Meadow Pipits overtake the cloud & light rain!

Heysham Observatory
North harbour wall
Twite - single at feeder along with 2 Linnet
Common Scoter - 2 offshore but distant
Black-tailed Godwit - 1 north into Bay
Cormorant - 1 high North into Bay

Nothing at all during a 30minute seawatch following very heavy showers 1330-1400hrs, but 120+ large gulls, with many immatures, in and around the harbour

Visible migration 0745-1000
Nothing until about 0830 when pulses of Meadow Pipit started to head north-east despite no perceptible improvement in the weather. They had 'overtaken' the clearance which precipitated them to move. An even larger movement during the first 20 minutes of the clearer weather, after which the passage reduced to a trickle

Meadow Pipit - All NE: none until 0830, 30 between 0830 & 0900, 82 between 0900 & 0920, 9 between 0920 & 1000, just one casually noted after that. 122 in total.
Linnet - 4NE
Swallow - 1S, 1N
Jackdaw - 2S - unusual

Grounded migrants
Mist netting produced just four unringed Robin and two unringed Goldcrest in this category [& a few Greenfinch, Chaffinch, tits]. Just 2 Wheatear - both Red Nab.

Elsewhere
Ross's Goose Pilling Lane Ends area before flying over seawall with PFGs. 5 Scaup Conder Pool. Pale-bellied Brent Goose Sunny Slopes groyne.

Brief early morning low tide visit

Heysham Obs
Vis 0740-0900 office area
Meadow Pipit 41NE
Pied Wagtail 1NE
Swallow 2N
Woodpigeon 10E
Skylark - late bird high to the NW
Reed Bunting 1NE
Goldfinch 17NE
Linnet 6N

Grounded
Yet again, no ringing possible, so difficult to discern but at least one Willow Warbler passed through next to the office & one Wheatear on the NHW. Ocean Edge/Red Nab not checked

North harbour wall - short visit
No white-winged gulls on the exposed sandbanks
Linnet - three on nyger seed (no Twite)
Gannet - two very distantly south across the mouth of the Bay
Eider - c40
Red-breasted Merganser - just 3
Red-throated Diver - one in non-breeding plumage
Great-c. Grebe - 5

Elsewhere
No sign WS Bluethroat. Ross's Goose in field just NE of Pilling Lane Ends. Osprey at Leighton Moss c1700-1800hrs. Now FIVE Scaup on Conder Pool. Pale-bellied Brent Goose Sunny Slopes groyne. Two Spotted Redshank north Morecambe seafront again - on Teal Bay groyne today. Small flock of Common Scoter & the first (definite) migrant skua of the year in the form of a mid-afternoon Bonxie loitering off JBP. This eventually flew high NE overland right over the heads of people at JBP and a single RTD was also observed to apparantly head overland. 3 Common Scoter on the Lune estuary by the south end of Aldcliffe Marsh. NNEW Chough since Monday's sighting

Iceland Gull straddles two counties

Couldn't resist a Bluethroat pic - it only just missed Heysham on landfall! Thanks Margaret (Breaks)
Herald was new for the year in the moth trap

Heysham Obs
A (very) low tide observation from the NHW during (fairly) early morning saw a distant Iceland Gull, almost certainly a juv. Fortunately it was quite a small one in relation to nearby Herring and LBBG, otherwise ruling out small Glaucous or even a leucistic 'Hessing' might have been a problem. The structure was spot-on for Iceland.

North harbour wall 0810-0910
Iceland Gull - Probably a juv on a rather distant Lancashire sandbank, first noticed at 0830 with Herring and LBBG, then at 0840, coinciding with a burst of sunlight and heat-haze flew towards a distant Cumbrian sandbank and landed as an unidentifiable shimmering dot in the direction of Piel Castle. It was impossible to keep tabs on it amongst other similar shimmering dots and it was lost from view. I'll name the sandbanks later when can view detailed map - closest views approx SD380610.
Sandwich Tern - 2 in distant channel
Purple Sandpiper - one underneath the wooden jetty with Turnstone
Red-breasted Merganser - at least 13 offshore
Twite - 5 on the nyger seed
Linnet - 3 on the nyger seed
Meadow Pipit - 72 NNE in the hour - in a series of small groups during gaps between the showers
Alba Wagtail - 6 NNE
Linnet - 2 NNE

Negative on Wheatear or any other grounded migrants on OE foreshore, Red Nab & Heliport 0910-0920. No Willow Warbler anywhere today.

