Pre-tidal bits and bobs

Late news: A (late) Swallow reported flying south over the reserve in the afternoon

Heysham Obs
North wall/harbour area
Med Gull - ad
Shag - at least 2 juv

Ocean Edge foreshore
Twite - c50
Linnet - c10
Rock Pipit - 1
Meadow Pipit - 2
Little Egret - 1+
Snipe - 2+

Reserve/vis mig dawn-1015hrs
Starling - small movement of c435 SW
Meadow Pipit - 1 SW
Fieldfare - 3 dropped in by the dipping pond from the east
Redwing - minimum of 10 first light - flew inland (one ringed) & 110 SW (including 60 at Middleton)
Blackbird - surprisingly very few grounded birds

Middleton IE
32 Teal, 11 Tufted Duck, 13 Snipe, 8 Mute Swan, 17 Coot, 9 Moorhen, 9 Mallard, one Goldeneye, one Little Grebe (no Pochard)

Ringing
A small Twite catch surprisingly contained 8 unringed birds out of about 12 captures. Obviously still quite a bit of turnover, with at least 10-15 unringed birds amongst the c50 on Ocean Edge foreshore this morning. 107 have been ringed this autumn, plus 3 already ringed elsewhere, plus c6 retraps from the 28 ringed this spring (perhaps surprisingly, no older Heysham-ringed birds seen/caught this autumn) [and another ringed elsewhere seen in the field, but not captured]. A Middleton ringing session, to hopefully ring some Reed Buntings, had to be cancelled due to inaccurate wind-strength forecasts from just about every source! An unproductive session on the more sheltered reserve produced unringed singletons of Redwing, Goldcrest (see above), Song Thrush and Chaffinch plus a few retraps

Todays observers: Malcolm Downham, Jean Roberts, Brenda Cookson (& providing above photo - thanks), Mark Prestwood, John Mason, Pete Marsh, Alan Draper

Elsewhere
Significant movement/arrival of thrushes at High Tatham with the hedges filled with Blackbirds and: 782 Fieldfare, 65 Redwing west 0720-0820hrs [& 6 Redpoll agg., 330 Starling, 33 Woodpigeon, 14 Chaffinch, 3 Goldfinch]. Waxwing elusive at Levens with up to 4 briefly. 2 Waxwings Burton in Lonsdale in the afternoon. Two N/E Chiffchaff (with nominate collybita & female Blackcap) High Bentham sewage works & another collybita Freeman's Wood. Four-five Med Gulls on the Lune Estuary, including P96 along Lancaster Quay. Long-tailed Duck between canal bridges 5-6 at Glasson. No reports of the Dalton Great Grey Shrike, despite favourable conditions. Female Scaup Freeman's pool. [Surf Scoter Ad male off Starr Gate, Blackpool 1010-1125hrs, then flew north & landed further out & no further sign]

Good coverage on the incoming tide

A system has just been started whereby species which are usually worthy of mention on the local pager service are in red boldface.

Heysham Obs
North & south harbour wall/wooden jetty/seawatch 1000-1200hrs
Shag - 4 juvs on wooden jetty
Med Gull - two ad
Purple Sandpiper - one wooden jetty
Twite & Knot - very few of either (per security/photographer respectively)
Guillemot - one floated in
Auk spp. - 2+1 out
Red-throated Diver - 1+1 out & one close inshore on the sea
Grey goose spp. - 5 north

Ocean Edge area
Little Egret - two on saltmarsh
Kingfisher - one Red Nab

Middleton IE
4 Mute Swan, 9 Coot, 5 Moorhen, 7 Mallard, 4 Pochard, 7 Tufted Duck, 4 Teal, 1 Goldeneye, 2 Little Grebe, 22 Snipe

Reserve
Arrived at 1015hrs to find at least 6 separate lots of dogs running about all over the reserve, despite the off-lead area being provided. "Old notice fatigue" i.e. the d.o.l. notices have become unread parts of the fixtures and fittings? In this context:
Blackbird - at least 17 seen from the office 1000hrs, mainly on the tankfarm, suggesting a small arrival - but little chance of any remaining undisturbed on the reserve itself. How many first thing?
Starling - half an hour by the office door comprised three very pleasant "Good mornings" from off-lead dog walkers and two flocks heading SW comprising 425 birds - surely late 'vis'?

