Bits and bobs of late migrants

Can't complain about Yellowhammer, Merlin, Brambling, Twite etc, but may have missed a southbound Lapland Bunting over our air space or flushed from eg Ocean Edge foreshore (see just to the south of the recording area).   The ringers were dealt a few scraps but this is the time we utilise the feeders for passage finches and but can't get at them due to the on-going construction site for the new office! 

This gives a rather finch-less aspect to the October ringing totals.  Totals for the month including 31st:

Goldcrest (137), Redwing (80), Reed Bunting (70), Long-tailed Tit (46), Chiffchaff (42), Blue Tit (38), Blackbird (36), Pied/White Wagtail (34), Meadow Pipit (33), Goldfinch (32), Blackcap (31), Robin (27), Wren (22), Chaffinch (18), Coal Tit (15), Dunnock (10), Yellow-browed Warbler (8), Song Thrush (4), Great Tit (4), Lesser Redpoll (3), Bullfinch (2), Great spotted Woodpecker (2) and singletons of Sparrowhawk, Water Rail, Greenfinch (!), Mealy Redpoll, Siskin, Linnet and a late Willow Warbler. 

Amazingly we seem to have managed to go throughout September and October catching a decent number of birds, but no rings at all from elsewhere other than ring-reading the returning Czech Med Gull!

Vis mig from various places - strong Skylark passage just starting as I called it a day
Merlin - female south (also seen by the Sunderland people)
Brambling - 4 - all first thing
Chaffinch - 60
Skylark - 33
Rock Pipit - 1
Greenfinch - 3
Goldfinch - 2
Pink-footed Goose - c200 and 45
Meadow Pipit - 3
Redwing - 2
Reed Bunting - 1

Grounded (all the mound stuff flushed by Merlin before I had sorted through them - then very spooky with Twite moving over the harbour)
Meadow Pipit - 15 mound
Twite - at least one probably 4 mound
Linnet - 12-14 mound
Rock Pipit - 1 seawall
Goldcrest - at least 10 Heysham Head
Blackbird - not a single one at Heysham Head or the lower part of the reserve (didn't do NE corner) - astonishing departure c/p yesterday and esp the day before.  Maybe just 10 Heysham NR upper part and 5-6 Middleton
Chiffchaff - 1 Heysham Nr
Yellowhammer - one heard calling Heysham western marsh west end but couldn't see it then stopped and had presumably 'vissed off' (Pine Bunting not eliminated)
Reed Bunting - 2-3 Middleton

Ringing
Combined totals Middleton and Heysham of new birds:  Chaffinch (2), Goldcrest (10), Blackbird (5), singles of Coal and Long-tailed Tits, Greenfinch and Chiffchaff

Firecrest remains

Thanks Janet

A lengthy session on Heysham nature reserve included a significant amount of time waiting for the Firecrest to reappear around the obs tower pond. After calling it was located in a birch tree for about a minute then just one more call in the next 25 minites.   Presumably went back into yesterday's nearby area

There were quite a few goldcrest scattered through the reserve including a loose gang of 14 but the only other prominent migrant was blackbird, mostly in the eastern sector

Heysham NR (not including tank farm)
Blackbird - 30
Goldcrest - 35
Redwing - 5
Song thrush - 2
Firecrest - 1
Bullfinch - 2
Chaffinch - 15 s
Goldfinch -2 a
Meadow pipit -3 s

North wall feeder
Starling -10
Linnet - 6
Meadow pipit - 3

Middleton
A handful of thrushes and goldcrest were caught along with two less expected meadow pipit

Heysham head rectory wood
Coal tit -3
Goldcrest - 2

Insect
Emmelina monodactyla on ivy Heysham rectory wall

Firecrest highlights retrieval behind abus

Ouch - overslept after forgetting to set alarm and on my own for the rest of the recording area whilst Malcolm covered Middleton.    A 1000 start saw a decision to cover two sites which I knew would not have been disturbed - hence 'abus'.

North wall sandworks and mound (SD36V)
Goldcrest - 9 in seabuckthorn and one in gorse
Meadow pipit - c30 including four in off
Rock pipit -two together on sea wall
Linnet - 5
Twite - flighty singleton with some of meadow pipit
Robin - 5
Wren - 3
Pied wagtail - 2
Coal tit - 1 - ?? New for SD36
Song thrush - 1
Dunnock - 1
Cormorant - 83 on wooden jetty and nearby
Greenfinch - one south
Goldfinch - 7 south
Starling - 4

Tank farm
Firecrest - pretty sure this was a male - caught glimpse of fiery red in centre of crown
Took some nailing in a mix of bracken and hawthorn and only called three times in 30 minutes
Goldcrest - c15 scattered about
Blackbird - at least 50 allowing for mobility, perhaps as many as 70
Song thrush - 2
Redwing - 6
Coal tit - 4 - the only tits seen
All the rest if the stuff was deemed resident eg all robins were singing

Middleton (thanks Malcolm)
Wood pigeon - flock of 44 east
Cetti's warbler - one singing Male
Redwing - 12

Insects
Speckled wood - very tatty one

Sand works fare

Managed to get access into the sand works and mound area to search for finches in what was unfortunately just about the worst landbird migration conditions of the month.

