Autumnal build up on the outfalls!

Heysham Obs

Ocean Edge foreshore 0910-0940
Gannet - 3 out and across
Sandwich Tern - 4 out (none at the roost)
Common Tern - one S2 outfall
Arctic Tern - 2 S2 outfall
Black-headed Gull - 113 S2 outfall/Red Nab, c10% adult
Common Gull - 11 S2 outfall/Red Nab

Elsewhere
5 Devon Carpet, 2 Beautiful Snout, Lunar Thorn, Oak Hook-tip, 6+ Pale Prominent, 6 Alder Kitten, 6 Square Spot, Lime+Poplar+Elephant+Small Elephant Hawk-moths etc. etc., Lord's Lot wood SD536705ish 2200-2340ish last night. 3 Spoonbill & Osprey still Leighton Moss & area

Change in Black Guillemot behaviour

Heysham Obs
No seawatching this morning

Red Nab
2 Sandwich Tern

Harbour
Black Guillemot defending the platforms in the SW corner of the harbour against feral pigeons & appearing very agitated [definitely not 'display towards' as two years ago]. Not seen this before.

Moth trap
Highlighted by Broad-barred White, also another Shaded Pug

Elsewhere
First Lancs Devon Carpet moths (2) trapped at Lord's Lot Wood near Over Kellet last night. 5 Spoonbill Leighton Moss EM Pool. 2 Osprey Leighton Moss. Hobby hawking for one hour Leighton Moss pm. 20 Crossbill Trough of Bowland in larches near 'Trough bridge' [& several at coastal sites, indicating bit of an irruption]. The Thrushgill birds yesterday were more than the perceived one-two pairs present since at least early January could have produced in the time!

Little Tern reward......

Heysham Obs
......for Mark putting in hours of seawatching during the weekend mornings

North harbour wall 0600-1000
Arctic Skua - DM out towards the Lune at 0607 & one in at 0912. Conceivably the same.
Little Tern - one in, close inshore, with Arctic Tern at 0835. Just about annual & all records in last three years have been tagging along with Arctic Tern flocks
Arctic Tern - 11+14+1 in (first with Little Tern) - late for passage flocks
Sandwich Tern - 10
Manx Shearwater - 1+4 in
Gannet - 24
Guillemot - 4
Black Guillemot - one below wooden jetty
Red-throated Diver - sp in

Red Nab
5 Turnstone
3 Sandwich Tern

Moth trap
Following the first last year, another of the range-increasing Lime Hawk-moth (new tetrad records at Sunderland Point & Wennington in recent nights), the first Common Wave and Clouded Border of the year and further examples of two local specialities, Treble Bar [which is abundant here] & Shaded Pug [of which this is the best of a very few VC60 sites]

Elsewhere
5 Spoonbill Leighton Moss EM Pool. Osprey lower end of Leighton Moss late morning at least. A rather odd paucity of contributions to the local website/pager etc from this area this weekend.

More Arctic Skuas, good Gannet count & unseasonal Siskin

Heysham Obs
Outside the office
Siskin SW at 1030hrs - unseasonal!

North harbour wall 0600-1100ish
Arctic Skua - light & dark morphs out together at 0730, light morph in at 1018
Gannet - 40, mostly early on
Common Scoter - c40
just one Black Guillemot - sat on wooden jetty - this does suggest the other bird has moved on. One paper recently read suggested that they do not breed until the fourth year but this has been apparently been contradicted by close observation of isolated 'harbour hole' pairs!
Guillemot - 4-5
Sandwich Tern - c10

Red Nab
2 Mute Swan & single Common Tern

Middleton IE
Grasshopper Warbler singing early am

Insects
Small Heath (2) & what sounds like a female Emperor Middleton

Elsewhere
FOUR Spoonbill at the EM Pools, one of which is ringed [details obtained]. 27 Common Crossbill [5+ Siskin, including display flight] Thrushgill plantation - the ones seen comprised 6 males, 7 females and 7 streaky juvs with very pointed tail feathers. These were present for c50 minutes late afternoon, then 19 of them flew further into the plantation, the rest remained whilst I left. Plenty of 'coned spruce' along the access track near the log piles. Note, this area is operational on weekdays, therefore strictly no access. Tree Pipit display-flight west bank of the the Hindburn opposite Lowgill School, the first one I have found in Hindburndale & I did check this area previously, so status uncertain. Chough seen at Warton Crag quarry (time?). Probably just one juvenile Long-eared Owl calling from the western end of Thrushgill plantation just before 2300hrs [ad & juv Tawny Owls by entrance gate at same time].