Observers: Pete Marsh, Malcolm Downham, John Wood, Jeff Butcher

Elsewhere
Cetti's Warbler along public causeway Leighton Moss 100m from the road this morning - no information other than it was (at least) heard calling by a least two people. Unconfirmed report of up to 20 Waxwing still at Levens. Female Scaup still Freemans Pool

WeBs trawl & a few extras

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall/wooden jetty
Shag - 2 juv Shag wooden jetty
Twite - c70 north harbour wall, later presumably the same on Ocean Edge as anglers set up shop in the vicinity of the feeding station
Knot - a careful count of 26, 500 flushed from the heliport about one hour prior to HT, but only 4, 500 left during the actual WeBS count
Med Gull - one adult

Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Shag - a further juv off Red Nab
Rock Pipit - 2 on the foreshore (& 4 Meadow Pipit)
Snipe - 15 flushed by the tide from OE saltmarsh but no Jack Snipe
Little Egret - one actually sat on the football pitch for a short time before the inevitable flush sent it towards Middleton
Ringed Plover - Colour-ringed individual Ocean Edge foreshore - see interesting ringing history on NLRG link
Reed Bunting - 4 flushed out of saltmarsh

Moth
Feathered Thorn in trap

Todays observers: Emma Garston, John Wood, Pete Marsh

Elsewhere
4 Waxwings Church Road, Levens, increasing to 18 by early afternoon, 21 by late afternoon (& rumours of up to 30). Hebrew Character in moth trap at Millhouses, Wray!

Routine trawl round

Heysham Obs
The coastal areas were given a short run-round with most of time being spent on the finches (& see below). Several birding blogs have been accessed recently featuring the usually most mild-mannered of people ranting and raving [using BBC language] at Man U supporting shrike twitchers vs. Lincolnshire kale fields, bushes which are not holding any Pallas's warblers, fog-bound Rossall seawatches, people tape-luring Greenish Warbler on their local patch, as well as about 25 species of dog [Rossall again]. Should I succumb to the appropriate linguistics - better not - but spent a significant part of this morning cleaning sticky, sugary, red-dyed sweet and sour sauce off the scope, courtesy of a Range Rover which reversed across the road in front of me as I left a Chinese takeaway last night. Two emergency stops in three days, hope they dont come in threes. The rice was still edible.

North harbour wall
Twite - 77; at least 16 unringed, plus a Duddon bird ringed this autumn (probably one of the two already trapped) and Duddon-ringed bird from autumn 2006 (the first time this has been seen)
Linnet - 12 (1+ ringed)
Goldfinch - 2 (at least one ringed)
Med Gull - one adult

Wooden jetty
One juv Shag at long-range from the red gate

Observer: Pete Marsh

Elsewhere
3 Waxwing still at Levens (see yesterday)

Some good bit and bobs

Heysham Obs
Some VP work nearby saw an excellent, if slightly uncertain record, in the form of a purposefully high-flying Hooded Crow definitely flying over the NE edge of the recording area. However, can distant birds which 'look ok' be deemed unequivocally 'pure'? The Twite ringing effort was impeded by a visiting carload of birders who immediately exited the car on arrival (fieldcraft??!). Please approach with care and use your vehicle as a hide - remember that the opportunity to closely observe the birds at this site is solely due to the feeding station. Thanks.

Vis mig
Starling - 77 high to south (one flock)
Short-eared Owl - one 'in-off' at the wooden jetty, then inland (1015hrs)
Hooded Crow - one high to the SE over the NE section of SD45E, then over the by-pass 1000hrs
Pink-footed Goose - 11+26 S

Grounded
Redwing - 18 flew inland from the tank farm early morning

Offshore
Red-throated Diver - 2 in

Inshore
Shag - 3 wooden jetty, none in harbour (HT)
Med Gull - at least one ad north harbour wall

Ringing
The whoosh net on the north harbour wall caught 9 retrap and 2 new Twite and 3 new Goldfinch. Very few unringed birds attending the feeder by the office (4 new Greenfinch and two new Chaffinch ringed)

Todays observers: Jean Roberts, Alan Draper, John Wood, Pete Marsh

Moths
Two Feathered Thorn and one Large Wainscot in the trap

Elsewhere
11 Waxwing Levens at Greenbank, off Church Road

No morning squalls to coincide with the tide

Heysham Obs
The usual suspects in small numbers during two short seawatches. The only novelty was my turn (long overdue) to meet a car driver (of statistically the most probable age/sex) who decided to slowly cross in front of me from Ocean Edge direction, presumably in response to the lights changing to amber, as I was crossing over from the heliport side to the O.E. road. It is a very wide junction here and easy to correctly pass through green lights, but end up crossing 2/3 of the distance on amber or even a bit of red. The mobile survived a high speed encounter with the glove compartment.

Seawatching 0845-0930
Kittiwake - 17 out, mostly dribs and drabs (max 6 together)
Little Gull - 2 ads out
Razorbill - 3 out together
Pintail - 37 out (flock)
Shelduck - 16 out

Seawatching 1230-1300
Little Gull - 3 Ads out
Kittiwake - 2 out

Other
Shag - at least 5 juvs around harbour/wooden jetty
Snipe - 5 in the high tide roost by Ocean Edge saltmarsh
Jack Snipe - one flew off the saltmarsh and nestled amongst debris on the upper tideline (as opposed to staying in the open like the Snipe)
"Twinnet" - 16 or so north harbour wall and a similar number OE saltmarsh - category = "windblown small finches seen very briefly in flight"
Knot - c17,500 in spectacular aerial display by the heliport, as well as sitting thereon. No flags/colour rings seen [see via NLRG link].