Linnet (11), wren (2), meadow pipit (1), robin (1) and two rabbits and a brown rat

Elsewhere there was an adult media gull and single black-tailed godwit on the south side

I'll post your pics tomorrow Janet

No coverage today

Czech mate returns

Feels as though I have grown up with this bird, or more accurately grown old.  2003 and still counting as it sat on the railings on the north harbour wall this morning

North wall
Med Gull - Czech-ringed adult on the railings

Middleton NR and Heysham NR
Ringing on both sites didn't produce a great deal as the forecasted mist was a no-show.  Vis mig was terrible yet, like yesterday, a decent bird was in Morecambe Bay's airspace but unlike yesterday, sadly missing us out (Richards Pipit)

Ringing at both sites struggled to reach 30 birds in total which included half a dozen Goldcrest, 4 Redwing, 2 Reed Bunting

Grounded stuff at Heysham NR
included one Chiffchaff, 25 Blackbird, 3 Song Thrush and about 25 Goldcrest

Vis mig at Heysham NR

Brambling - 1

Chaffinch - 5

Siskin - 1-3

Skylark - 3

Mealy Redpoll a welcome addition for the year

The sort of morning where you felt something had to be about but didn't expect a small vis mig passerine to highlight, given the lack of numbers in that department

Considered to be an adult female (wing length 74.5mm)

Heysham NR coverage 0900-1000
Grounded
Blackbird 30-40
Goldcrest 20
Redwing - 6
Chiffchaff - 1

Vis mig intermittent coverage
Redwing - 13
Carrion Crow - 6
Jackdaw - 21 (& 3 more over Middleton)

Heysham Head coverage
0855-0955 vis mig
Bullfinch 2
Goldfinch 4
Chaffinch 19
Greenfinch 1
Linnet 3
Skylark 12

In the bushes
Goldcrest 4
Coal tit 2
Blackbird 7
Song Thrush 1

Middleton ringing
Included one Mealy and two Lesser Redpoll - all caught as singletons

Slow going for an October easterly

Some blocking cloud over southern Scandinavia has seriously disrupted the supposed second wave from the east and even the east coast was relatively quiet.

Here it was scraps under the table with the potentially best bird calling but not playing ball on visuals in the awkward NE corner of Heysham Nr - a candidate for Siberian chiffchaff

Heysham Nr grounded
Chiffchaff - 1
Cetti's warbler - one calling early am
Goldcrest - 5
Blackbird - 20
Redwing - 4
Jay - 3

Middleton ringing session
Long tailed tit - 10, redwing 4 and singletons of reed bunting, chiffchaff, goldfinch and a few retraps

Vis mig
Brambling 1 E
Grey Wagtail 1 NE
Chaffinch 6 E
Skylark 14 NE
Pink-footed Goose 60 N offshore
Lesser Redpoll 1 E
Rock Pipit 1 SE
Meadow Pipit 13 E
Siskin 10 NE
Heysham Head
Grounded: Siskin 2, Meadow Pipit 5, Goldcrest 5
South Harbour wall area:Black-tailed Godwit 1 feeding by outfalls
Meadow Pipit 5
Wigeon 83
OE foreshore:
Meadow Pipit 3
Linnet 21
Snipe 2
Former Pontins:
Goldcrest 2
Meadow Pipit 2
Middleton NR South:
Grey Wagtail 1
Goldcrest 2

Brambling bonanza (for Heysham anyway)

Overhead vis was low key but livened up with coastal finch passage:
Brambling - 10
Chaffinch - 114
Siskin - 5
Goldfinch - 17
Greenfinch - 1
Lesser Redpoll - 1
Meadow Pipit - 15
Skylark - 2
alba wagtail - 3
Reed Bunting - 2
Redwing - 7
Blackbird - 6
Song Thrush - 4
Pink-footed Goose 53 (16,37)
Whooper Swan - 6
Mute Swan - 2
Woodpigeon - 32
Jackdaw - 147
Snipe - 1
Raven - 2

For the first day since 6th October NO Redwing were caught and ringed.

News was received of a presumed Great Grey Shrike seen yesterday at 10:15 at Heysham Head. So that's two Greats missed by yours truly but at least someone was around to witness them.

Quiet weather and quiet day

 Nice 'air shot'!

 .........a bit stubby-billed

probably now in winter residence

No weather to really drop anything much today - visibility better than forecast.  As so often happens in quiet calm weather perfect for mist netting there was quite a lot of tootling around by local tit flocks and retraps were the order of the day for the first time for at least a couple of months.

The highlight was an out of habitat capture of Cetti's warbler below the old obs tower at Heysham Nr, presumably a newly arrived migrant. Low single figures of Coal Tit and Reed Bunting were ringed at Middleton and a single Chiffchaff at Heysham NR

Middleton saw a complete lack of migrant warblers - just probably two singing male Cettis

Vis (MNR)
Bullfinch - 1
Blackbird - 12
Pink-footed Goose - 1165 heading north in 4 flocks probably disturbed from Lane Ends
Jackdaw - 65
Linnet - 2
Chaffinch - 9
Meadow Pipit - 3
alba wagtail - 1
Grey Wagtail - 3
Sparrowhawk - 1
Song Thrush - 2
Mistle Thrush - 8 grounded, 1 over
Swallow - 1