Some quality but most definitely not quantity

Heysham Obs
Vis mig
As is typical with the reduced number of Linnet and Goldfinch, this morning's vis was undertaken from the north harbour wall 0800-1000. All birds flying to the north-east

Tree Pipit 1
Goldfinch 5
Kestrel 1
Linnet 15
Meadow Pipit 136
Redpoll spp 2
Swallow 5

Some (but not many) casual observations from the office area later in the morning included a small falcon heading north very high presumably either Merlin or Kestrel, probably the former.

on or over the sea....
Sandwich Tern - at least 2
Red-throated Diver 2

inshore/outfalls/wooden jetty
PURPLE SANDPIPER with c40 Turnstone on the rocks below the wooden jetty
Little Gull: adult & 2 1st W/S
Shag 3 juvs

Grounded passerines
Wheatear 8
very little else with perhaps just 6 Willow Warbler, including one in-off at the north wall. A meagre ringing total also included single Blackcap and Chiffchaff

Middleton IE
Lingering wildfowl in the form of a single Goldeneye, 5 Tufted Duck and two Teal. Also 5 Snipe

Mammals
2 female Roe Deer on the IE

Insects
Small White (2) IE. Single female Large White flew north past the office

Elsewhere
Male Pied Flycatcher singing and showing well as I was emptying a moth trap in upper Hindburndale (same bird as yesterday). 66 Fieldfare White Moss, just west of Hindburndale

Not brilliant - a bit too clear

Heysham Obs
Grounded
c6 Willow warbler, 2 + new Chiffchaff, 3 Wheatear

Vis Mig (no coverage overlooking the sea) c0900-1100
Goldfinch 45 north
Linnet 32 north
Meadow Pipit 18 north
Grey Heron 1+1+1 high to the north, well spaced
Woodpigeon - flock of 5 high to the NE
Swallow 11 north
Sparrowhawk Female flying NE VERY high

Misc
The three Little Gulls are still there - on the tideline by Heysham 2 outfall. Just one juv Shag located

Moths
A Hummingbird Hawk-moth flew past the NR office about 1030hrs

Elsewhere
No definite sign of the Lune valley Whooper Swans. Short-eared Owl showing exceedingly well in upper Hindburn near Botton Head - travelled at 19mph alongside the car for 1/4 mile!
Nearby, 12+ Bramblings in mixed flock feeding on fallen larch cones. Widespread arrival of Willow Warbler males e.g. singing as I type this at High Tatham

The last of the quiet mornings?

Heysham Obs
Morning-only coverage with the light wind still firmly in the west along with high cloud cover and crystal clear offshore visibility. Very little around.

Vis Mig
c90 Meadow Pipit with c50 of these during a 30 min slot mid-morning, 9 Linnet, 2 Goldfinch. Two Swallow flew north just as I was leaving + 2 earlier and 2 past wooden jetty.
Carrion crow 2 'in'

Grounded
No obvious evidence of new arrivals with zero Wheatear, for example

Miscellany
One Red-throated Diver on the sea, just the one 1st W Little Gull and juv Shag recorded on the outfalls/wooden jetty respectively.
Eider 18 'in'; Shelduck 13 'in'

Moths
First (2) Early Grey of the year - this species not common at Heysham

Elsewhere
At least one, probably two Osprey through Leighton Moss area late afternoon/evening. 3 Whooper Swan still Farleton in Lune valley

The block continues but..........

Heysham Obs
Seawatching
...............always give even the most useless of seawatches an hour! Nothing at all worth writing in the notebook 0830-0900 but a quality sighting at 0915 in the form of three Velvet Scoter (probably 2 males/one female) flying out and across the Bay towards south Walney before landing on the sea. Two Kittiwake flew 'in'

Vis Mig
Just 13 northbound Meadow Pipit & 3 Linnet during 0830-1000 at the north wall

Grounded
Nothing obvious

Inshore
Just one 1st W Little Gull could be found on the outfalls late afternoon. Two juvenile Shag on the wooden jetty in the morning

Moths
Only the second Small Quaker since 1990!

