area

Bonxie (Great Skua) - one flew west at 1200hrs, almost certainly then headed south

 

Middleton NR
Chiffchaff - 1

 

Very fortunate

Heysham obs
The Heysham equivalent of sitting in a hide paid dividends this morning.   The maritime inaction was tempered by listening to the radio and reading the paper whilst regularly carrying out 180 degree scans.  Then at 1012hrs, a little black thing with a white rump sheared through the optics before turning and trying to fly out before the process was repeated.   Then it all happened as a flock of 16 Pintail flew out. Didn't expect this in the conditions which seemed a fraction too far to the south and certainly were an hour or two later .  Tried to intercept it at the stone jetty to give some inner bay watchers am idea of where to look but this coincided with some poor visibility.

Inshore sightings
Leach's petrel - one in 1012 hrs about 150m beyond the buoys
Guillemot - one by waterfall at low tide
Pintail- flock of 16 out
Cormorant - 5 waterfall
Med gull -  adult fishers h.t.
Wren - one near south Roundhead!

Mammal
Dead hedgehog by reserve entrance

Making the most of useless conditions

Heysham Obs
As suspected, checking the synoptic charts, daylight hours today saw slack winds and heavy drizzle for the most part.  Watching the sea would be like watching paint dry.  So a bit of a low tide check, followed by a date with MapMate, whilst Malcolm did the full rounds before the heavy rain started.

Middleton NR

No Cetti's Warbler heard at 1030 0r 1315 and no sign of yesterdays 1CY male Goldeneye
6 mute swan
10 tufted duck
28 teal
2 moorhen
1 grey heron
2 little egret
5 snipe over to South (1 flock 12.45)

Ocean edge
1 Jack snipe
6 common snipe
2 little egret
23 turnstone
1 ringed plover
c30 linnet
6 mallard

Red Nab
32 wigeon
1 kingfisher

SW Round Head
1 juvenile shag

Nothing on or
over water

Malcolm

Low tide check north wall early am

Eider - 47

Med Gull - adult