If you sit here long enough, something will happen

Heysham Obs
This was definitely a singing Robin morning with the unwelcome sweet music, a result of nothing to chase and chastise, a feature of the first hour after dawn. Reverted to 'vis'........again hardly anything. The problem was the remains of the weather front were still just to the north and the high cloud meant visibility was also too good. Plus a "nothing" wind direction (vaguely south). Should have gone for the Cretz! However:

Jackdaw - two landed on the pylons at 0900 adding a very difficult species to the BTO challenge list (99.99% of British Energy land records are fly-overs, mainly in autumn)
Common Crossbill - Juvenile came in from the NW, landed on the willow by the Obs. Tower pond for about 3 minutes (0940) before heading south

Grounded included:
Common Whitethroat - 2 late juveniles ringed = about 10% of the annual ringing total for this species which has had a dreadful year
Garden Warbler - one off-passage, fat level 3 bird ringed
Lesser Whitethroat - one seen by the office mid-afternoon (unringed)

Inshore
Guillemot by the heliport at high tide. At least two Shag on the wooden jetty and three adult Med Gulls along the north harbour wall at high tide. Thanks to Jackie and David for these records

Vis from the office
Bullfinch - not sure what to make of these - 1 high to the SE, then 3 high to the west
Meadow Pipit - 44 SE
Grey Wagtail - 7 SE
alba Wagtail - 9 SE
Linnet - 6 S
Goldfinch - 14 SE
Siskin - 10 SE
Chaffinch - 16 S/SW
Woodpigeon - 3 SE
Swallow - 10 SE
Dunnock - 2 S

Elsewhere
Both Lancs pagered Honey Buzzards during the morning have been to the south of here today with one over Carleton early am and one over Brockholes just prior to midday. Adult Honey Buzzard joined 5 Common Buzzard in a thermal over Lancaster at 1.35pm before heading south and another 'dark morph' was seen in the Trough near Sykes. Just outside the LDBWS area is a Black-necked Grebe on Barnacre reservoir. Nothing from the hides at Leighton Moss other than a Curlew Sandpiper on the EM Pool and just 15 Little Egret in the roost. Aerial raptor searches there suggested 8 different Common Buzzard.

Unhelpful weather but not totally dead

Heysham Obs
A little blip in the anticipated "easterlies for the foreseeable future" as a weak weather front produces F2ish west-south-west!

North harbour wall late afternoon
Sorry for the late posting here:
Shag - a very surprising minimum of 4, probably 5 juvs on the wooden jetty at high tide. This is the first major influx which has not been a result of onshore strong winds and is perhaps related to low double-figures recorded in the Walney area recently.
Med Gull - THREE adults sat in a line on the railings near some anglers at high tide. Two of these were known 3CY and had noticeably darker blackish-red legs than the 6CY Czech-ringed bird

Inshore
Shag - juv feeding in channel off NH wall
Little Gull - ad & 2nd W on mudflats by H 2 outfall
Little Egret - one OE saltmarsh creek
Med Gull - ad near LGs

Middleton IE
Tufted Duck (12) & Snipe (3)

Grounded
Willow Warbler - 1
Garden Warbler - 1
Wheatear - 2
Chiffchaff - 3-4 around office, one of which was brown & giving high pitched quite piercing calls (but not 'soft' like Bullfinch). Presumably abietinus
Goldcrest - 2-3
Raven - singleton blogging [no more posts of this sp. unless obvious movement]

Vis mig intermittent 0700-0930
Meadow Pipit - 54 SE
alba Wagtail - 38 SE
Linnet - 27 SE
Siskin - 2W
Reed Bunting - 2 SE (1 grounded for a bit)
Chaffinch - 38 S/SW
Goldfinch - 20 S & several blogging
Swallow - 27 S
House Martin - 2 S
Tree Pipit - 1 SE
House Sparrow - 1 grounded for a very short time before heading south
Grey Wagtail - 2 SE (one colour-ringed)

Elsewhere
Honey Buzzard Birkbank, then south at 1110hrs - no further details yet on morph etc.. 6 Curlew Sandpiper EM Pools.

