Wish we had a wader scrape!

Heysham Obs
.........this would help the BTO Business Challenge no end, as well as providing chances of some decent species otherwise flying over here unseen. I suppose we need to be thankful for the "last of the outfalls" now the sewage versions have melted away.

North harbour wall 0750-0820
Mute Swan - 3 immatures, which landed on water
Common Tern - one in
Sandwich Tern - 4 in
Black Guillemot - around the harbour mouth [but not apparently later!]
Swift - 11NE together

Outfalls area 0930-1030
Med gull 1st S
Arctic Tern 7
Common Tern 4
Whimbrel 2 on shore between Stage 1 & 2
Swallow 17 NE (underrecorded)
House Martin 1+1+8+2+7 = 19 NE
Swift 4

North wall 1100-1145
Gannet 2 in
White Wagtail - a very late bird 'in-off' - landed on seawall
(nothing reported by another observer who remained from 1145hrs-?)

NH wall 12:00-13:00
Mute Swan 3 on sea, then flew off south
Arctic Skua 1 dark phase close in, then south (one of SJ birds?)
Arctic Tern 4 in
House Martin 14 east

More seabirds from the SJ at lunchtime
Arctic Skua - two dark morph off the SJ which spiralled high into the air between SJ & Heysham
Arctic Tern - 5 in
Common Tern - 1 in
Swallows & House Martins moving

JBP seawatching afternoon
Common Scoter - two flocks which joined together totalling c40 (nothing else of note)

Reserve
A very late migrant male Willow Warbler was ringed. No other definite migrants recorded there. Late Willow Warblers (as opposed to Chiffchaff) are quite unusual here, especially males.

Moths
May Highflyer was notable for here. The first Heart and Dart wasn't!

Mammals
Grey Squirrel along Moneyclose Lane - rare in spring, usually most notable during autumnal dispersal!!

Elsewhere
Two Temminck's Stint on the Freeman's Pool complex nearest the river (NOT the big pool) but lost in a maze of invisible channel edges. However, may have been flushed (and the calls drowned out) by JCB activity which unsettled the other birds around 0930hrs. No sign of the Black Kite; 5+ hours put in searching for this by three very experienced observers. Good montage on LDBWS site. Red Kite by M6 junction 36 this early morning (also same place yesterday, same time). 3 Spoonbill Leighton Moss area.

Passerines hard work in the wind but a few seabirds again

Heysham Obs
Early morning landbirds
An influx of Whitethroat and single large male Wheatear and female Whinchat (latter by the office)

North harbour wall 1000-1200
Red-throated Diver - 1 out
Pomarine Skua - light morph across the mouth of the Bay then lost behind wooden jetty 1135 - did not go 'in' and nothing seen from JBP skua-wise today
Black Guillemot - harbour entrance
Arctic Tern - 22 into Bay plus presumably a further 11 much later off JBP during their afternoon stint.
Sandwich Tern - single figures
Gannet - 17 - largest count this spring of the top of my head
Manx Shearwater - 4
Fulmar - 1
Kittiwake - 1 out
Swift 18NE
Swallow - 65NE
House Martin - 21NE

Common Sandpiper on the mound!

Elsewhere
Black Kite circling over Marshaw/Abbeystead 1645-1715 at least (see photos on LDBWS site). The lack of ragged secondaries indicate that this bird was not the one seen nearby a week or two ago. 3 Spoonbill Leighton Moss.

House Martin passage & Spotted Flycatchers

Heysham Obs
A seawatch between 0930 & 1030 from the NHW was not very productive other than the largest numbers of passage House Martin of the year. At least 2 Spotted Flycatcher around the reserve.

North harbour wall 0930-1030
Arctic Tern - flock of 6 in
Sandwich Tern - 17 out
Swallow - 44NE
House Martin 83NE, including a cluster of 35

Black Guillemot as per Jean's posting of last Saturday!