Elsewhere
The three Whooper Swans still on the Lune floodplain at Farleton late pm. Red Kite seen and photographed again at Hawthornthwaite fell

Still very little migration

Heysham Obs
Seawatching from the North harbour wall
Arctic skua 1 dark morph 'in' 0845 hrs (low tide 1029 hrs)
Red-throated diver 6 including one in summer plumage on the sea
Kittiwake 29 'in' one flock

Inshore
Shag juvs; 1 in harbour + 1 wooden jetty, later (1330hrs) FOUR juv on wooden jetty
Little gull adult & 2 1st W outfalls
Eider pair

Vis mig
Meadow Pipit: 10 over during an interminable length of time (about 2/hr). Nothing else e.g. hirundines over the sea

Grounded
Nothing - no evidence of the Willow Warbler trickle through the Lune valley & no Wheatear
A pair of Raven on pylon next to the Nature reserve. These have been seen daily recently

Moths
Herald new for the year - this is a hibernating species which seems to need a good long sleep.

Mammal
Grey seal off the north harbour wall (tide too low for any cetaceans)

Elsewhere
Three Whooper Swan still on the Lune floodplain by Farleton mid-afternoon. A scattering of Willow Warbler along the Lune from Aldcliffe through to Crook of Lune at least.

Migration on hold today

Heysham Obs
This was one of those useless slightly (adversely i.e. westerly) breezy sunny Sundays which are a complete waste of the potentially good observer coverage. Not a single grounded migrant was located during a full Common Bird Census of the British Energy properties.

Vis Mig
Just 27 Meadow Pipit, 1 Linnet and 2 Goldfinch north 0800-1000!

Miscelleneous
Ad & 2 Ist W Little Gull at the seaward end of Heysham 2 outfall during the morning
3 juvenile Shag either on the wooden jetty or in the harbour

Moths
First Powdered Quaker of the year in the Heysham trap

Elsewhere
3 Whooper Swan still at Farleton on the Lune floodplain. Two flocks of Fieldfare Upper Hindburndale (170 + c200). The only entry in the Leighton Moss book referred to two adult Mediterranean Gull there

Another trickle overhead..........

Heysham Obs
North Harbour Wall
Vis mig 0940 - 1200 hrs. Low tide 0918 hrs
Meadow pipit 177
Linnet 15
alba wagtail 1

On the sea
Red-throated diver 1 + 1 'in'
Eider pair
Red-breasted merganser 6m + 4f
Great crested grebe 3

Shag 3 juv on wooden jetty one of which arrived from within the Bay
Little gull adult & 1st W floated 'in' on tide from outfalls to the two bouys then flew back towards the outfalls

Shelduck 34 off Ocean Edge
Ringed plover 14 off OE
Mistle thrush juv non-operational land
Chiffchaff in song at Nature Park
Bullfinch male on Reserve

Middleton IE
Coot 9
Moorhen 3
Little grebe 7
Mallard 3
Tufted duck 2
Teal 2
Snipe 13
Wheatear 2
Sparrowhawk 1

Afternoon visit
Pair mute swan + little grebe on Tim Butler pond
Swallow overhead
Skylark in song
Pair collared dove near anemometer

Elsewhere
Red Kite (of unknown origin) Hawthornthwaite late morning (see LDBWS site photos). 3 Whooper Swan still at Farleton in the Lune valley this afternoon. Common Scoter still at Langden intake pool this morni9ng at least (2nd day)

a trickle of migrants on all fronts

Heysham Obs
Nothing special this morning but small numbers and a reasonable variety of migrants in most categories. The only notable 'new' bird was a 1st W Med. Gull accompanying a small increase in 1st year Common Gulls (the wintering 1st W Med. has long gone).

North harbour wall -
Red-throated diver 2 on the incoming tide + 2 quite high 'in'
Kittiwake 10 on sea
Little gull adult & 2 1st W on outfalls and around wooden jetty
Shag 2 in harbour & on wooden jetty
Red-breasted merganser female
Eider 2m + 1f
Great-crested grebe 4
Sparrowhawk flew low into harbour
Common scoter 7 on sea end of No. 2 outfall then flew 'in/across' Bay at 1140.

