15th December 2006A day of continuous drizzle/rain saw just 10 minutes or so around Heysham inner harbour where there were 20 Shags and 7 Kittiwakes. There was also a small trawler working backwards and forwards in the normal feeding area for the Shags!
A Leach's Petrel off Heysham yesterday was a belated pager message - very odd, given the conditions but possibly one of Ray's birds of the previous evening (off Morecambe Town Hall) managing to exit the Bay at lastl
The famous toilet moth trap at Heysham nature reserve hut produced the first Winter Moth of the year, giving a record 204 species of macro moth therein this year. This trap is a blended 160watt (tungsten-ballasted MV) hung inside the room fairly close to the window which has been removed and the gap "prison-barred" to exclude humans but include moths. Egg packing is strewn around the floor and the toilet seat covered. A full count is made every morning. Other than during howling easterly gales and driving rain (east-facing window), this trap is operated all year. The advantage of this trap is that, apart from one accurate pebble-thrower (the window is 3.5 metres above the ground), it can be left to do its job without fear of being trashed, unlike anything left outside.
Nothing on the pager for the local area but a request for any sightings of the hybrid female Ferruginous type on Pine Lake to be posted on the Lancaster and District Website and/or phoned in to the pager