Further seabirds
Light morph adult Arctic Skua and more distant dark skua spp off Stone Jetty heading in 1310hrs. Plus 5 Arctic tern. Later a dark morph Arctic Skua and pale morph Pomarine Skua were seen heading up the Kent estuary from JBP [the light Arctic had presumably headed unseen from JBP via the Keer flightline, as suggested by being closer inshore (100m) at SJ].

Red Nab/Ocean Edge 1200-1215
One Whimbrel!
Swallow 6NE
Swift 4NE
House Martin 2NE

Nature reserve
Single Spotted Flycatchers by the dipping pond and on the fence just east of the car park

Elsewhere
3 Spoonbill Leighton Moss [Red-spotted Bluethroat Hilbre this morning - keep looking in this area - Scandinavian migrants are not landing on the east coast in any numbers due to clear conditions but a fair number have been seen on the Irish Sea islands/coastal points, presumably including a proportion of the Spot Flys, this last few days - the weather synopsis gets even better Thursday-Saturday (at least)]. Hobby on the pager for 'over Lancaster at 1145hrs'.

Seabirds still on the move

Heysham Obs
A 'later than should have been' seawatch missed the early stages of the incoming tide.

Heysham North harbour wall/Ocean Edge foreshore 1030-1140
Arctic Skua - light morph in then on sea about 1035ish. Two, one a dark morph and one 'paler' bird, seen heading into the bay at long range (as seen from Ocean Edge)about 1135ish and these were picked up at JBP before heading overland at about 1200ish and described as a 'light morph with what appeared to be a dark head and a dark morph'. Presumably these were the two distant unmorphable birds chasing Sandwich tern of Knott End just prior to 1130hrs.

Arctic Tern - 9 in (flock)1040ish from NHW, then no others until JBP [having "taken over" the coverage in the form of Tom Wheeler] started receiving three flocks of 13+65+45 at c1420ish, all of which gathered together & sat on the sea off JBP (to 1435 at least)

Med. Gull - 1st S on the sea off Ocean Edge

Black Guillemot - on the sea below & sat on the wooden jetty

Sandwich Tern - 6 Red Nab

Swallow - 16 NE

Mammals
Definitely THREE and probably four Harbour Porpoise off the NHW 1035 onwards

Insects
Rustic Shoulder-Knot in the hut trap. A sample of damselflies comprised: 12 Large Red, 5 Azure, 2 Common Blue and a Blue-tailed. Common Blue butterfly in low double-figures.

Elsewhere
3 Spoonbill and Osprey at Leighton Moss - latter headed north.

Seabird passage covered by Tom Wheeler at JBP

Heysham Obs
No coverage, but Tom recorded the seabird passage over the HT period at JBP. Trouble is, the best time is the early stages of the incoming tide at Heysham , when JBP is still overlooking extensive mudflats

JBP recorded, single Pom. Skua (LM ad), three Arctic Skua (2 dark and one light), 70 Arctic Tern and 10 Kittiwake

Elsewhere
Spoonbill & Osprey Leighton Moss area. Please note that this site does not publicise the whereabouts of breeding or potential breeding birds if there is a potential problem with disturbance [i.e. shouldnt be a problem with the Leck LEOs, for e.g., despite criticism from one quarter.]

No skuas today

North Harbour Wall
Black Guillemot, zero skuas, 50 Arctic Tern, 5 sandwich Tern, 1 Common Tern, 2 red-throated Diver, 5 Kittiwake, 3 Guillemot

Heysham Business Park/Middleton industrial estate
4 Tufted Duck, two more lots of Coot chicks (5 and 1)

Insects
Heysham Business Park/Middleton IE
6 Wall Brown, 2 Common Blue, 15 Four-spot Chasers.

Elsewhere
Leighton Moss:
Garganey (Griesdale), Spoonbill (2-3), Osprey (dead tree), Little Ringed Plover.
Lune, Bull Beck to Farleton Beck
Greenshank, Whimbrel

Better than expected

North Harbour Wall
5 Arctic Skuas (2 pale phase, 3 dark phase), 95 Arctic Terns, 9 Sandwich Terns, 1 Red-throated Diver, 9 Gannets, 1st summer Mediterranean Gull.