Observer: Pete Marsh

Elsewhere
Polish-ringed Med Gull P96 by Lancaster Football Club ground

Useless southerlies

Heysham Obs
A teeny bit of west in the wind during the early morning was not strong enough to produce anything, then it backed into a useless southerly.

North harbour wall/harbour area
Med Gull - adult in harbour mouth
Shag - one on the platform by the waterfall

Outfalls/Red Nab
Wigeon - 57
Little Gull - adult feeding in rough water in the boat channel late pm

Heliport
5000+ Knot flushed by unknown culprit - flew out of the bay

Ringing
A single fire of the whoosh net on the north harbour wall, before it became too windy, produced: 5 Linnet, 2 Goldfinch and just one (unringed) Twite. 20+ mixed finches around

Observers: Jean Roberts, Alan Draper, Pete Marsh

Elsewhere
Vis mig from High Tatham 0815-0855 produced: flock of 6 Waxwing west at 0840 (thank goodness they call in flight!), Starling 500, Brambling 2, Chaffinch 23, Fieldfare 582, Redwing 40 [no Woodpigeon but flock of 20 SW en route to Lancaster]

Not wild enough for this time of year!

Heysham Obs
Offshore
Eider - 4 out
Kittiwake - flock of 17 adults out
Little Gull - Ad hovering around seaward end of Heysham 2 outfall for a short period, then disappeared

Inshore
Twite - c10 on seed & a few Linnet early am, later 45 "Twinnet", mainly Twite, & 2 Goldfinch but didnt like the AC/DC tracks emanating from the dredger security guards car, so no detail on rings/flock ratio!
Med Gull - ad in harbour
Shag - 4 juvs in the harbour and another juv by the outfalls
Kingfisher - one by the outfalls

Grounded
Redwing - one flew inland from tank farm - no real evidence of an arrival of thrushes in the windswept bushes

Todays observers were: Malcolm Downham, John Wood, Mark Prestwood and Pete Marsh. Please let me know, for future postings, if you should have been somewhere else and dont want to be named!

Elsewhere
Long-tailed Duck Conder Pool (female/imm) plus Long-tailed Duck (ad male) for 2-3 minutes 0900hrs on Leighton Moss public pool, then flew off (& otter). No further info. from any of the other pools. The Freeman's Wood search [see yesterday] produced one Chiffchaff & 2 Blackcap.

Long-tailed Duck highlights

Prospective seawatchers tomorrow: Please remember that there is no access beyond the red gate on the north harbour wall.

Coastal sites
Long-tailed Duck - winter adult male flew from in the bay and landed between the two outfalls at 0945hrs - no further sightings
Golden Plover - juv Red Nab with Lapwing - valuable BTO challenge record!
Twite - just 7 on NH wall seed (3 unringed)
Linnet - 2 on nhw seed
Goldfinch - 4 on nhw seed
Robin - one on nhw seed!
Shag - 3 juv at harbour waterfall + 1 below NHW which flew over wooden jetty
Guillemot - one on sea off Harbour entrance
Shelduck - 2+4 out
Med Gull - one adult north harbour wall

Grounded
About 15 Blackbird along Moneyclose Lane - more than yesterday's rock bottom

Vis 0900-0915 office
Redwing - 6 SW
Chaffinch - 11 SW
Greenfinch - 9 SW
Woodpigeon - 2 S
also a late Meadow Pipit in-off and heading SE as viewed from the south harbour wall

Middleton IE
Gadwall - 1
Black-tailed Godwit - 2 on edge of model boat pond, then flew off
Pochard - 1
Tufted Duck - 3
Snipe - 19
Teal - just 3
Redwing - 6 grounded
(& 8 Coot, 4 Moorhen, 2 Mute Swan, 6 Mallard but no sightings of Little Grebe)

Elsewhere
See LDBWS site for posting on early morning vis at High Tatham. Juv female Scaup and Green Sandpiper Aldcliffe [& possibly intriguing phyllosc. spp with Goldcrests Freemans Wood this afternoon]. Massive gathering of 1,200 Black-tailed Godwit Warton floods. Great Grey Shrike still Dalton Crags - seen the last two mornings but information got no further than Leighton Moss sightings book. Common Sandpiper still Conder Pool. Ad Meds at Pine Lake late pm before flying to the Keer roost and also along Morecambe promenade by the Lifeboat Station

Purple Sandpiper highlight

Heysham Obs
Not a lot else, with a thrush arrival in the east of the area (e.g. High Tatham) not reaching here.

Coastal observations
Shag - juvs along the north harbour wall and by the harbour intake
Purple Sandpiper - one on the wooden jetty
Shelduck - 2 out
Twite - 43 on seed, at least 9 unringed & at least 30 with Heysham site rings from this year ........also one ringed 8-15 days ago at Askam on the Duddon

Vis mig
Skylark 1 N
Greenfinch 7 SW