Some think it is spring......they may be disappointed!

Strong overnight SW winds quickly eased in the morning and gradually shifted to NW. The early heavy rain also eased by late morning leaving a dry afternoon.

South shore

A check first thing along the sea wall saw no sign of any seabirds being blown in.

Rock Pipits 5 - 2 along the sea wall and 3 on the harbour wall above the favoured nest site near the lighthouse.

Pete watched the lunchtime ferry in

Kittiwake 1 adult behind ferry (also 1 yesterday)

Shag 1 sub adult in the harbour

Middleton Nature Reserve (JP, MD)

Just the two main ponds checked.

Mute Swan pair plus 7 immature. The adult were on the "no swimming" pond and the juveniles were not welcome. One was checking out last years nesting site.

Mallard 18

Gadwall 5

Tufted Duck 1 male

Coot 6

Moorhen 4

Little Grebe 1

Male Gadwall

Mallard and Little Grebe

Male Tufted Duck

Long Tailed Tit

Imperial Rd (MD)

Greylag goose 46 - feeding in the field just to the east of the road, many were partially obscured by the hedgerow along the road.

Greylag Geese

This clip is from further along the road looking back, even so some are still obscured. You can see vehicles travelling along the bypass (Bay Gateway).

The grass looks to be lush, there were also two Mute Swans happily feeding on it.

Stock Dove 1 north

Roe Deer 3 - this clip begins with a young buck. He is joined by an adult female (Mum) and then a second young buck (brother).

North Shore

Pale-bellied Brent goose 9 

Record and shot from Kevin Singleton 

We have now received the full history of the ringed Knot seen on the skear on Saturday. Turns out to be slightly unusual.

These comments from Rose Maciewicz, one of the scheme managers:

A very interesting history.  Note from the German Observer

 ‘Red Knots are regular migrants in the German Baltic Sea coast although there are very few in May and June, more common in autumn July-September but they are seldomly higher than double-digit counts. Some birds can sometimes still be found until the winter.’  

You can see it had more sense in 2023 as it went to Snettisham.  Maybe it was blown off course in August 2022 upon its return from the breeding grounds, or maybe it only went to Iceland/Norway to stage and then came back early but went to Germany; or maybe it just wandered around in the summer of 2022 as a 3CY.  We will never know.

The Rock Pipits and the Mute on Middleton Nature Reserve seemed to be at least thinking about nest sites. The grass is certainly growing as if it's spring, and the frogs are already spawning in my garden pond (Malcolm).

As well as the spawn, there are three male frogs in this shot,
eagerly anticipating the arrival of other early females

Unfortunately, even in these mild winters there is more than a good chance that the pond will freeze over again before the tadpoles hatch.

Just out of the recording area - Middleton Parish Hall.

Glossy Ibis 1

Green Sandpiper 1

In the horse paddock behind the Hall

Similar stuff, but better pictures.

Another dry but mainly overcast day with a SW wind.

Heysham Nature Reserve (JP)

Janet took this lovely shot of a male Chaffinch. If you open the image you can not only see the plumage in detail, but every visible character on its ring is legible.

Male Chaffinch 

South shore (MD, KE)

A walk along the sea wall around lunchtime 

Wigeon c300 - this clip of a pair cropping the already closely cropped gutweed attached to a rock is actually from yesterday.

Bar-Tailed Godwit 1 feeding on the beach next to the wooden jetty

Shag 1 - initially in the middle of the harbour.

Cormorant (left) and Shag

Later the Shag flew out of the harbour to the wooden jetty. This is similar to yesterday's clip when it flew in, but this one slightly clearer as I had time to set my camera today.

Shag 

The Shag wasn't the only thing to be speeding out of the harbour. This is a high speed rescue boat (hopefully on a training exercise).

Rock Pipit 3 (2 along sea wall an 1 at the lighthouse)

Siskin 2 at least in the trees near the white barrier (Kevin).

North shore (PJM)

Pale-bellied Brent goose 5 scattered amongst the rocks out from the play area

Just outside the recording area.