Wooden Jetty
Black Guillemot still living at The Hole, 3rd Post West of no. 9 Numbered Strut, Old Wooden Jetty, Heysham. If out, look on The Water, Just Below the Wooden Jetty, Heysham, Lancs.

Elsewhere
Leighton Moss: Osprey, 2 Spoonbills, Little Ringed Plover, and the mega - Egyptian Goose.

Unexpected RTD heading inland?

Heysham Obs
A look at the sea from 0730 to 0815, mainly from Ocean Edge foreshore produced quite a bit of variety

Manx Shearwater - 2 across the mouth of the bay
Kittiwake - 4 in (1 1st S)
Arctic Tern - 4 in and 2 blogging around outfalls
Common Tern - one around outfalls
Sandwich Tern - 19 around outfalls/fishing offshore - including the non-breeding plumaged bird
Red-throated Diver - one heading straight for me from the mouth of the bay climbed up & circled before heading high inland overhead/over Ocean Edge. It may, of course, have subsequently returned to the inner Bay but it certainly seemed to be intent on heading north-east. I've never seen this before at Heysham, although it has been observed (exclusively breeding plumaged birds?) at JBP.
Swallow - 17 NE
Purple Sandpiper - one with 48 Turnstone on wooden jetty - getting late for this species in this area.
Black Guillemot - seen briefly by the wooden jetty

In contrast to yesterday (& a much calmer sea to record them), NO auk species offshore but observations were at a lower stage of the tide.

Elsewhere
Hoopoe reportedly near Lower Hide, Leighton 0825 but nothing doing since - no idea whether observer familiar with brief rear views of Jay or indeed whether the sighting was 'brief'. 3 Spoonbill EM area. The main news today within the "local birding area" is the sad death of the Ross's Gull at Lytham - a bird which retrospectively hung on and on because something was clearly wrong - some of the photos seemed to indicate a bird with low fat and muscle.

Surprisingly good seawatch

Heysham Obs
North-east winds can sometimes produce the goods on spring seawatches and this morning suggested an earlier start should have been made!

North harbour wall 0815-0900
Auk spp - 27 in
Razorbill - 4 in
Guillemot - 2 in
Arctic tern - flock of 19 in
Red-throated Diver - flock of 6 1st summer in
Black-headed Gull - flock of 18 1st summer in
Black Guillemot - harbour entrance

Didnt have time to check wooden jetty properly but Turnstone seemed much reduced (c15?)

Ocean Edge foreshore
Sandwich Tern - 13 Red Nab (including ringed bird & one in non-breeding plumage), 2 feeding offshore
Curlew - 8 Red Nab
Oystercatcher - 550 Red Nab

Insects
8 4-spotted Chaser Middleton IE in quick check - spread throughout

Elsewhere
Drake Garganey EM Pool but not late afternoon? TWO Wood Sandpiper during the afternoon on EM Pool. The rear end of two white birds flew high to the north over Heysham head as I was at the Moneyclose Lane traffic lights at 1205ish. No time to use optics before they disappeared, so I'm not claiming them as the two Spoonbill which arrived at Leighton Moss ten minutes later (they could have been white Mallard etc etc!). At least one of these remained on the EM Pool/flood until at least 1800hrs. On the same sort of theme, but so far without a 'happy ending', a 'possible Black Kite' was claimed by an 80mph motorway driver near Carnforth. Osprey at Leighton from lunchtime and two seen together at 1600, one of which departed towards Haweswater. Two Yellow Wagtail (pair?) near the YOI at east Lancaster.

14th May rubbish!

Heysham Obs
A few bits and bobs from minimal coverage:

Sandwich tern - 2 off north wall
Arctic Tern - 2 seaward end H2 outfall
Black Guillemot - harbour entrance
Whimbrel - one OE foreshore
Reed Warbler - one in NR reedbed

Elsewhere
Osprey Leighton Moss until midday. Red Kite Brennand valley. Short-eared Owl Whitray Fell.