Office 0930-1000
Meadow Pipit - just 16 N
Goldfinch - 7 N
alba Wagtail - 1 N

Elsewhere
Despite the clear starry night, the male White-spotted Bluethroat was still in the same place as yesterday. Please make sure you leave a gap for farm vehicles to access the lower (barriered) track at the Aldcliffe Lane parking area & try and car-share by parking alongside the canal before Aldcliffe village. Pale-bellied Brent Goose still Sunny Slopes groyne & Spotted Redshank on the 'bend' groyne between the Town Hall & Broadway. Northbound Osprey over Aldcliffe Marsh at 1510hrs. Three Spotted Redshank at Conder. Chough seen at Warton Crag quarry on evening of 7/4 but NNEW since. Two Med Gulls on Allen Pool (ages unknown). Ross's Goose Pilling Lane Ends area

Interrupted webs count - see elsewhere!

Heysham Obs
Poor coverage with no early morning observations or ringing possible on a promising morning and the already belated WeBS count rudely interrupted/ceased by a phone call from Dan prowling along the Lune cycletrack & tideline!

Moneyclose Lane
At least 5 Goldcrest & 2 Willow Warbler [mid-morning]

Outfalls & Ocean Edge
96 Common Gull - the start of the usual spring build-up
Wheatear - 6 [mid-morning]
c10 Meadow Pipit north in 20 minutes or so [mid morning, reading the paper with the window open waiting for the tide to come in a little more, so hardly scientific vis].

North Harbour Wall
6 Red-throated Diver floating in in 20 minutes
4 Great-crested Grebe similarly
No obvious grounded migrants other than 1 Wheatear on heliport. No small finches seen around the feeder.

Wooden jetty
Purple Sandpiper - one with 116 Turnstone

Elsewhere
One of THE best passerine finds in this area (usually these are at Heysham!) - a male White-spotted Bluethroat found by Dan Haywood feeding amongst the abundant tidal debris at the northern end of the cycle track 'deep cutting' about half way between Aldcliffe Lane and Stodday sewage works just north of the pylon crossing. This followed a night of lightish winds right through to at least the middle of France and also produced one at Dungeness. Nothing else new, including the Ross's Goose again at Pilling

Unfortunately the work logistics for the regular observers means we are in a little bit of trouble this spring covering Heysham Obs, especially trying to cover mid April to mid May for visible migration/seabird passage.

The other problem is that the wildlife trust people [volunteers and paid staff] on the reserve are either not birders or dont have time to spend on casual bird recording, therefore we have a problem trying to 'fulfil' the expectations placed upon us by British Energy Estates when they entered us, as usual, for the 2008 BTO Business Challenge. This basically means we need as high a species list as possible for the Power Station land ownership during 2008. This CAN be achieved for some species by viewing from the north harbour wall as the 'ownership' includes species which enter the sea area off the end of the wooden jetty/by Heysham one outfall.

The 2007 annual report [for availability, see RHS of page] contains a map outlining the BE properties and they also include a useful finger of land around the southern perimeter of the golf course adjacent to the Middleton IE site.

There are two ways you can help:
1) PLEASE make sure records are passed on from casual visits - we rarely seem to receive any feedback from birders known to be specifically 'targeting' Purple Sandpiper, Twite etc etc. . I am sure some of you must see other species during your albeit rather short visits? For example, yesterdays Osprey was heard about purely by chance via a third party. Records can be posted through the reserve letterbox, posted on this or LDBWS website, emailed to the contacts (RHS of page) or even left in the 'Leighton Moss' sightings book which is for ALL local records from people passing through the reception area, not just those on the RSPB properties. Thanks in anticipation.

2) Would you be interested in helping with the more systematic recording e.g. early morning seawatching from the north harbour wall or just walking around the reserve? The latter option is really useful for picking up species which can be tricky e.g. passage Whinchat or a 'one morning only' singing passage Grasshopper Warbler.

It would be a great pity if this 'baseline' site suffers from poor coverage as the data provides excellent annual comparison [have a look at the Arctic Tern species account in the 2007 report or, for a broader picture, in the recently published Lancashire Avifauna].

Thanks in anticipation

Pete

Cashing in on the Osprey-fest

Heysham Obs
Plenty of northbound Ospreys struggling against the wind and therefore coming into contact with human eyes at various sites this last two days, especially the Ribble flightline via Brockholes quarry (including a Dunkeld colour-ringed bird). An Osprey flew fairly low to the NNE over/along the NHW at "about 1400hrs" today. Could the observers please make contact so I can acknowledge your record - I only have a description of what you looked like from a third person!