Heysham Moss Nature Reserve 

Janet spotted a Treecreeper 

Treecreeper 

Middleton Parish Hall

Glossy Ibis still in the horse paddock

Cetti's "singing" and Woodcock

The SW wind freshened but not as much as originally forecast. Largely dry but overcast.

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)

Just a passing check of the two main ponds.

Wildfowl as recent except no Tufted Duck today and there were 3 Gadwall.

Cetti's Warbler one probably two, almost singing, more a sub song, from north and south bank of the "no swimming" pond.

Imperial Rd (MD)

Common Buzzard 2. A light and a dark morph bird.

The light morph bird was perched closest in the trees to the west.
Both birds were contact calling

The light morphed bird set off first

You can hear the contact calls in this clip.

It was then followed by the darker morphed bird, and then they both headed off to the SE.

Mallard 2

Teal 4

Heysham Nature Reserve (PJM)

Woodcock 1 - flew low over the car park and dropped in tank farm - presumably spooked on reserve by something.  

South Shore (MD)

A mid afternoon walk along the sea wall.

Shelduck 9

Wigeon 290 - I often refer to them being easy to count as they drift towards Red Nab on the rising tide. This clip shows what I mean.

 

Not 290 yet but another flock flew in

Shag 1 - it flew in from the along the north wall then turned into the harbour.

Shag and Cormorant 

Shag

It headed straight to the waterfall and began feeding.

Just out of the recording area - Middleton Parish Hall - Horse paddock

Glossy Ibis seen morning and afternoon 

Green Sandpiper at least in the afternoon.

Waxwing

A dry and largely sunny day after early morning rain. A light SW wind

Waxwing 1 - in a tall tree opposite the Heysham anemometer - Andrew McCafferty 

Heysham skear - low water 11:00 (MD)

It was only 3m low water so the tide only uncovered the inner skear.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 22 at least. These four (2 adult and 2 first winter) were trying to feed in one of the pools. The only gutweed here is on just a few of the rocks, and not very much of it at that.

Later a flock of 22 were just resting on the water on the north side of the skear.

Pink-Footed goose 44 south

Eider 15

Little Egret 2 - first ones see here for a while

Redshank 200+ this is a big increase to recent visits, it can only mean that there are now plenty of shrimps around. These are the same brown shrimps so synonymous with Morecambe Bay, but these will be tiny, although they will be in high concentrations. These are some of the waders catching them (the yellow pipes in this clip mark the safe route for the dinghy launching tractors).

(If you would like to better understand just how small these shrimps will be, visit the post 10/01/21, https://heyshamobservatory.blogspot.com/2021_01_10_archive.html )

Oystercatcher 2,000

Curlew 80

Knot 1,500

Turnstone 60

Dunlin 5

Ringed Plover 24

The Knot were feeding and I scanned them all for rings, out of the 1,500 there was only one ringed bird. This clip shows the difficulty of ring reading on the skear. It also includes an example of one of the rocks with just a bit of gutweed attached. The ringed bird is in the centre of the frame at the beginning of the clip.

Full details awaited, but it was ringed in Scotland in 2021 and has been seen in Heysham at least once before, by Howard in 2022.

Glossy Ibis at Middleton Parish Hall at least till midday 

Just a quick afternoon check

A fresh SW wind. Overcast with some light showers.

Most observers were unavailable today, I just had chance for a quick afternoon check (Malcolm)

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just the two main ponds checked.

Mute Swan pair plus 7 immature 

Mallard 20

No Gadwall today

Tufted Duck 2 (one male on each pond)

Coot 6

Moorhen 4

Little Grebe 2 (one on each pond). The main pond bird was showing close to the feeding station, but only ever on the surface for a few seconds. These are three typical views. The grunting is the swans feeding.

Little grebe

A flock of Long-Tailed Tits were enjoying the fat balls left by visitors.

