Today's sightings

Arctic skua dark morph 'out' 0700 hrs & possibly same bird 'in' 1000 hrs

Arctic tern 0700 hrs max. 100 'in'. 8 'out' & 5 'in' later

Shag 3 juv wooden jetty

Red-throated diver 2
Sandwich tern 8
Whimbrel 1 'out' & 1 Red Nab
Swallow 3 north
Swift 1 north
Wheatear male Ocean edge
Shelduck 10 off OE

Middleton IE
Grasshopper warbler 5
Great spotted woodpecker 2
Wheatear 2
Mute swan 6
Swift 1

A foretaste of skuas to come?

Thanks John for this shot of the harbour entrance/wooden jetty

Heysham north harbour wall
0840-1040 hrs
Arctic skua dark morph 'in' 0940 hrs quite high up

Arctic tern 47 + 6 + 7+ 4 'in' then a further 22 'in' to end of outfalls [& 3 during a very short visit early morning]

Sandwich tern 4 'in'
Shag juv in harbour mouth
Swallow 3 north
Shelduck 2 'in'
Great crested grebe 'in'

Grounded

Very little in the nets but 3 new Willow Warbler & 2 new Blackcap ringed. 5 Wheatear logged.

Mammals

2 female Roe Deer on Middleton IE

Elsewhere in the Bay
Jenny Browns Point over the afternoon tide
Unless we hear differently, there were no observers at Heysham after 1040hrs.
JBP was faced with horrendous light conditions and the following reflects the admirable caution of the 5 observers

Skua spp: A flock of NINE was watched for some time in both flight and on the sea. However, they were at extreme range in very poor light and there was no evidence that these birds were interested in attempting an overland crossing and they were last seen floating out of the Bay. Conditions were very murky over the Pennines.
Skua spp, probably Bonxie: A large compact individual seen, again in silhoeutte but almost certainly a Bonxie
Arctic Tern: 126 comprising three flocks in rapid transit (1 via the Kent, two via the Keer) were obviously in addition to the Heysham birds

Elsewhere
See below & LDBWS website (& Simon's link) for brilliant Dotterel pics from a trip of FIVE which was on Ward's Stone during at least the morning but not late afternoon unless the single observer did not look far enough over to the north-east of the plateau. The birds were last seen just below the pile of stones on the N/E perimeter of the plateau about half way between the two trig points i.e. hard to find.









One of 5 Dotterel on Ward's Stone. Thanks Simon


In total contrast, an escaped adult Night Heron was in Lancaster below the scaffolded footbridge between Freehold and the St Leonardsgate car park area (access via De Vitre street). This bird was almost certainly seen in Northallerton in January. Pics on LDBWS site.

The early bird..............

Sandwich Terns chilling out by the north harbour wall. Thanks Jeff

Heysham Obs
As is often the case when the wind slackens off and turns to light/variable, migration loses its impetus - even the Swallows seemed to be flying more slowly today! The loss of the easterly overnight knocked the Arctic Tern passage a little on the head although Jon Carter's observation of a flock of 29 passing through at 1230 shows it is by no means not all over. If there was anyone out there, please could we have your figures. Thanks

Sea/vis from the north harbour wall c0630-1015
Arctic Tern - 226 in with 182 of these prior to 0730 - the birds seen off the Stone Jetty were almost certainly some of these
Arctic Skua - dark morph rapidly in at 0652, light morph flying around high in the sky to the south of the harbour for 10mins or so before descending and heading in the Lune Estuary direction
Sandwich Tern - at least 35, mainly blogging
Common Tern - 2
Gannet - 2
Swallow - 26

Inshore
Purple Sandpiper on the long skeer again
Shag - at least 2 juvs

Grounded
3 Willow warblers and a Robin ringed, no Wheatears seen! No Lesser Redpoll passage at all - where are they this spring?


Heysham wooden (partial) jetty as viewed from the Stone Jetty. Thanks John

Stone Jetty
0830-1015 hrs
Arctic tern c90 around the Stone Jetty area - moving very slowly & flock of 29 flew into the Bay at 1230
Sandwich tern 4
Kittiwake 9 floating in on tide
Whimbrel 9 'in'
Swallow 7 North
Bar-tailed godwit 2 on shore + 1 'in'
Dunlin 9 'in'

Mammals

Grey Seal off NHW & another off the Stone Jetty

Insects

Muslin Moth, Pebble Hook-tip and Shuttle-shaped Dart all new for the year as the lack of east winds at last allowed some moths through the window!

