Rock Pipit still present

Heysham Obs
Two hours at the heliport and a few short checks of other areas this morning

Inshore
Shag - one juv still around wooden jetty
Rock Pipit - on the north harbour wall mound & briefly on seawall this am
Med. Gull - 1st S along the tideline to the south of Ocean Edge with c25 Common Gull

Swift - 32 north along seawall 1030-1130 and 1210-1310
Swallow - 16 north along seawall 1030-1130 and 1210-1310
Wheatear - one at Half Moon bay foreshore

Insects
First (3) Cinnabar of the year in the hut moth trap.

Elsewhere
Red male Common Rosefinch just outside the LDBWS area visiting a garden feeder and singing from nearby bushes at Pilling Lane near Knott End. Contact the usual bird information services for up to date access information as this involves private land. Several hundred Dunlin & Ringed Plover on both sides of the outer Lune Estuary but just one Sanderling reported with them. TWO Spoonbill in the Leighton Moss area.

Zero to force 4 in 30 seconds!

Heysham Obs
Sea/inshore heliport area
The two hour vigil at the heliport saw the highlight as one of the fastest increases in wind speed I have ever seen without an obvious reason (e.g. squall). Alerted by distant windfarms starting to 'work', at 0942hrs the previously calm water rippled across the Bay and the wind (from the north-west) suddenly increased to about force 4 before settling to cF3 for the rest of the day. Not many birds:

Offshore
Common Scoter - distant flock of 50-60
Gannet - even more distant 2 out and across
No migratory flocks of small waders seen (c/f Stone Jetty)

Inshore
Rock Pipit - not particularly good views but enough to see that it was at the dark end of petrosus and perhaps kleinschmittii (not littoralis). It frequented ths mound and adjoining seawall but unfortunately I did not have time to study it. It did not, however, show any sign of display flight or other than sseeep calls. Cannot find any precedent for this record, at least in recent times
Shag - at least one juv

Elsewhere
Little Stint on the Stone Jetty groyne at lunchtime with a few Dunlin and Ringed Plover

Yet another surprise if you wait long enough!

Red Nab from Ocean Edge

Heysham Obs
Seawatch north wall 0630ish-1030ish
Gannet- 4
Guillemot - 1
Kittiwake - 1

Inshore
Arctic Tern - 4
Shag - at least one juv
Rock Pipit - unprecedented record for this time of year of an individual presumably of the form petrosus [unless it is a littoralis which has not budged at all from very similar winter plumage - outer tail feathers not seen very well]. The bird was on the mound and the rocks below the seawall

Elsewhere
Ad Curlew Sandpiper still in Conder Creek at at least 0715hrs & again at 1610hrs. The north wind holding up more Sanderling than usual in recent years e.g. 62 at Cockersands today

Little Gull surprise

Heysham Obs
Seawatch from NHW 0630ish to 1030ish
Gannet - 2
Sandwich Tern - 2
Little Gull - ADULT in
Common Scoter - 6

Inshore
Shag - 2 juv
No tern species around outfalls but observations at/near HT

Red Nab/OE foreshore
Wheatear - 1 female

Middleton IE
4-5 pairs of Little Grebe with at least one with young (3). c40 House Martin feeding over pools.

Insects
Treble Bar rather belated new species for the year. Four Shaded Pug.

Elsewhere
Dominated by small wader passage on the Lune Estuary with Curlew Sandpiper at Conder Creek, Little Stint elusively on the shore by Cockersands Abbey and 12 Sanderling (Cockersands) and 5 (Sunderland side). Lots of tundrae Ringed Plover (400+) and Dunlin (1,200+). There are 5 singing male Wood Warbler in the LDBWS recording area, however two of these were reported from a wood which has not been accessible in recent years

New Med and distant Scoter

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall 0630-1030ish
Common Scoter - flock of c80
Gannet - 1
Fulmar - 1
Kittiwake - 1
All the above very distant

Inshore
Shag - there are still two juvs around!
Med. Gull - First summer drifted south along the wall and was last seen passing the wooden jetty
No mention of any tern species
Trickle of inshore northbound Swallow with 2 House Martin

Thanks to Mark and John for all the above records

Evening visit to Red Nab

Wheatear female

Ringed plover 14

Dunlin 2

Whimbrel 1

Curlew 6

Shelduck 21

Red-breasted merganser pair

Great crested grebe 1

Greenfinch juv Nature Park

Middleton IE
A few Marsh Orchid spp. (x ??)