NEW LINKS
It's the vismig season. Compare sites by visiting the Vismig link and Dave's vismig site.
Hone your bird counting skills - visit the counting game link opposite.

Chiffchaff fall and late Yellow Wagtail

Heysham Obs
A bit like the old days without the fitness level for me today. Pre-dawn mist net setting (just two), a Grey Wagtail tape, and then concentration on 'vis' between mist net rounds. This was a short session due to work committments (dawn-0900hrs)

Grounded
Chiffchaff - good numbers with at least 20 passing through the bushes within view of the NR office (4 ringed)
Goldcrest - just 2 (one ringed)
Robin - a lot of ticking birds first thing but just one ringed
Blackcap - thin on the ground this autumn so far, so a single low weight/low fat bird ringed was actually notable!
Kingfisher - one heading for the Obs Tower Pond at some unearthly hour (hence forgetting about it)

Vis mig
Yellow Wagtail - one quite low to the SSW at 0750hrs - sounded like flavissima
House Sparrow - one heard but not seen very high in sky heading south at 0840
Chaffinch - 42 SW
Meadow Pipit - just 152, mainly SE
Grey Wagtail - 4 S/SE (2 colour-ringed)
Siskin - 12 S/SE
alba Wagtail 19 SE
Redpoll agg. 1 S
Linnet - 6 S
Greenfinch - 1 S
Goldfinch - 71 S
Swallow - 18 S/SE
Mistle Thrush - 11 E
Raven - 2 E & 1 NW (not sure what the status of these was)

Elsewhere
Nothing yet but keep your eyes on the sky as plenty of Honey Buzzards on pager, albeit all but one east of the Pennines [Red-backed Shrike still Rossall]. Black-necked Grebe Conder Pool. Lesser Whitethroat and Spotted Flycatcher Freeman's Wood

Crossbills head a varied vis mig

Heysham Obs
Intermittent vis from 0715-1100
Meadow Pipit - 672 mainly NE-SSW early on then, when it cleared over the Bay, most were on the usual NW-SE heading. Another 300 or so probably missed, assuming regular passage throughout
Siskin - 114 SE
Tree Pipit - 1 SE
Mistle Thrush - 47 high to the east with a further 9 SSW later
Song Thrush - 2 high inland
Chaffinch - 16 S
Goldfinch - just 8 S
Skylark - 3 SE
Starling - 26 S
Woodpigeon - 11 high to the south
Linnet - 6 S
Reed Bunting - 3 S
Sand Martin - 1 S
Swallow - 40 S
alba Wagtail - just 6 SE
Grey Wagtail - only 5 SE (none ringed)
CROSSBILL - 2 SE quite low at 0942hrs
HOUSE SPARROW - flock of 5 high to the SW at 1000hrs
House Martin - 7 SE
Collared Dove - 4 S
Coal Tit - 2 were ringed; almost certainly passing through

Off-passage/grounded
Willow Warbler (1), Chiffchaff (c5), Robin - 'several', RAVEN - flock of three then later a singleton which landed on a pylon (qualifying for the BTO/Business challege). A Treecreeper was trapped below the Obs Tower which had been ringed in that area on 22/8. No Wheatear on a very late coastal search.

Ringing
Meadow Pipit (36), Robin (3 & one escapee!), Willow Warbler (1), Goldcrest (1), Chiffchaff (2), Coal Tit (2), Blue Tit (1), Great Tit (1), plus retrap Treecreeper & Blue Tit.

Inshore
Little Gull - 2nd W Stage 2 outfall

Middleton IE
Newly-hatched Little Grebe - late breeding is the norm at this site

Insects
For the first time I can remember, plagued by mosquitoes whilst sat by the NR office entrance - miles from any water. A couple of Silver Y in the moth trap but, as elsewhere in North Lancs, the autumnal noctuids are very slow to appear wih no Lunar Underwing or Feathered Ranunculus yet. Meadow Brown and Small White by NR office

Elsewhere
Dark-morph juvenile HONEY BUZZARD south over Lancaster University at 0740hrs. 3 x Curlew Sandpiper Allen/EM Pools. Juv Black-necked Grebe still Conder Pool

