Kittiwake flocks and Stonechats

Heysham Obs
The wind was strong on the incoming tide but, in the absence of significant squalls, not very productive bird-wise. It was also a fraction too far to the NW mid morning. Later it backed westerly and produced a few Kittiwake flocks. A check of the gull roost on Middleton produced a gang of very wind-blown Stonechat!

Stage 2 outfall
Little Gull - 8 late-morning - 7 adult and one 1st W, increasing to 9 adult & one 1st W nearer high tide
Kittiwake - 1 adult

North harbour wall seawatch 1030-1115 (intermittent), then 1300-1330
Kittiwake - Flocks of 16+44+28+36 in plus about 4 singletons closer inshore
Fulmar - one in
Eider - 2 in
Bar-tailed Godwit - flock of 8 out (unusual)
Large Gulls, mainly LBBG - c75 out along the seawall
Little Gull - 3 adults 'blogging' offshore whilst 9 ad +1 1st W on outfalls, therefore 13 in total for the day

Middleton IE
Loose flock of 5 Stonechat (3 males). 4 Goldeneye, female Pochard and 7 Tufted Duck

Ringing recovery
At last we have a Goldfinch recovery from over 500 ringed! One ringed at Middleton IE 21/8/07 was found dead at Freshwater, Isle of Wight 3/12/07 (356 km)

Elsewhere
c190 Kittiwake JBP probably including the birds seen at Heysham. Also a Pale-bellied Brent Goose on the seaward edge of Carnforth Marsh which was probably the Sunny Slopes bird displaced by rough seas, possibly on the overnight tide. Unfortunately too distant to see whether it was colour-ringed to confirm this, but it certainly was not present around the Battery/Sunny Slopes area

Highest Twite count of the winter

Heysham Obs
Red Nab
Twite - 52 on the detritus
Stonechat - female
Reed bunting -female

Stage 2 outfall
Little Gull - ad
Mediterranean gull - usual 2nd S mobile

North harbour wall
Above 2nd S Med Gull cruising around

Elsewhere
2 Spotted Redshank Broadway groyne. Pale-bellied Brent Goose at Battery groyne, then disappeared - perhaps back to Sunny Slopes. Sand Martin Pine Lake. Chough in at 1520 - straight into crevice, then out again after squall & roosted about 1700.

Three gulls and a Twite flock

Heysham Obs
Extraordinarily clear in the low pressure with individual stones on Piel Castle visible from the north harbour wall along with the 'usual' Barrow Town Hall clock and a whole load of platforms on the Barrow side of the Bay I didnt know existed. Pity about the birds.

North harbour wall(seawatch 0950-1020)
The only bird of note on a half-hour seawatch was the 2nd S Med Gull passing through the scope a few times as it followed the Riverdance's more active sibling, the Moondance, out of port

Red Nab/Ocean Edge/Stage 2 outfall mid-morning
Little Gull - ad on S2O but no sign of the long-staying 1st W
Kittiwake - ad on S2O
Twite - 5 being pushed along OE foreshore by a dog walker

Elsewhere
Pale-bellied Brent Goose by Sunny Slopes groyne and unringed adult summer Med Gull by the Battery groyne, both mid afternoon [see pic on LDBWS photo section for comparative bill pattern purposes]. Chough into Warton Crag quarry at 1515hrs.

Czech Med putting in winter overtime

Heysham Obs
Heliport roost
The Czech ad Med Gull IS still with us - on the Heliport with the 2nd S at HT

Red Nab
16 Twite (min. of 8 ringed, 5 unringed, rest unknown) on the detritus
82 Wigeon

Offshore
Ad Kittiwake joined a freight ferry on its way out but absolutely nothing on a 30min seawatch c1-1.5hrs before HT.

Stage 2 outfall
1st W Little Gull mid morning but not there from one hour before HT

Elsewhere
Ross's Goose was on Aldcliffe early morning, moving to Colloway before being flushed by jetskis and later in the day was located OOA along Bradshaw Lane, North Fylde. Chough flew in at Warton Crag at 1614hrs. Pale-bellied Brent Goose Sunny Slopes groyne. At least 8 presumed littoralis Rock Pipit [some obviously this form, coming into summer plumage] on the Lune Estuary, plus one pipit (on the shore where the path to Stodday sewage works joins the cycletrack by picnic area) which showed characters of Water Pipit, but unfortunately no pictures available. Negative on any tideline pipits at Bank End or from the Cocker Estuary to Lane Ends. 3 Sand Martins at Leighton Moss in late afternoon - any at Pine Lake?

Early WeBS

Ben My Chree slowly and carefully negotiates the turn into the harbour at midday - note the height of the tide on the wooden jetty. Just one Kittiwake behind it, but up to 70 have been seen following this year, especially during January, along with a few Little Gull and also two juvenile Pomarine Skua sightings, which almost certainly involved following this boat into the Bay

Heysham Obs
Pretty thorough check of (high tide loafing) gulls in the harbour failed to locate the 1st W Caspian look-alike by the waterfall in the harbour yesterday afternoon [as seen from the NHW] (which unfortunately flew off before the features could all be gone through and ticked or crossed from the gate 38 side). Maybe it will return nearer low tide when the waterfall becomes a 'feature', on the other hand it may just be a very "snouty, white-headed" argenteus.