Elsewhere

Kite, almost certainly Red dstantly over Thrushgill plantation in very poor light in the evening, also 2 Short-eared Owl Botton Head road junction. Spoonbill on the flood late pm along with 1st S Little Gull

Even larger passage of Arctic Tern than yesterday prior to midday

Heysham Obs
Reasonable coverage this morning with excellent views of Arctic Tern from both the vantage points at the Stone Jetty & North harbour wall. However, the presence of 430 off the NHW on arrival does make you wonder what passed through earlier. The sad thing was that only 3 observers were there to appreciate this spectacular event

Sea/vis 0740-1200 North Harbour wall
GARGANEY: A seawatching first for Heysham in the form of two males flying into the Bay approximately 500m out at c0800hrs. The identification process as they were initially picked up some distance away suggests a crash course on distant i.d. of this species is required!
Arctic Tern: 1,426 north-east, possibly over-conservative in avoiding duplication when some birds backtracked for a short time. Some were undoubtedly missed as they arrived from the SE behind us or over our heads!
Arctic Skua: At c1100 a dark morph was picked up far out into the Bay flying NW to SE. It then 'picked up' a light morph off the sea and both birds changed direction, headed for the wooden jetty then started climbing and circling upwards just south of the Power Stations. They then appeared to head NE at great height. A more conventional sighting of a dark morph heading up the centre of the Bay at 1145hrs
Black Tern: One flew in at 0909 with Arctics. Another was located on the seaward end of Heysham PS at 0930 but it, and the gang of Arctics it was with, did not pass the north wall - presumably went inland to the south of the jetty
Gannet: 1
Common Tern: 2
Sandwich Tern: 2
Manx Shearwater: 1
Auk spp.: 1
Kittiwake: 2
Red-throated Diver: 1
Swallow: c26 in
Linnet: 1 in
alba Wagtail: 1 in

Stone jetty


Arctic Tern - counting stopped as I was rendered disabled for a time by the sheer beauty of these birds as they came within yards of the end of the Stone Jetty.
0830-0900 hrs 219 'in'
0925-1005 hrs 261 'in'

Little tern 1 'in' 0906 hrs + 1 'in' 0928 hrs

Black Tern 1 'in' 1000 hrs this appeared to be fly catching from the sea surface close inshore in the company of c30 Arctic tern doing the same thing over the same area without making any inward progress for about 15 mins.

Sandwich tern 6 'in'

Whimbrel 17 'in'

Sand martin 1 north
Swallow 7 north
Great crested grebe 'in' summer plumage
Shelduck 4 'out' 1 'in'
Red-breasted merganser pair 'in'

Inshore
2 juvenile Shag

Grounded
5 Wheatear OE foreshore but not checked until 1210hrs, and 2 early morning on the NHW. I do not think any ringing was attempted and we obviously desperately need some help in this area

Insects
Loads of miscellany on the north wall including just one Red Admiral, queen wasp out to sea, several Large and Small White.

Elsewhere
Unfortunately, JBP still in the 'shadow' with the east winds sending the terns and skuas overland before within visual range of there. Just 21 Arctic Tern reported by 1130hrs and no evidence even the 'central Bay' Arctic Skua made it. Their turn should come in next week's weather. Female Yellow Wagtail following the horse around the paddock next to my house at High Tatham from at least 1530-1730hrs.

Good, but did I miss a Black Kite by not staying at home!

Heysham Obs
Sea/vis 0700-1530 plus 1715-1915

Arctic Tern - 2,102, easily a record day count with some of the strongest movements in the last hour of seawatching. Maximum flock size 151. Many of these birds cascaded down on to the outfalls from the SE, and, especially in late afternoon when faced by a low-tide channel cul-de-sac, rose high in the sky within viewing range of Heysham and headed off NE

Unlike the early years of recording this movement, when there was little evidence from the Fylde of coastal passage, today suggested an even higher passage rate along that coast, including (and rather oddly?) large numbers past Starr Gate. These were either mainly different birds to those passing Heysham or perhaps were birds which had started to climb into the sky up the north-easterly-orientated Lune flightline and either saw the churned up water (=, as tide races, favoured feeding) at the end of the outfalls and changed their mind or did not like the look of the route anyway. Anyone with any ideas on this may wish to reply to the post on the LDBWS site.