Thanks Malcolm

Elsewhere
Spoonbill adult on flood (E end of EM Pool, Leighton Moss). Secondhand, but seemingly reliable information re-the Whitendale Eagle Owls taking a collie (spp.) as prey yesterday. Osprey Dunsop valley c1000hrs. Common Crane still Chipping Moss area - last known position was c674424, about 7km east of Chipping and c10km south of the LDBWS recording area.

Bits and bobs

Heysham Obs
Outfalls/Red Nab/ inshore am
A quiet morning.
Oystercatcher c600 off RN & Ocean Edge
Turnstone 5 south + 6 below wooden jetty
Shag juv wooden jetty
Cormorant flew in from Bay with 'nest mats' in bill & offered to its mate with alot of sideways head movement - display?

North wall seawatch/outfalls/inshore 1200-1400hrs
This was better than expected:
Arctic Skua - light morph 'in' at 1255hrs
Fulmar - one very distantly out and across at c1300hrs
Turnstone - 13 on rocks
Common Tern - 2 on Stage one outfall, seaward end [no Arctic Tern seen]
Common Gull - maximum of c25 on seaward end of Stage one outfall
Shag - the most interesting sighting was a juv flying out of the harbour seemingly heading for its usual roost/preen on the wooden jetty. However the landing was aborted in the fresh wind and the bird simply continued out of the Bay until lost from sight! Are there any left from the epic influx?
Swallow - 2 north

Middleton IE
Two Grasshopper Warblers in territorial dispute

Moths
New for the year were May Highflyer and Yellow Shell. Two Shaded Pug were also in the trap.

Elsewhere
Quail heard calling from just south of Stauvin Farm, Roeburndale East, this early afternoon. Common Crane on nearby Chipping Moss this evening (not sure where this is - hope in the right county!).

A quickie

Heysham Obs

1620 - 1710 hrs
Heysham 2 outfall - Arctic tern 10, common tern 2
Heron off Red Nab
Shelduck 13 RN/Ocean Edge

Shag juv wooden jetty
Herring gull on nest on one of the three platforms in the harbour near the 'waterfall'

Insects

The first Shaded Pug of the year in the moth trap. This species is very local and coastal in NW England and has only been recorded at Heysham, albeit in increasing numbers, during the last 5 years. Shoulder-striped Wainscot and Common Swift were also new for the year

Thanks to John Holding

Elsewhere

Osprey over the Dunsop valley

A drizzly morning

Heysham Obs
A walk taking in Ocean Edge, Red Nab and the outfalls in poor visibility produced not a lot.

Wheatear OE

Ringed plover 3 OE foreshore

Shelduck 2

Arctic tern 2 off No. 2 outfall

Common gull c10 1st summer

Insects
Treble lines at the Observatory in the moth trap. This is the first record for the site. This moth has a curious distribution with evidence suggesting that it has declined in north Lancs with all but two recent records from the limestone areas around Warton/Silverdale. However, the coastal distribution in the Fylde and SW Lancs suggest that it may indeed be thinly scattered, but until now unrecorded, in coastal areas north of the Wyre



Thanks to Alan Draper

Log entries unfortunately not transferred - sorry

Heysham Obs
No information received today - the first blank entry since we started in mid-December 2006 and due to lack of time because of problems with some management work, not lack of activity. Todays moth catch should be posted tomorrow

Elsewhere
The Eagle Owl situation in Whitendale is now in the public domain. Comments can be found on the LDBWS site

Goosander surprise

Heysham Obs

Sea/vis from the north harbour wall
The routine two-hour 'seawatch' was undertaken between 1200 and 1400hrs. A very pleasant 'deck chair in the sun' experience, uninterrupted by notebook entries!

Eider - A group of 3 floating in with the tide was the sum total of the offshore observations other than a few meandering immature gulls. There was no hirundine passage at all in the two hours.

Inshore (north wall)
Turnstone - 6 back and forth along the north wall
Goosander - A quality Heysham rarity in the form of a female which flew south above the NHW and cut across over the large cable-carrier towards Red Nab (1325hrs)
Arctic tern - 5 on outfalls
Shag - 2 juvs on the wooden jetty

Grounded migrants
A Spotted Flycatcher by the Obs and two Wheatear on Middleton IE

Breeding birds
One of the Middleton Grasshopper Warblers was singing intermittently. The 'No Swimming' pond held a pair of Little Grebe with 3 young.

Insects
New for the year in the moth trap were: Clouded Bordered Brindle, Small Clouded Brindle, Eyed Hawk-moth. Two 4-spotted Chaser seen Middleton IE

Elsewhere
At least one Spoonbill Leighton Moss