Another struggle.

Heysham Obs
Red Nab
Wigeon 12
Shelduck 82

Ocean Edge
Ringed Plover 9

Vis mig
Pink-footed Goose 12 NE far out over Bay
Meadow Pipit just 9 NE

Middleton Industrial Estate
Greylag Goose 3 on boat pond flew off south.
Jackdaw 4 at boat pond
Kestrel 2

Elsewhere
Avocet arrival at the EM Pools with 16 present. Chough seen in quarry at least 1655hrs. Extra drake Scaup on Conder pool. Check of northern LDBWS recording area pretty fruitless with single Brambling at a heavily disturbed Old Park plantation [massive felling programme still, rather like Thrushgill - same company?]....... & 2 Little Grebe and a drake Pochard at Wyndhammere the only remote interest on the small lakes/tarns. Barnacle Goose and 2 Whooper Swan still Aldcliffe saltmarsh

Migrants struggle through

Heysham Obs
For the first time for ages, saw nothing of any interest myself in the recording area today with the 'usual suspects' either gone or playing hide and seek on a late afternoon 'round'. The blocking weather continues and the medium-term forecast looks like it might get even less favourable for incoming migrants [other than stuff arriving in lightish, albeit north/north-west winds tomorrow & Wednesday]

Visible migration
Meadow Pipit - 50 per hour until mid morning, then about 25 per hour
from c1100hrs
Pied Wagtail - at least 20 north in the morning

Grounded
Two male Wheatear Ocean Edge foreshore mid-morning but soon moved on (thanks to a visiting couple for this & most of the vis records)

North harbour wall
"At least 15 small brown birds" around the nyger mid afternoon

Elsewhere
Chough present in Warton Crag quarry during at least the morning. Up to 6 Avocet seen today on the Allen Pool (per John Wilson). Pale-bellied Brent Goose on the tideline by the Sunny Slopes late afternoon
Singing male Chiffchaff Lower hide area of Leighton Moss. Adult summer Med Gull by Lancaster Bus Station this morning, then flew towards the Lune [legs not seen]

Blocking north-easterly

Heysham Obs
Stage 2 outfall
1st W Little Gull and two ad Kittiwake

Wooden jetty area
Purple Sandpiper - 2 on rocks below wooden jetty

Heysham NR
Female Stonechat by the office

North harbour wall
Meadow Pipit - just 4 north in about 30 minutes
Twite - 10 on the nyger seed but easily disturbed, 11 there late afternoon (6 unringed!).
Swan spp - flock of 6 NW very distantly & high over the Bay at 1115hrs, probably Whooper on jizz.

Elsewhere
Taiga Bean Goose with 1080 PFG 'next to' Pilling Lane Ends car park in fields. Barnacle Goose [with 500 or so PFG] and two Whooper Swan Aldcliffe Marsh -easily visible from the Golden Ball side, also ad Med Gull with bill pattern matching bird seen at Battery the other day. Another ad Med Gull in fsp at Holmere. 20+ Sand Martin Pine Lake am but none late afternoon [but 10 at Leighton Moss]. 2 Little Egret Heaton Marsh. Flock of 44 migrant Golden Plover at White Moss, upper Hindburndale [also 4 Meadow Pipit N in 30 minutes -see above!]. Canadian-ringed 1W Pale-bellied Brent Goose still on the tide edge by Sunny Slopes groyne at low tide [with 50-60 Eider]. Chough present in Warton Crag quarry for most of the day, on and off & was showing well at 1715hrs. First Belted Beauty moth of the year (male) at Sunderland Point/Middleton saltmarsh

Meadow Pipits and earliest ever Sand Martin

Heysham Obs
This was a strange day with the word 'variable' applying to density of cloud cover, visibility and also the light winds. Later in the afternoon a north-easterly kicked off. The Meadow Pipit data was cobbled together from five sources and we are grateful to visiting birders for some of this