Given the north-easterly orientation of the movement, it was not surprisng that JBPoint only recorded two flocks - 18 & 70 - which headed up the Kent estuary


We are not photographers - the best we could get before the battery went flat. Unusually, just one bird in this piece of airspace

Arctic Skua - 2 light morph together at 0813, dark morph 1246 - all flew/floated into the bay
Osprey - One fishing in the channel just SW of No 8 Buoy, then flew up the Kent channel towards Humphry Head at 1735hrs. First of the year
Black Tern - one flew in with a flock of Arctic Tern at 0743hrs. First of the year
Common Scoter - 8
Common Tern - 1(!)
Fulmar - 1
Manx Shearwater - 5
Red-throated Diver - 3
Sandwich Tern - 8
Kittiwake - 5

Swallow - 226
Sand Martin - 5
Swift - 1
Whimbrel (just) 3
Kestrel - one north up the centre of the Bay

Inshore
4 juvenile Shag
Purple Sandpiper flushed off the long skeer (opp sand plant entrance) by an angler late afternoon
Med Gull - at least one first summer with a late afternoon influx of c70 Common Gull

Grounded
Again, impossible to really quantify - there were 5 migrant Whitethroat in the feeder area next to the hut. One of the two Wheatear on the north harbour wall was watched descending from a great height. 'New' Grasshopper Warbler just in the recording area by the sub-station at the end of the bypass. No ringing.

Insects
As predicted c/f numbers on Portland Bill etc., 8 Red Admiral butterflies flew rapidly north along the harbour wall during the afternoon/early evening
The first Blue-tailed Damselfly of the year was in the NR marsh

Mammals
Bull Grey Seal off the north harbour wall, catching a huge flatfish spp late afternoon

Elsewhere
Northbound Black Kite seen just outside the recording area, and almost certainly flying north through it, perhaps via rather close to my house, at Ribblehead viaduct. Spoonbill throughout the day and a late afternoon high northbound Osprey at Leighton Moss. Two ad Med Gulls still present and the even rarer (in Lancs) Great Black-backed Gull nesting on the public mere.
The photogenic Grasshopper Warbler (see LDBWS site) still at Aldcliffe

One that got away?

Heysham Obs
Sea/vis from the north harbour wall
Only time for two hours birding today from a single (known) observer - on the NHW between 0730-0930, although a quick check late afternoon suggested no more Arctic Tern movement at that time.

Arctic Tern - 326, possibly 400+. Usually these are easy to document but the strength of the easterly upperwind seemed to inhibit onward migration to the NE and birds went high into the sky before swirling around and returning to the sea surface. Eventually, all birds still present (the 326 count) flew out towards Fleetwood. Some of the birds may have gone overland prior to this but certainly no more than 70-80 or so.

Tern spp - As the experienced observer described: 'a distant white tern with long tail streamers' was with an unfortunately distant flock of Arctic. That is all that could be said about it with no discernable flight mode difference at that range, therefore leucistic Arctic remains an (unlikely?) possibility. Light very good with all the Arctic Terns nearby showing 'consistent' plumage.

Red-throated Diver: 1
Sandwich Tern: 7
Linnet: 2N
alba Wagtail: 3N
Swallow: just a handful early in the morning but impressions of a steady movement later. Sorry to be so vague but a 'work work' day!

Inshore
Purple Sandpiper still present with 118+ Turnstone

Thanks to David and Jackie Moreton

Shag - just 2 juvs seen today

Grounded
No proper coverage but the early morning mist nets were unproductive

Elsewhere
Ad Spoonbill EM Pool

More small-scale migration

Common Whitethroat: A definite influx of singing males today. Thanks Simon.

Please note that the 1930hrs LDBWS meeting tomorrow night is at Hornby Institute, not Bare. See LDBWS site for further details

Heysham Obs
Sea/vis c0730-1030
Arctic Tern: 8+11+23+4 in
Arctic Skua: dark morph in 0823hrs
Common Scoter: 6
Guillemot: 5
Gannet: 3
Red-throated Diver: 2
Sandwich Tern: just 4
Whimbrel: 6 in
Pink-footed Goose: 2 in
Auk spp: 1

Swallow: 24
Swift: 1 (belated first of the year)
alba Wagtail: 3

Inshore/wooden jetty
Shag: 3 juvs
Purple Sandpiper: Seen on the wooden jetty over the tide. See LDBWS site under 'Photos' for pics
Turnstone: c135
Common Sandpiper: 1

Middleton IE
Grasshopper Warbler: Just 3 singing male located this morning
Lesser/Common Whitethroat: 6 of each - definite influx of Common Whitethroat this morning with a further 2 additional birds on the NR

Elsewhere
Pair of Garganey, almost fsp Spotted Redshank and 2 Grasshopper Warbler Aldcliffe area
Ad Spoonbill still at Leighton Moss. Singing Wood Warbler Barbondale. Redstart with 3 eggs & completed Pied Fly nests upper Hindburn

Record numbers of Grasshopper Warbler

Heysham Obs

Singing male Common Whitethroat - Heysham NR - thanks Simon.