Meagre passerine rations, good lunchtime seawatch - late start

Heysham Obs
Pollen-induced lethargy was the order of the day this morning with the alarm clock being the 'Red-spotted Bluethroat at Fleetwood' call.

The belated thrash of the Heysham recording area produced a new species of mammal for recent years in the form of 4 cattle agg. (not aged or sexed) - this does not say much for our observation as they are visible on Heysham Head from the NHW. Cattle used to graze the fields along Moneyclose Lane pre-power station. Combining the historical theme with the topical, Heysham Obs gained a belated new species when the Red-spotted Bluethroat believed to be at Sunderland in 1958 was indeed at Heysham near the 'old lake'(error identified during research for county avifauna)

Heysham Head
Female Yellow Wagtail in enclosed field next to the cattle field. Couldn't turn it into anything other than flavissima (& call). Flew north over Heysham head, calling, after 5 or so minutes of scrutiny, instigated by a 'what are you doing here' from a denizen of the private road.
Spotted Flycatcher - one in the garden next to the church

North harbour wall 0910-0920
NO sign of ANY Black Guillemot in a careful 10 minute search.
Guillemot - one offshore
Red-throated Diver - 2 together offshore, floating in (one sp, one winter/1st S)
Sandwich Tern - 3

North harbour wall 1115-1215ish
Arctic Skua - dark morph, then light morph in separately
Gannet - probably the same one blogging
Common Scoter - flocks of 35 + 110, the largest numbers so far this year
Fulmar - 2
Sandwich Tern - c10
just the one Black Guillemot seen, as was also the case c1515hrs

Outfalls/Red Nab late afternoon
1st summer Black-tailed Godwit
same two Grey Plover as two days ago
Arctic Tern on Stage 2 seaward end

Tufted Duck
An inexcusable omission was the presence for the first time of a pair of Tufted Duck on the pond by the Obs Tower from 'about a week ago to yesterday'. No sign this morning. A useful, by no means predictable, addition to the BTO challenge list

Mammals
See above for not very precise bovine observations - would have checked them carefully if hadnt been asked to leave/watching the Yellow Wag. Grey Seal off NHW.

Moth trap
5 Heart and Dart, White Ermine, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Clouded Bordered Brindle

Elsewhere
Wood Warbler Stone jetty bushes early morning. [Red-spotted Bluethroat Rossall to 1530 at least]

More razorbills

Crambus lathienellus - think its spelt right! The earliest of the common "grass moths" made its first appearance today. Thanks Cliff.

Heysham Obs
By the very modest standards of the 'inner' Bay (as opposed to Rossall/Walney), it has been quite a good spring for Razorbill, especially the 'days recorded' bit.

North harbour wall 0600-0730
Razorbill - 4 out
Gannet - 6 in, 2 out
Common Scoter - 16 out
Sandwich Tern - c6 blogging
Arctic Tern - 3 in
Just one Black Guillemot midday off the NHW by the gate
(Above received by text. Thanks Ray)

Insects
Treble Bar and the first Shaded Pug of the year in the moth trap. 24 4-spotted Chaser on Middleton IE, mostly central marsh pond & the various pools/dykes on the western marsh. No Emperor but N.S. pond not carefully checked

Mammals
Dead Hedgehog Moneyclose Lane (for the 4th day!)

Elsewhere
35 Arctic Tern off JBP in the early evening a bit unexpected along with a late RT Diver. [Red-spotted Bluethroat Walney yesterday evening]. Keep looking, or perhaps more appropriately listening, at coastal locations [Rosefinch, Marsh & Icterine Warbler possibilities]

Black Guillemots in tandem again

Heysham Obs
The second, possibly 1st summer, Black Guillemot presumably reappeared today after extensive coverage in recent days saw only one (the usual male) bird.