Weather front in the wrong place again

......blocking stuff from the east

Shag and Carrion Crow have a bit of a run-in on the picturesque wooden jetty. Photo by Mike Watson. This is the ringed bird but we have not been able to get anywhere near it to read the number

Heysham Obs
Vis mig intermittently 0800-1000
Meadow Pipit - 105 SW
Siskin - 1 SE
alba Wagtail - 11 SE
Chaffinch - 10 S
Snipe - 1 SW

Collared Dove - 1 SE

Grounded/off passage
Mistle Thrush - 11
Chiffchaff - 3
Whitethroat - 1
Goldcrest 1!!
Robin - in excess of 20 migrants, including 3 on north harbour wall
Linnet - 38 OE football pitch
Pied Wagtail - 17 OE foreshore (no White)

Inshore
Med Gull - 2 ads around harbour mouth
Shag - one on wooden jetty
Little Gull - 2nd W stage 2 outfall
Little Egret - one OE saltmarsh creek

Elsewhere
Osprey Conder Green area & Black-necked grebe still on Conder Pool. Unstreaked acro, probably Reed Warbler, Stone Jetty bushes. 320 Meadow Pipit south at High Tatham 0700-0730hrs

Cloud too far to the east at dawn?

Heysham Obs
**The sand works is back in operation at the end of the north harbour wall after several weeks, if not months, of inaction. Please make sure that your parking neither blocks any of the gates nor prevents lorry access. Thanks

This was a poor morning with relatively little happening during dawn to c0930 coverage. A few bits on the WeBS.

Vis mig
Grey Wagtail - 3 (2 colour-ringed)
Meadow Pipit - 37
Swallow - 26
Chaffinch - 5
alba Wagtail - 3

Grounded
White Wagtail - 2 Ocean Edge football pitch (& 16 Pied)
Linnet - flock of 41 OE
Wheatear - 5
Chiffchaff - just 3 left on reserve
Goldcrest - 10
Sedge Warbler - one ringed by the office - getting a bit late for here

Wooden jetty/harbour
Shag - 2 juveniles
Med Gull - three adults following dredger

Outfalls/Ocean Edge
Little Gull - one ad-type
Mute Swan - 2 counting for the BTO/Business challenge

Elsewhere
The 2008 Scottish-born Honey Buzzard with a radio transmitter roosted overnight [almost certainly Sat/Sun as opposed to Sun/Mon] in a deciduous wood between Nook and Lupton along the A65 = in the LDBWS area. Black-necked Grebe still Conder Pool. The ex-36W Ad Med Gull in the Broadway area

Honey Buzzard and Redwing unexpected highlights

Heysham Obs

In the early afternoon, a Honey Buzzard was located by Dan Haywood off Ocean Edge caravan park and was watched heading south towards a point between Fluke Hall and Fleetwood. So other observers stood a chance of interception, it was phoned out to RBA immediately as a 'probable' and the identification was a few seconds later confirmed with 'scope views by myself. The subsequent reaction suggests that, even if there is a small delay, you dont phone out 'probables' but wait until the i.d. is confirmed!!!

Inshore
Shag - 2 still wooden jetty
Little Gull - 2nd W

Med Gull - two adults

Vis mig - almost all birds heading SE
Siskin - 23
Tree Pipit - 2
Meadow Pipit - 248
Skylark - 1
Swallow - 258
House Martin - 5
Chaffinch - 20
House Sparrow - 6 (4+2)
Grey Wagtail - 25
alba Wagtail - 6
Common Buzzard - one south 1050hrs, one south c1300hrs - rare here
Sparrowhawk - one in-off then south
Coal Tit - flock of 5 south

Collared Dove - 2
Linnet - 1

Mistle Thrush - 27 but probably off-passage

Grounded
Whitethroat - 1
Chiffchaff - 15-20
Goldcrest - 9
Willow Warbler - 1
Reed Warbler - 1
Robin - fewer than in recent days with a lot of singing birds, indicating lack of competition from migrants
Redwing - one
Wheatear - 6
Jay - 4+ 1 - the group of 4 was 'new in' but no definite evidence they were moving through