A peculiar day with obvious arrival of some species yet the mist nets in the scrub below the Obs Tower remained resolutely empty

Middleton IE
SEVEN singing male Grasshopper Warbler in the central and western marsh area & immediate surrounds. Please observe from the raised concrete road bisecting the two wetland areas. Also 10+ singing Sedge Warbler [definite arrival], 2 Common Sandpiper, Whimbrel, singing Garden Warbler (new for the year) and several Whitethroat & Lesser Whitethroat. Thanks Malcolm & Jeff.

Seawatching/vis from the north harbour wall
Marsh harrier female 1022 hrs sighted to the south took 10 mins. to get level with the NHW low over the sea about half a mile out in the Bay continuing in Leighton Moss direction.
Arctic Skua 3 (1+2) light morphs in/across; the singleton landed on sea
Arctic Tern 6 'in' (where are they?)
Gannet 3
Manx Shearwater 7
Sandwich Tern 13
Whimbrel 3
Red-throated Diver summer plumage out/across
Common scoter 1 'in' 4 'out' + 1 across

Also: Great crested Grebe 1 'in', Shelduck 8 'in' 3 'out', Red-breasted Merganser pair 'out', Eider male 'out'

House Martin 7
Swallow c25

Inshore/Wooden jetty
Shag 3 juv
Purple Sandpiper with the Turnstone roost. All the recent reports considered to involve this same 1st S bird - giving two definite records from Heysham during the spring passage.

Grounded
See Middleton. Wheatear: At least 16 in the recording area. Garden Warbler singing below the Obs Tower

Elsewhere
Garganey still at Aldcliffe but exact location not specified, along with a staggering 20 Lesser Whitethroat & single Grasshopper Warbler. Spoonbill at Leighton Moss - mobile - last seen on 'flood'. After its towering departure to the south-west yesterday, predictably no sign of yesterdays Ring-billed Gull.

Soporific seawatching

Heysham Obs
Sea/vis 0730-1030 from north harbour wall
Reasonable species list but mostly singletons:
Red-throated Diver, Gannet, Fulmar, Razorbill, Guillemot - one each
Arctic Tern - 2
Sandwich Tern - 2
Siskin - 2
Meadow Pipit - 2
Manx Shearwater - 2
Auk spp - 3
Swallow - c25 plus about 10 later
Sand Martin - 1

Grounded
12 Wheatear OE foreshore. 3 Willow Warbler ringed

Inshore
Shag - 3 juveniles
Purple Sandpiper - one on the wooden jetty with 90 Turnstone

Mammals
Roe Deer by reserve entrance early morning

Elsewhere
2nd summer Ring-billed Gull on the Lune Estuary on the mudflats on the west bank opposite the Conder estuary from lunchtime until 1445hrs when flew high into the sky and circled heading SW over Sunderland Point. Osprey high to the north-east towards Wennington as seen from High Tatham at 1940hrs. 15+ Pied Flycatcher of both sexes Upper Roeburndale & one Tree Pipit on territory. Another Tree Pipit at Birkbank

Even useless weather can produce birds with 'saturation' coverage!

Heysham Obs
Seawatching/vis
.........from 0630-1000hrs along the north harbour wall

Yellow Wagtail - male flew north (first (and possibly last) of the year)
Linnet - 7
Meadow Pipit - 2
Swallow - 24
Siskin (heard)
Greenfinch - 1
Goldfinch - 2
Reed Bunting - very late definite migrant (in-off, then NE) - Scandinavian?

Arctic Tern - 53 'in' (5 flocks)
Common Scoter - 2 in
Common Tern - one blogging
Greylag Goose - 3 north
Skua spp - [original text: distant dark bird in - almost certainly Arctic]. No, this was a bulky bird at extreme range and logic suggests probably the Bonxie seen flying into the Bay at Walney. Sorry for the mistake - getting mixed up with a record from another day.
Sandwich Tern - c24
Whimbrel - flocks of 5+13

Inshore
Purple Sandpiper - one on wooden jetty
Shag - just one logged
[Little Gull not logged for today]

Moths
First Common Pug of the year

Elsewhere
Nothing new of major interest reported in LDBWS area.