Black-throated Diver

Coverage pre-dawn to c0910

This was just about within record shot range but with the light so bad and the bird diving most of the shots were fresh air and sea with the record shot being deemed to resemble an elephants trunk sticking out of Loch Ness.  Available to view on request

Black-throated Diver - not quite in full summer plumage but a nice bird!  Floating out on the tide and fishing
Red-throated Diver - two together floating out in the am  and Nick had 8-13 on the incoming tide off the SJ in the afternoon
Guillemot - one in winter plumage floating out
Meadow Pipit - 38 N before cloud arrived
Mute Swan - flock of 5 north
Goosander - three females flew north over Hey NR early am - rare here
Brent Goose - flock of 8 pale and two dark with two additional pale
Barn Owl - quartering Middleton early am
Cetti's Warbler - one burst of song from Midd central marsh
Great-crested grebe - at least three poss four pairs
Eider - much reduced (Nick had 130) and no Velvet Scoter
Kittiwake - 18 floating in past SJ in afternoon
Wheatear - 3
Single Blackcap and Willow Warbler ringed and control Goldfinch AACxxxx  

Migrant Trickle

Two fairly sheltered nets saw two overdue year ticks in the form of single (surprisingly female) Blackcap and Willow Warbler along with three Chiffchaff and two Goldcrest.  A single Sand Martin was an even more overdue year tick and the late afternoon hirundine movement recorded elsewhere brought two Swallows to the model boat pond

Velvet Scoter - Ad drake again off Heysham head north side readjusting its position in the outgoing tide race
Brent Goose - today's lottery number was five pale-bellied!
Gulls - masses of all shapes and sizes on the outfalls with the exception of anything remotely unusual.  Watch this space

Meadow Pipit - about 40 recorded in total overhead
Great crested Grebe - about 5 offshore (6 yesterday)

Grey Seal - two offshore - also seen yesterday

Pics posted tomorrow - thanks Janet

Osprey, Swallow and a returning Velvet Scoter

A piece of carelessness on my part not carefully checking what was a spike in the numbers of Eider at low tide but was distracted by an Osprey and an incoming phone call!  Thanks to Nick for picking out the Velvet Scoter on the dropping tide

Osprey - one flew up a central channel at c0930, hovering briefly over the centre of the channel before progressing north.  Cant understand why these innocuous fish-botherers cause so much mayhem - everything was up in the air, including large gulls and Oystercatchers, unless a Peregrine was targeting the high swirling Knot flock at the same time
Guillemot - the only auk seen today was a non-breeding plumaged Guillemot on both the incoming and dropping tide
Velvet Scoter - drake relocated on the dropping tide late afternoon - definitely been absent recently
Eider - at least 290 with an "additional" raft at low tide c/p the last week or so
Swallow - one north Middleton (IOY)
Coot - now 3
Gadwall - 7
Tufted Duck - 2 pairs
Teal - 3 pairs
Lots of Pheasant Middleton!
Chiffchaff - 5+ singing male Middleton
Wheatear - 2
Brent - 13 pale bellied today ( or strictly speaking 12 pale bellied together at low tide and one thought to be pale bellied joining them on the incoming tide

)

Razorbill influx and concentrated Meadow Pipit movement

Wheatear - 3
Meadow Pipit - 820 NE/grounding on Knowlys fields, many flushed from Heysham head grassland, others heading past out to sea. All just after heavy rain ceased and most passing in a continuous stream over 30 minutes.   Not replicated on the south side of the harbour with just 37 in same time period
alba Wagtail - just 4
Greylag - one north along coast
Shag - 2CY on rocks at base of wooden jetty at seaward end
Sandwich Tern - three fishing at yellow buoy range
Razorbill - 12 in (3, 2 or singletons) on sea
Guillemot - one in on sea
Great-crested Grebe - 6
Red-throated Diver - three together in on sea but distant
Goldcrest - 3 below obs tower
Green Woodpecker - one in non-op land
Chiffchaff - singing along dog track and at Middleton
Eider - 202
Red-breasted Merganser - 5
Little Gull - ad type outfalls

Pale-bellied Brent Goose - 7 at Red Nab (but only a gang of four seen off Knowlys earlier)
Siskin - one heard Heysham head

Tuesday 3rd April

Sorry someone else was supposed to be posting for Tuesday!