North harbour wall 0500-0800 then 0830-0930
Black Guillemot - two
Swallow - 44 NE in one group & stragglers about 0850hrs - this sort of thing is more normal in autumn than spring i.e. roost departure. Just one other seen! = 45.
Gannet - 4 in early morning & 3 fishing c0815
Sandwich Tern - 8+6 in
Guillemot - one on water
Shag - one was probably on one of the structures off off Heysham One outfall early morning only, but distant in poor light
Arctic Tern - 1

Lunchtime seawatching
Gannet - 5 in
Arctic Tern - 5 in
Guillemot - one harbour mouth
Black Guillemot - pair still present

Ocean Edge foreshore am
15 Linnet on football pitch
Bedraggled female Whinchat Red Nab

Red Nab - near high tide late afternoon
Grey Plover -1st S & adult aummer
Sandwich Tern - 27
Manx Shearwater - one on the edge of the mist
Black-headed Gull - influx of 1st S birds - c24

Elsewhere
CHOUGH seen again at Warton Crag Quarry - a highly significant record, although observer(s) currently unknown. This bird was assumed to have gone a few weeks ago. Two Beautiful Snout trapped at Lord's Lot Wood prior to midnight last night! Adult summer Little Stint Sunderland with single Sanderling, 570 mixed Dunlin/Ringed Plover, 5 Turnstone, my first ever Sandwich Tern at this site (4 earlier) and an odd winter-plumaged Dunlin with a uniformly 'grey' breastband like a Temminck's on steroids! The Little Stint & Sanderling arrived with 200 other waders which were previously 'hiding' along the shoreline between the old boat and the main creek

Greenshank tops the bill

Heysham Obs
A Greenshank qualified for the BTO challenge this afternoon courtesy of being in the main channel on Red Nab. This last week or so during the NE winds has been quite good for late Arctic Skua

North harbour wall observations/paper read 0850-1045
Arctic Skua - 2 dark morph in, then landed on sea 1035hrs, at least one still around 1050hrs
Sandwich tern - 4 blogging
Gannet - one out
Black Guillemot - just one offshore NHW
House Martin 1NE
Swallow 2NE
Whimbrel - one heard

Later seabirds
JBP recorded c50 + 15 Common Scoter nearer Heysham than JBP over the afternoon tide [but nothing else in c2hrs]!

Ocean Edge/Red Nab afternoon tide
Greenshank - adult summer feeding in the channel/stream on Red Nab - barely annual within the British Energy boundary line
Whimbrel - 3
Sandwich Tern - 1

Middleton IE
Mute Swan with 4 cygnets

Elsewhere
What was possibly a Black Kite flew up the Dunsop valley via Staple Oak fell late afternoon but always distant moving away from (experienced) observer. Search Roeburn/Hindburndale?

Poor seawatching

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall 0600-1100
Black Guillemot - just one seen
Sandwich Tern - c10
Gannet - 3
Red-throated Diver - two late s.p. birds
Guillemot - 3 on water
Common Scoter - flock of c40 (same as seen twice at JBP in last few days?)
Swift - 3 NE

Elsewhere
Red Kite Hawthorthwaite Fell at 1055hrs is the only public domain sighting today in LDBWS area not involving breeding or territorial birds. Nothing at all reported from the Leighton Moss area - Spoonbills? No sign of Temminck's Stint in brief search at Aldcliffe BUT the winds were still against them moving on - anyone actually see them today?

Just the one Black Guillemot

Anyone who has not picked up a copy of the 2007 Heysham Obs report, they will hopefully (!) be on sale at Leighton for £2-50 in the next day or two and also available again at the nature reserve office for £2-00. Sorry for the temporary unavailability between the print-runs.

Heysham Obs
After the consensus that yesterdays bird was a passing 2CY and not the belated return of last year's female, it was perhaps not a surprise to see it had moved on this morning (or at least not present during the low tide period to 1000hrs)

North harbour wall area 0615-1000hrs
Black Guillemot - just the usual male
Arctic Skua - dm out towards Fleetwood at 0955hrs
Goosander - male in, close inshore - a rare bird here!
Kittiwake - 3
Gannet - 12
Arctic Tern - 3
Sandwich Tern - 10+
Common Scoter - 3
Guillemot - 2
Greylag - 1 in
Swallow - 15NE
Swift - 8NE
House Martin - 1NE

Afternoon seabirds
Not sure whether Heysham was covered at all, but JBP produced:
Arctic Skua - 4 distant birds - nothing to suggest they might not be this species but morph not possible to determine
Common Scoter - 40

Butterflies
The first Small Copper being buffeted around in the NE gale - also Holly Blue in NE corner. Common Swift was new in the moth trap

Elsewhere
Negative so far on EM Pool Pec Sand but the Aldcliffe Temminck's Stints were belatedly located on the Wildfowlers Pools at c1400hrs