Grey seal

Vis Mig
0900-1020 by the reserve office:
Meadow Pipit - 33 NE
Linnet - 52 N
Goldfinch - 23 N
Chaffinch - 2 high to the NE almost certainly migrants

0900 - 1100 from the north harbour wall
Meadow pipit 86, most of these were over the sea
Linnet 3
Swallow 3, 1 close in to harbour wall + 2 low & fast over the sea beyond the wooden jetty
alba wagtail 1
Carrion crow 1 south

Grounded/ringing
Not very much. No evidence of thrushes at 0900hrs although the fog had cleared by then. 4 Goldcrest and a Chiffchaff ringed. No Wheatear reported.

Elsewhere
The three Whooper Swan were still on the Lune floodplain by Farleton. Visit to Upper Hindburndale in the afternoon was very 'wintry': One of the three 'targets' was met - an adult female Crossbill. 240 Fieldfare in a loose flock. Brambling in evidence including 3 summer plumage males 'wheezing' at each other in north Scandinavia conifer forest-fashion from the tops of trees. At least 10 seen at two sites. A flock of Redpoll spp. in larches was frustratingly elusive and no decent views obtained. No sign of the other "targets": northbound Osprey & Red Kite or indeed (see info services) an even larger raptor!

.......now for something completely different

Heysham Obs
Its amazing what a subtle change in the wind direction, even very light winds, can do. A change to a very light westerly soon after dark produced murky misty conditons by morning, stretching several miles inland. This is the first wind direction out of the north/north-east sector for some time.

Grounded/ringing
The change in wind direction presumably led to a rather late exodus of thrush species from Ireland. There were 'lots' of nocturnal east/north-east-bound calls around 0100hrs and the morning saw a small Blackbird landfall and (for spring, especially this late) a substantial fall of c50 Redwing.

The nets were empty other than 2 lightweight Blackbird - there were apparently no new arrivals of Goldcrest or Chiffchaff. The north harbour wall mound contained 33 off-passage Meadow Pipit but no Wheatear.

Vis mig
Practically nothing with just 4 Meadow Pipit NE during the early morning mist but presumably the Meadow Pipits grounded on the mound & perhaps elsewhere moved on when the weather cleared mid-am

No time to check the wooden jetty/outfalls/Red Nab etc

Moths
One or two species have been inexplicably late this year - this morning's Early Thorn was the first of the year

Elsewhere
3 Whooper Swan still on the Lune floodplain at Farleton mid-morning.

Kitts, Red-throat.........and Humming-bird Hawk Moth

Heysham Obs
Vis/seawatching
0930-1020 hrs. (Low tide 0742hrs).

Kittiwake two flocks - 90 had floated gradually in on tide for a good 40 mins. in a tight flock, then took off and flew high into Bay wheeling around. Another flock of 30 remained on the sea
Red-throated diver 1 floating in with tide prob. adult
Shag 1 juv on wooden jetty arrived from in the Bay
Carrion crow: one 'in' north towards Grange
Mute swan: pair 'out'
Meadow Pipit: Just c10 NE

Outfalls
adult & 2 1st W Little Gull

Ringing
Perhaps even above-par, given the crystal-clear weather conditions with an adverse upper-wind, was the capture of 4 unringed Goldcrest and an unringed female Blackbird with a winglength possibly indicating continental origin (131mm)

Off-passage wildfowl
Wigeon 22 on sea off the NHW beyond the two buoys (unusual at this time of year) + 4 pair Red-breasted merganser
4 Great crested grebe & 2 pair Eider in same spot
Shelduck 17 off Ocean Edge
Eider 5m + 3f & Great-crested grebe off OE

Insects
Humming-bird Hawk Moth along the north harbour wall at lunchtime (Lou Cross)

Little Auk reported to John Wood by two visiting fishermen on NHW. 'Said it was end Jan/ beginning of Feb on a mid-day high tide only yards off the NHW. It went to & fro on the water frequently diving just below them. They confidently identified it from my Collins guide book'.

Elsewhere
Three Whooper Swan still on the Lune floodplain at Farleton in the morning but not there late afternoon