South shore

No brent geese on Red Nab

Wigeon 200+

Shelduck 22 out from the saltmarsh 

Shag 1 initially on one of the platforms in the harbour near the waterfall. It waddled over to the edge of the platform and seemed to be thinking about leaving.

But it decided to remain

Later as I was approaching the lighthouse it flew through the harbour mouth and landed on the wooden jetty.

Rock Pipit 2 - waterfall and saltmarsh 

Weasel 1 - scurried from the west side of the saltmarsh to rocks around the edge.

Just out of the recording area - Middleton Parish Hall

Glossy Ibis still feeding in the horse paddock behind the hall.

First Woodcock of the year

Yesterday's heavy winds had eased by evening. Today there was just a light SW wind with plenty of sustained sunny periods.

South Shore

Pete and Jean checked at lunchtime:

Nothing of note followed the ferry in.

Shag 1 on wooden jetty

Pale-bellied Brent goose 2 arrived at Red Nab high from the north, very early in the tide. They had a drink and a wash then continued south.

(No reports received yet of the Brent on the north side or Red Nab nearer high water)

I walked out on the shore to check out the waders on the water line as the tide came in (MD)

When I got close to the water's edge there were

Knot c500

Bar-Tailed Godwit 700+ (701 counted but there would have been others and they were constantly moving off to the south as the tide came in.

Bar-Tailed Godwit 

This clip shows their location, just out from Red Nab. The steady procession of birds south are all Godwits.

These are the same birds but in more detail, note the number of Common Gulls with the Knot.

I didn't follow them south, but could see that they were joining much larger flocks, these would still have been inside the recording area.

Other waders:

Oystercatcher 200

Curlew 100

Lapwing 13 (on saltmarsh)

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Woodcock 1 flushed by work party as they were cutting gorse below old observation tower.

Just out of the recording area - Middleton Parish Hall

Glossy Ibis and Green Sandpiper still feeding in the horse paddock behind the Hall.

Little gulls, hand outs and leftovers

A fresh SW wind became very strong in the afternoon. The inevitable rain managed to hold off till 15:00.

First an update from yesterday:

Mediterranean Gull 1 adult following ferry out of port yesterday pm - thanks to Jen Coates and Mark Fanshawe.

Mediterranean gull by Jen Coates

Heysham skear - low water 08:45 (MD)

The wind wasn't so strong at this time, but it cold!

Very Little on the sea:

Eider 16

Pale-bellied Brent goose 11 - there is virtually nothing for them to eat on or around the skear, there were two groups 5 and 6. The 6 were just drifting around on the north side, the group of 5 had been on the western edge, but flew to the SE skear corner just as the tide started making.

Pink-Footed goose c300 in 4 skeins, high to the north

Oystercatcher 2500

Knot 1,500

Curlew 30

Redshank just 15 - most seem to be on the south side of the harbour.

Turnstone 100

Ringed Plover 25

Six Carrion Crows on Conger rock

South shore - mid afternoon at the height of the SW wind but before the rain (MD, AP)

Pale-bellied Brent geese 36 (14, 3 and 19) were feeding on Red Nab

Wigeon 200

Little Gull 2 adult - I went along the wall first (MD) and just saw the one feeding between No.2 outflow and Red Nab. Alan was just setting off as I was heading back, the first gull continued to feed near No.2 and Alan picked up a second between the outflows.

This is the first Little gull, looking back towards Red Nab. Quite early in the clip, you can see the group of three Brent geese setting off to the south.

Adult Little Gull

Rock Pipit 2 - one each Red Nab and Saltmarsh 

Also on saltmarsh 

Reed Bunting 2 

Skylark 1 

Common Snipe 1

Nature Park:

Janet put out some more of her peanut chips near the white barrier:

Great Tit

Blue Tit

Coal Tit

The birds arrived very quickly for the feast so Janet tried to tempt them to hand, but only a Robin was brave enough.

There were several Robins, this one was looking the worse for wear, at least it won't have an empty stomach tonight.

