21 March - Common sand slips in

21 March
Ocean Edge 
Common Sandpiper on the slipway but sloped off later
Wigeon - still 13 around

Middleton NR
Cetti's Warbler singing
Sparrowhawk 1 N
Water Rail - 2 squealing
Tufted Duck - 5
Mallard - 5
Teal - 4

North Harbour Wall
NB For safety reasons the end of the North Wall (aka the Roundhead) is now blocked off and no access down via the Twite feeding area either.
Linnet - 6 at the feeder
Carrion Crow - pair nest building

More buzzard

7 buzzard taking advantage of thermals on eastern side of Middleton Nature reserve this morning.
Single bird at 10:15
Six together at 10:45

Cetti's warbler singing (MD)

Heysham Nature Reserve
Very quiet - only 3 birds caught in 3 hours - Blackbird, Chaffinch and Robin. The Robin had first been ringed at the Nature Reserve in 2011. Little visible migration and virtually nothing once the sky cleared at 9am
Vis
Meadow Pipit - 29
Alba wagtail - 6
Lesser Redpoll - 1
Jackdaw - 1
Carrion Crow - 16

Ocean edge area
Whooper swan - 6 NW
Little egret - 5
Wigeon - 87

Moths
Included a chestnut - scarce here but the second this year

Bits

Heysham obs

Unringed twite and nine linnet north wall

C25 meadow pipit north over hn reserve

Singing Cetti's Middleton

Friday 18th

Heysham obs

Three more buzzard heading NE

Singing Cetti's warbler

5 great crested grebe and 81 eider offshore

Lesser redpoll ringed hey nr but only two meadow pipit reported

Soaring migration

The above heading refers to the type of, not extent of today’s migration – sorry (MD).

Two raven followed by five buzzard (together) rose on thermals high above Middleton Nature reserve. They then soared off north and northeast respectively. Five buzzard together is probably the highest single sighting for spring migration at this site.

Cetti’s warbler was heard calling (4 times in 20 minutes).

Ocean Edge
3 little egret
96 shelduck

Middleton Nature Reserve
6 mute
10 coot
5 moorhen
11 tufted
4 mallard
25 teal
1 water rail
1 Cetti's warbler
6 meadow pipit - grounded
5 buzzard
2 raven
1 lapwing

Heysham Nature Reserve
Pink-footed Goose - 60 N
Meadow Pipit - 22 N
Alba wagtail - 2 N
Lesser Redpoll - 1N

Clear sunny windy and useless

Heysham Obs
The vis mig amounted to one Meadow Pipit and the only star of the day was the singing male Cetti's Warbler in the usual spot on Middleton

Sightings Middleton/Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Tufted Duck - 8
Gadwall - 2 males
Cetti's Warbler - singing male
Little Egret - 5
Wigeon - 98

Comma and Cumbrian Brents

Heysham Obs
For non-sidebar readers:   The 2015 Heysham Bird Observatory report has been out a week or so now and can either be purchased at Leighton Moss or from Heysham NR office.  At Leighton Moss, you will need to ask at the counter and will be brought from the depths of the storeroom

Offshore low tide


Pale-bellied Brent Goose - flock of three on distant skeer edge just NW of Heysham Head
Red-breasted Merganser - mobile flock of 13 and three more sedate pairs
Eider - 300ish but more spread out than yesterday
Great-crested Grebe - 2
Pied Wagtail - 36 N in 25 mins
Meadow Pipit - just 4 N in 25 minutes

Heysham Nature Reserve
Meadow Pipit 14 N in 2 hours
Pied Wagtail - 1 N
Siskin - 2
Raven - 2 headed south

Insect
Comma NE corner Heysham NR today

Clear and cloudless

Heysham Obs

One of today's Meadow Pipits.
Note the dark "thorns" on the median coverts - this indicates it is a young bird born last year (5 in ringing parlance, 2CY in other parlance)

Unlike yesterday's cloud cover and low-flying Meadow Pipits, this was is a "stratosphere" day with any vis mig presumably out of visual and audible range for the most part.

Highlights so far:
Cetti's Warbler singing and calling from the usual place at Middleton - presumably it hadn't gone! (per Malcolm)

Vis 0800-1200
Siskin - 5
Meadow Pipit - 27
Pied Wagtail - 1

North Harbour Wall
Eider - 327 in the low tide channels
Great-crested Grebe - 3
Red-breasted Merganser - 12 (in pairs)

Middleton Nature Reserve
Mute 3 pairs
5 tufted
2 mallard
0 teal, pochard or gadwall
1 little grebe
1 cetti's warbler
3 reed bunting
58 pink-foot NE

Ocean Edge
2 little egret
2 stonechat (Female)


What looks like Mompha jurassicella was in the (proper!) toilet!

Meadow Pipit pulse Sunday 13th March

Heysham Obs
The first day of any 'real' vis mig with intermittent coverage during the morning suggesting Meadow Pipit were in the region of 60 per hour N/NE, with a significant proportion of these over the sea

Vis mig intermittent 0800 onwards
Meadow Pipit - 186
alba Wagtail - 37
Skylark - 1
Reed Bunting - 1
Goldfinch - 4+

Ringing included 5 x Meadow Pipit, 3 x Goldfinch, an unringed Robin

Saturday 12th March

Not a lot happening today other than in the moth trap which held a couple of new for the year Common Quaker and a Mompha, thought probably to be a well-marked subbistrigella

A bit of vis produced a Grey and two alba Wagtail north but no Meadow Pipit

North Harbour Wall
Goldfinch - 9
Eider - 9
Red-breasted Merganser - 2 pairs floated into the Bay

Today was final record of over wintering male blackcap in Heysham garden. Gave 5 minutes of song in late afternoon, then was seen or heard no more. MD 17/3/16