North harbour wall
The WeBS coincided with the IOM passenger ferry and it was being followed by a single 1st W Kittiwake

Red Nab
1st W Little Gull sat on the sea

Wooden Jetty
Two Purple Sandpiper on the top at HT - took flight briefly with 6 Turnstone

Ocean Edge west field
2nd S Med Gull roosting on the grass with BHGs - never seen it so far round this side & presume it was the usual bird!

Middleton IE WeBS
Mute Swan 4, Coot 13, Mallard 7, Pochard 2, Goldeneye 3, Teal 6, Tufted Duck 6, Little Grebe 2, Grey Heron 2. There were also 8 Redwing, almost certainly grounded returning migrants as there have been none during the winter and the weather was SE wind & rain first thing. Thanks Malcolm.

Elsewhere
Morecambe WeBS stuff: Two Spotted Redshank on the groyne on the bend just S of the Strathmore, one with very white foresupercilium & forehead, the other less so. Pale-bellied Brent Sunny Slopes groyne. Female Scaup off Scalestones Point but elusive in rough sea. NNEW on the 'wee wire hopper' but will have been forced off the Lune saltmarshes by the tide [only c50 PFG visible from the Heaton side mid-pm]. Chough in at Warton Crag 1628hrs and showed really well in bright sunlight, also two 'Nordic' Jackdaws in the field 'below' the crag during mid-afternoon and one later on the crag face (per N Patel et al). Ringtail Hen harrier receiving a lot of attention at Leighton Moss & still only 2 Avocet

Black-tailed Godwit surprise

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall seawatch 0925-0955
Kittiwake - 15+6+21 in in very quick succession, perhaps the one flock which had fragmented
Black-tailed Godwit - flock of 5 out. This and Little Egret are perhaps inexplicably rare in the Heysham area c/f status just either side.
Red-throated Diver - 2 adult summer in together
Med Gull - 2nd summer cruising all over the place but no sign Czech-ringed adult

Wooden jetty
Two Purple Sandpiper & c80 Turnstone

Stage 2 outfall
1st W Little Gull Stage 2 outfall afternoon and seen to land for the first time for a month!

Elsewhere
Ad white-morph Ross's Goose of unknown origin Aldcliffe Marsh from mid pm, also 2 Whooper Swan. TWO Spotted Redshank Broadway groyne plus female Scaup offshore. Chough into roost at 1620hrs.



Ross's Goose in strong winds & fading light!

Meds get together

Czech-ringed EX78711 [above tarsus right leg] signing out from the winter? It was not seen tomorrow and left on 7th March in last two years. Only photo possible due to imminent moving car!

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall
The two north harbour wall Med Gulls (Czech ad & 2nd S), which have been in parallel universes for most of the winter, started to wave heads at each other today

c15 Twite at the feeder

Ocean Edge/Stage 2 outfall
1st W Little Gull Stage 2 outfall
Wigeon - 63 Red Nab

Elsewhere
Pale-bellied Brent Goose on tideline off Sunny Slopes late afternoon low tide. 2 Avocet still on EM Pools. Chough in to roost about 1720 at Warton Crag - roosted to the west of the usual site. Thorough search for Fleagarth Wood Firecrest drew a blank, but it could, of course, have been an early passage bird. No Sand Martin Pine Lake (3 Goosander)

Czech-ringed Med returns

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall at lunchtime/late afternoon
Med Gull - Czech-ringed adult on the railings at lunchtime, almost in summer plumage, with the 2nd summer bird on the mudflats late afternoon
Twite - 21 by the mound (at least 11 unringed)
Linnet - one with the Twite
Purple Sandpiper - at least one on the wooden jetty - lower tier middle section
Pink-footed Goose - 36 or 37 SE over the sea

Outfalls/Red Nab
Little Gull - 1st W Stage 2 outfall the only one left
Wigeon - 73
Shelduck - 71

Elsewhere
Another Avocet at last to keep the long-since-arrived one company on the EM Pools. Chough was in the Warton Crag roost at 1720hours but not sure of the arrival time. No Sand Martin Pine Lake but a bit cold & 'open'. At least 12 (but perhaps no more than 13) Whooper Swan still in the Lune Valley between Gressingham bridge and Melling. 16 Little Egret in Ashton Hall roost

No coverage

Heysham Obs
No coverage today

Elsewhere
Adult Long-eared Owl calling in the 'lower' plantation where they bred last year on the Leck Fell road. Very quiet call & wont be much use going in the forecasted noisy windy conditions. Any listening/watching MUST be done from the Leck Fell road. No taping please. 557 islandica Black-tailed Godwit at Broadway area of Morecambe - an unprecedentedly large number for there. Also the usual Spotted Redshank. The Chough arrived into the Warton Crag roost just before 4pm

First Gannet

Heysham Obs
A seawatch 0855-0925 was a bit more entertaining than of late

North harbour wall seawatch
Gannet - adult in
Little Gull - 3 1st w together in
Kittiwake - 5 + 17 out distantly
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 37 out [not sure of significance, but unusual]
Common Gull - 17 adults in

No sign 2nd W/S Med Gull on the one morning visit

Stage 2 outfall/Red Nab area
Little Gull - 5 adult, one obvious 2nd W, 1st W at 0930hrs. Late afternoon: 2 1st W & 2nd W.
Kittiwake - one adult all day
Twite - 22 Red Nab but only seen in flight

Elsewhere
The Chough came in at 1547hrs this afternoon, very early, and spent very little time perched up before disappearing, perhaps avoiding hail. Pale-bellied Brent Goose Sunny Slopes area