Little Gull - adult briefly stage two outfall
Brent Goose - 7 pale and one dark on the usual routine, initially feeding on the skeer off the horse paddocks
Eider - 194
Shoveler - pair on the sea off Heysham Head - what a good year so far for here!
Razorbill - 2+1+1+2 floating in on the sea
Guillemot - 1 floating in on the sea
Raz/Guilli - distant one floating in
Meadow Pipit - c60 grounded or north
Pied Wagtail - 6 grounded or north
Goldcrest - one Heysham head
Chiffchaff - two singing EDF land
Wheatear - 3

Two Sandwich Terns

Malcolm braved the elements to do the whole south shore area today with the reward of just one Wheatear.  Its really hard work at the moment but it all looks to change tomorrow onwards with a corridor of sorts for stuff trying to reach us from the south.  Again its going to be wet and hard work but hopefully eg the first B Redstart for a couple of years will materialise

Two Sandwich terns materialised out of the gloom and landed on Red Nab where they were joined by a small number of Brent Geese from about 1135hrs
Brent Goose - 6 pale and one dark-bellied arrived at Red Nab about 1135
Wheatear - one

 It was wet and horrible and this was taken through gallons sorry litres of rain

A new combination "photo" for here!!

Very little small bird migration for the time of year

Coastal
Shag - Presumably the regular 2CY reappeared in the usual routine on rocks below the jetty
Kittiwake - 11 + c100 + 38+ 29 in, the last spiralling up and inland
Black-headed Gull - about 100 in in dribs and drabs plus c70 outfalls at low tide
Common Gull - 270 on outfalls at low tide, mostly 2CY as usual
Large Gulls - 180 on outfalls and area at low tide but no sign of yesterdays bird of interest
Brent Goose - 12 Pale-bellied off sunny slopes pre-tide along with three dark-bellied, just 8 of the PBB made the usual late stages of the incoming tide journey to Red Nab along with all three DBB, then the subsequent high tide move to Middleton saltmarsh "left behind" one of the dbb presumably remaining around Red Nab/OE saltmarsh!  Per LDBWS site
Eider - c280
Red-breasted Merganser - three flying quite high into the bay

Elsewhere
Robin - three unringed birds caught at HNR, the only semblance of night migration
Meadow Pipit - c70 north, including loose flock of 18
Siskin - 2 north
Sparrowhawk - one north-east
Cetti's Warbler - one singing central marsh Middleton

Three little gull

A flock of three little gull flew out rather distantly mid am

Eight pale and two dark bellied Brent Geese on the usual routine

2Cy Gull photographed which looked interesting but couldn’t get close enough before it was displaced by the tide.  It was definitely a 2CY and the (escape) flight view suggested Caspian or hybrid but by the time I had driven to the closest point to Red Nab it had already taken off as I was driving and I couldn't swing the car round fast enough to get a phonescope of escape flight.  I'll have a look for it tomorrow

 

Bits

Whooper - flock 17 North
Red throated diver - 4 North
Pale bellied Brent - flock of 10
Dark bellied Brent - 2
Meadow pipit - c10
Med gull - 2cy near red nab by pipeline
Snipe - 8 on heliport seawall ht
Robin - two lightweight birds ringed
Cetti’s warbler - one southern end central marsh
Buzzard - two over middleton prob local

Little Gull

A few bits and bobs from a fairly early start this am, most of them in these better pics - original deleted!

 

 

 

Thanks Janet - Red Nab; some of the pale-bellied Brent plus the Little Gull

 

Brent Goose - Two dark-bellied and eight pale-bellied Red Nab on the incoming tide (with 6 (of these??) off the children's play area as seen from Knowlys road earlier)

Little Gull - adult winter on outfalls then on Red Nab then around rest of day
Blackcap - male Red Nab bushes - first of year

Red-throated Diver - 3 sp birds in
Rock Pipit - 1

Meadow Pipit - no more than 26 overhead

Siskin - 2 north

Goldcrest - 2 ringed

No sign Iceland Gull first thing despite loads of gulls on waterfall and area

 

Grey Seal - one offshore

Nags are back in the paddocks off Knowlys road