Ringing
Nets at Middleton & Heysham produced: Grey Wagtail (13), Goldfinch (2), Swallow (2), Blue Tit (2), Reed Bunting (2), Willow Warbler (1), Chiffchaff (4), Wren (1), Robin (1), Reed Warbler (1)

Middleton afternoon

Gadwall - 1, Swallow at 40/hr south, 1 Snipe, 9 Tufted Duck

Moths
Red-line Quaker new for the year & rather early

Butterflies
Small southerly movement of Red Admiral - c16

Elsewhere
Juv Hobby seen well for c20minutes around Botton Mill/Thrushgill. Osprey south along the Lune late afternoon, earlier ringtail Hen Harrier over Sunderland/Cockersands fields. Five Buzzard of unknown origin over Bare in the morning. 44 Little Egret roosting at Leighton Moss

Lots of coverage, poor return

Heysham Obs
The weather was not very helpful today with the wrong decision made re-ringing at Middleton in a niggling wind instead of the sheltered Heysham NR. Remnants of a north-bound weather front with a westerly airflow inhibited any cross-Bay vis, especially Meadow Pipit which all seem to be going down the east coast!

Middleton IE
Grey Wagtail - about 9 birds seen but only one ringed in windy conditions
Meadow Pipit - 6 SE
Swallow - 24 SE
Tufted Duck - 14
Little Grebe - just one left?
Ringing: 2 Chiffchaff, one Sedge Warbler (first for a bit), one Blackcap, 1 Grey Wagtail, 4 Blue Tit, 1 Great Tit, 10 Long-tailed Tit

Ocean Edge/Red Nab/outfalls/wooden jetty
Kingfisher - the highlight was the first coastal one of the autumn on Red Nab
Black Tern - negative
Little Gull - one adult & one 2nd W
Med Gull - two adult
Shag - juv on wooden jetty
Sandwich Tern - 5-6 Red Nab
Little Egret - one in OE saltmarsh channel

Moth trap
15 Silver Y and the second ever (and second this year) Spruce Carpet!

Elsewhere
Juv Black-necked Grebe Conder Pool. Otherwise deadish in this area.

Autumnal vis & flighty Vestal

This 1st W Grey Wagtail was photographed by Reuben Neville and shows that the black ring (left leg lower ring) is quite difficult to see. There are quite a few of the sequences which have the black ring as the lower of the two. See column to the right for comment on this.

Heysham Obs
Outfalls/Ocean Edge - quick lunchtime check on dropping tide

Black Tern - juv still on S 2 outfall

Little Gull - ad as above

Wheatear - one

Linnet - 37

Vis mig - not a lot as observed mainly from Middleton

Grey Wagtail - 13 SE (8 of these colour-ringed)

Meadow Pipit - just 25 SE

Swallow - just 5 SE

Siskin - 2 SE

Skylark - 1 SE

Coal Tit - hyperactive bird by the office

Grounded

Garden Warbler - 2 ringed

Chiffchaff - probably about 10 around

Goldcrest - 2

Coal Tit one hyperactive bird by the NR office

Moths
A VESTAL was on the window frame & allowed identification before disappearing out of the window

A milestone reached at last

Heysham Obs
Ocean Edge foreshore/Red Nab/outfalls 0800-0900
Little Egret - TWO in the OE saltmarsh creek - fighting over territory - the first time more than one has been recorded here!!!
Black Tern - juv still outfalls/Red Nab - still there 1820hrs
Little Gull - Ad W - & Ad & 2nd W there 1820hrs
Meadow Pipit - 36 SE
alba Wagtail - 3 SE but only 3 on the grass= Pied - early evening saw c40 pre-roost wagtails which included 2 definite White
Grey Wagtail - 2 SE
Swallow - 5 SE
Shelduck - 135 off OE - a notable increase

No Meds or additional Little Gulls in careful search & 15 minutes scrutinising the horizon did not produce hundreds of Manx Shearwater (see Walney site) but one Lesser Black-backed Gull

Elsewhere
Nothing posted of interest other than 1st W Med Gull at Morecambe Stone Jetty & late Swift at Leighton Moss