Grey Squirrel awaiting its turn

I walked past the barrier this afternoon (MD). There was no obvious food around. But this flock of 10 Long-Tailed Tits were finding plenty of leftovers. One of these has a bad leg and is using its wings and tail for additional support.

Just out of the recording area - Middleton Parish Hall

Glossy Ibis in the horse paddock behind the Hall at least till late morning.

All the regulars present

A nice dry and sunny day with a light variable breeze.

South Shore

Pale-bellied Brent goose 36 - they had been feeding out from Knowlys Rd before flying to Red Nab.

Shelduck 12

Wigeon c350

Janet's shot showing the Wigeon beginning to amass before moving to Red Nab

Shag 1 on the wooden jetty as the tide was nearly full

Curlew c150 - as ever a steady movement south as the tide covers the north side shore.

A typical group of Curlew heading south

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)

The "no swimming" pond has returned to its normal height, and the wildfowl has started to return too.

Gadwall 8

Mallard 8

Tufted Duck 4 males (later flew to the main pond)

Teal 3 (1 male)

Coot 1

Moorhen 1

Little Grebe 1

Water Rail 1 calling

Grey Heron 1

These are the Tufted with some of the Gadwall 

Male Tufted Duck

The wildfowl on the main pond remains as of late although not as many Mallard.

Imperial Rd (MD)

Buzzard 1

Fieldfare 23 in the trees near the recycling centre gates.

North shore (HS)

We have just come to the end of another set of spring tides and Howard's efforts and perseverance has resulted in a good number of ringed Knot being read. Each set of tides provides different opportunities and obstacles. The Knot on the Heliport roost this set have been favouring standing in the grass. This clip shows them coming in and eventually setting with not one leg to be seen.

But even when settled in a more open area they are often spooked and move off.

Carrion Crows and Sparrowhawks are just two of the natural disturbers.
Ramblers, dog walkers and fishermen also often get close enough to spook them too

Then when you finally get a clear shot, the rings or flags can be damaged making identification impossible. This is an inevitable consequence of ensuring that any rings or flags are light enough not to cause the birds any discomfort, even so, very frustrating!

Oystercatcher with a white but broken flag

A Norwegian ringed Knot also with a broken flag making it impossible to identify 

Even so, Howard read enough to provide valuable information as to their 
movements and habits, hopefully going some way to ensuring that sights like
these will still be available for future generations (Malcolm)

Just out of the recording area - Middleton Parish Hall

Glossy Ibis 1

Green Sandpiper 1

Seen in the horse paddock behind the Hall by several observers today.

These shots by David Kaye show it still has at least one loose feather

Little gull was handy and Ibis flighty

It rained all day sometimes very hard. A light NE wind

South shore (MD)

I went along the sea wall late afternoon as the tide was ebbing, partly as I didn't have much time today, but mainly as the heavy rain had eased a bit! Also hoping, in vain, that the Ibis might fly along the wall to roost again.

Pale-bellied Brent goose 23 flew from Red Nab to the north side.

Shelduck 5

Wigeon c350

Little Gull 1 first winter on No.2 outflow. It was raining quite hard at this point and the light was fading quickly. The shots I managed were, at best, grainy, but they were hard won so I'm going to use them anyway.

First winter Little Gull

Shag 1 - I couldn't see any on the wooden jetty, but the most mature looking one was in the harbour near the waterfall. 

Shag

Rock Pipit 3 - one on Red Nab and two along the sea wall

Just out of the recording area. Middleton Parish Hall (MD)

Glossy Ibis 1 over to the west.

I called in at 10:00 and couldn't see it in the horse paddock or surrounding fields. A second look at 13:30 again saw its regular fields empty. Then it flew over the horse paddock from somewhere to the east and continued west in a line that would take it towards Middleton Nature Reserve.

The constant heavy rain had made many of the nearby fields waterlogged and presumably made for easy pickings for earthworms. It makes "sense" to feed elsewhere when the opportunity arises so as not to over deplete the supply of worms in its favoured feeding area. Although I guess for the Ibis it is more about instinct than logic. Or perhaps it just fancied a fly around!