False alarm

Heysham Obs
Trumacar stores
The billboard proclaimed: "Heysham school welcomes Siberian visitors". This was literally just after noting some nice juicy rowans fringing Trumacar school and earlier being in receipt of info. on the Arnside National School flock of 19 [see 'elsewhere']. A call to the media maestro, Jon Carter, resolved that it was indeed a teacher exchange with Siberia!

Harbour/North wall area
Linnet - 6 on the seed (one ringed)
Twite - just one unringed bird on the seed at lunchtime
Kittiwake - juv out at 1000hrs
Shag - 2 juv by the harbour waterfall
Med. Gull - adult

Ocean Edge & area
Twite - c50
Linnet - 3+

Observers: Pete Marsh & John Wood

Elsewhere
19 Waxwings Arnside National School on Church Hill (one apparently died hitting a window yesterday afternoon (when there were 12, as was the case first thing this morning)). No sign of the AGP at Cockersands but 2 adult Med Gulls coming to roost. Imm Long-tailed Duck on the Glasson canal just E of A588 along Mill Lane just below the lock by the childrens play area (until dusk).

Flying visit

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall
Ad Med on the mud

Ocean edge/outfalls/wooden jetty
"Twinnet" - 60ish OE saltmarsh & football pitch area
Med Gull - ad outfalls area
Shag - juv just about visible wooden jetty

Morning nature reserve circuit
Blackbird 20
Mistle Thrush 14
Redwing 9
Bullfinch 1M
Treecreeper 1
Long-tailed Tit c10 including 9 unringed birds

Observers: Lou Cross, Pete Marsh, Jean Roberts, John Wood

Elsewhere
Juv AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER (new species for LDBWS recording area, albeit perhaps the most widely-predicted (including by the finder!)) Cockersands early-mid afternoon. f/imm Long-tailed Duck still on canal just E of A588 bridge. 12 Waxwings Church Hill, Arnside late afternoon

Routine fare

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall
Med Gull - Czech-ringed ad

Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Med Gull - ad with quite a bit of black on the rear of the head feeding off OE at HT.
Wigeon - 59
'Twinnet' - at least 40 in the middle of OE saltmarsh

Wooden jetty/harbour
2-3 juv Shag commuting between intake & wooden jetty

Vis 1020-1130
Starling - 70 N in 4 flocks
Pink-footed Goose - 162 S in '3 lots' all at 1105hrs

Observers: Pete Marsh & John Wood

Elsewhere
At least two Chiffchaff still at Bentham sewage works, one collybita & one-two N/E birds. Rough-legged Buzzard reported over Warton Crag before 'landing in wood' at c1230hrs. Atleast one Waxwing mobile at Arnside. Long-tailed Duck still on Glasson 'arm' canal just SE of A588 road crossing

Dull, dank, dreary, drizzly, dead

Heysham Obs
A circuit of the non-operational land for the first time for a week saw no leftover Desert Wheatears - just the usual late autumn theme of "Long-tailed Tits accompanied by naff-all".

North harbour wall
Med Gull - Czech-ringed adult on railings
Shag - 2 juvs on wooden jetty (at least)
Twite - 58
Linnet - 3

Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Snipe - the star of the show with one on Red Nab and 6 on the open mudflats!
Little Egret - one on saltmarsh

Moth
Feathered Thorn

Elsewhere
Long-tailed Duck f/imm still along Lancaster Canal (Glasson arm) just SE of A588 - park at Mill Inn

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