Otherwise coverage affected by the dreaded work: brief NHW morning visit
Red-throated Diver 1
Twite 3
Linnet 2

Elsewhere
2nd S Med Gull Leighton Moss. Ross's Goose and Barnacle Goose transferred the Pilling Lane Ends where on the sea at HT. Amphitheatre-like atmosphere at the public hide Leighton Moss with the resident GBBGs killing an intruder during a two hour show. Sanderling Cockersands. Osprey JBP today.

Willow Warbler Arrives

NHW 1430-1530
Eider 65 'in' rising off the sea in small flocks
Red-breasted Merganser 4
Great Crested Grebe 2
Twite 1 at Sand Plant feeder
Red-throated Diver 1 AM

Middleton IE
Willow Warbler 1
Raven 1 over
Tufted Duck 6
Teal 3
Goldeneye 1

Slow start

Heysham Obs
North Harbour Wall
0710-0830
NE F3/4 cloudy bright

The only bird of note was a male Merlin which flew along the North Harbour Wall at 0810, presumably a northbound migrant wondering where its food, in the form of the Meadow Pipit passage, was!

Otherwise the usual close in male Eider, plus 54 in the low tide channel and 3 Red-breasted Mergansers. No divers at all on the turn of the tide.

Grounded: Male Wheatear and a Meadow Pipit on the mound. The latter flew off north during a clear slot at 0800.
3 Linnet at the sandplant.

Elsewhere
Ross's Goose & Barnacle Goose still Aldcliffe Marsh
Over Kellet - 12 Fieldfare
Pine Lake - 1 Swallow (which doesn't make a summer, I'm afraid).

Dodgy Geese.

Heysham Obs
WNW F3 broken cloud
Canada and Greylag are scarce here and to get them both on the same day........

North Harbour Wall
0810-0910
Red-throated Diver 1 N at 0900
Greylag 3 S
Meadow Pipit 78 N
Pied Wagtail 3 N

1000-1030
Canada Goose 2 'out' near side of two buoys.
Goldfinch 9 North
Meadow Pipit just 3 N
Twite 5 Sand Plant Gate, one ringed with Heysham site code, rest definitely unringed.
Linnet 3 with the above

Grounded migrants
Wheatear - 1 at sandplant 0900, another (or same) at heliport at 1230hrs [none OE foreshore, but dogs]. Quick circuit of HNR noting the lack of new arrivals did include a grounded Lesser Redpoll [early for here] (& 2 Goldcrest)

Wooden jetty
Purple Sandpiper with the Turnstone

Elsewhere
Pale-bellied Brent Goose [& 221 Redshank] Sunny Slopes groyne. One Spotted Redshank [& 112 Redshank] Broadway. Ross's Goose & Barnacle Goose still Aldcliffe.

Late clock-in for the first Swallows

Heysham Obs
Two Swallow flew over the HNR office late afternoon preceded by a trickle of Meadow Pipit

North harbour wall
Twite - 15 together plus one with 3 Linnet
Eider - 28 offshore
Meadow Pipit - 15 north in 15 minutes 1000-1015hrs

Ocean Edge
Wheatear - 3 males

Moneyclose Lane
3 singing male Chiffchaff
Moorhen - adult roadkill

Heysham Head
2 Wheatear

Moths
Common Quaker (6), Hebrew Character (1), Early Thorn (1), Diurnea fagella (2) - rare here, Agonopterix heracliana (1)

Elsewhere
Chough came out of the Warton Crag quarry roost & flew SW at 0640hrs. Ad & 2nd S Med Gull on Eric Morecambe hide. Ross's Goose & Barnacle Goose Aldcliffe in afternoon at least. Swallow & House Martin Pine Lake

Quiet morning

Heysham Obs
North Harbour Wall
16 Twite still in the vicinity and 1+ Linnet.
Nothing much on the sea apart from 2 Red-breasted Mergansers and male and female Eider.

Elsewhere
Morecambe, Broadway - 2 Spotted Redshank
Aldcliffe Parish - Barnacle Goose, 2 Whooper Swans, Greenshank. 5 Chiffchaffs.
Conder Pool - 4 Scaup (3M, 1F), 1 Little Ringed Plover. University - Swallow over.
Lune (Caton to Halton) - 1 Sand Martin, 20 Chiffchaffs.