Visible migration
Meadow Pipit - About 60 per hour early morning, falling to 40 per hour 1000-1100, then the movement appeared to have ceased for the day. However 1330-1430 saw c 75 northbound birds and the following hour saw 30 heading north, then the wind kicked in and the movement appeared to stop. Presumably this oscillation was to do with the variable cloud density to the south? c200 seen but some of the early morning missed.
Sand Martin - one through early afternoon - the earliest record of what is not a common migrant here
Pied Wagtail - c20 north 0900-1030, none later
Greenfinch - one north at the NHW, therefore definitely a migrant
Goldfinch - one as above species

Grounded migrants
A Song Thrush was on the NHW mound and two Robins were seen there in 'migrant mode' - one flew 'in-off' and landed on a skeer! A lunchtime circuit of the reserve suggested that Goldcrests were not a feature today = none. Female Stonechat on the PS non-operational land.

Stage 2 outfall
1st W Little Gull surprisingly elusive & 2 Ad Kittiwake

Wooden jetty
Two Purple Sandpiper on rocks below wooden jetty (per Manchester coach party - thanks)

Other north harbour wall records
2nd S Med Gull on skeer by NHW mid-morning, then flew south towards incoming ferry & no sign since
Twite - 10 on the nyger seed. Two Twite also overflew Red Nab.

Middleton IE
Two Greylag landed mid-morning (feral origin - not common here). 4 Tufted Duck, 2 Teal and a singing Skylark - not common in the recording area these days, but, perhaps surprisingly, no migrant Stonechat

PS non-operational land
Female Stonechat

Moth trap
Just one Clouded Drab [c/p 103 of 14 (& one escaped micro) species at Millhouses!]

Elsewhere
Barnacle Goose & Greenshank Aldcliffe and three Cranes reported over Lancaster heading west at 0745hrs. Avocet possibly up to 5 on the Allen/EM Pools and a small increase in Sand Martin at Leighton Moss (but still single figures) [also migrant SM through Hest Bank early morning]. NNEW Chough as yet. Pale-bellied Brent Goose on the shoreline just north of the Sunny Slopes on the incoming afternoon tide [34 dogs on the beach between Sunny Slopes and Stone Jetty]

Little evidence of migration, despite drop in wind

.........it wasnt a helpful direction (WNW).

Heysham Obs
Vis Mig
70 Pink-footed Geese N at 0745hrs
3 Meadow Pipit N (2 at 1000hrs, one at 1115hrs)

North harbour wall
2nd S Med Gull on the big skeer by the sandworks entrance
Twite - just 2 unringed birds late afternoon seen in the whole recording area today

Wooden Jetty
Single Purple Sandpiper on the rocks below

Stage 2 outfall
1st W Little Gull and 3 adult Kittiwake

Moths
Few and far between of late but a March Moth and a small brown escapee (Brown House Moth?) were in the trap this morning.

Elsewhere
Now 4 Avocets on the flood at east end EM Pool. Pale-bellied Brent Goose Sunny Slopes. Chough in at about 1530hrs.

Run of the mill

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall lunchtime
A double ferry arrival produced just a single following adult Kittiwake
Pink-footed Goose - flock of 205 NNW over the sea
Med Gull - 2nd summer around the harbour mouth

Wooden jetty
Single Purple Sandpiper with Turnstone

Stage 2 outfall
Little Gull - ad type & 1st W
Kittiwake - ad

Elsewhere
Pale-bellied Brent Goose at Sunny Slopes groyne [& 1750 Oystercatcher, 63 Redshank & 74 Knot - none of which were there in yesterdays high seas, c/f Brent sighting yesterday on Carnforth Marsh]. Gull showing all the features of juv/1st W Yellow-legged on the sea, later sat on the shore by the Battery car park, with other large gulls for comparison. NNEW Chough. Still just two Avocets, a single ringtailed Hen Harrier proving surprisingly popular (posting as a Bowland resident) and 10 Bearded Tit Leighton Moss/Allen Pools

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?