Twite On Their Way Home

North Harbour Wall

Twite - 39.  Ringing session this morning caught 15 retraps, 17 new birds.  The 7 not caught were already ringed.  Until recently, virtually all the "local" birds were already ringed, today ~ half were new birds indicating movement through the area towards breeding grounds.
Linnet - 1 trapped.
Med Gull - no sign of any birds.  Did anyone else see any there or have they moved off?
Eider - 4 males

North Harbour Wall
Med Gull - 3 Adults
Twite - 46
Purple Sandpiper - 1 wooden jetty

These, the only reports so far.

Twite on the move

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall
Scaup - very distant flock of 2 males and three females - presumably the same as February?  Also 3 'dark smallish ducks' further out!
Great-crested Grebe - 17
Red-breasted Merganser - 14
Eider - 80+
Red-throated Diver - one
Purple Sandpiper - one underneath the wooden jetty with c20 Turnstone at low tide
Twite - 51, 32 were examined for rings and a total of 14 seen to be unringed (recently no more than 1-2).  Were these vis mig birds or a result of new birds at the presumably communal roost - almost certainly the latter.  We still dont know where these birds roost, but it seems to be south of Ocean Edge.
Med Gull - two adults, including Czech-ringed bird (thanks Mike)

Heysham NR
Meadow Pipit - 2 north - forgot about these
Goldfinch - 1 probably migrant north

Middleton IE (thanks Malcolm)
4 Mute Swan, 11 Coot, 7 Moorhen, 6 Mallard, 11 Tufted Duck, 3 Pochard, 3 Goldeneye, 2 Teal, one Little Grebe and a singing male Reed Bunting.  Perhaps surprisingly c/f elsewhere, no migrant Stonechats - one just to the east along the bypass fields

Elsewhere
20 Whooper Swan near Hornby, including darvic S53.  Great White Egret Leighton Moss, also 2 Cetti's Warbler & Bearded Tit in eight separate areas

Foggy constraint

.....put the lid on the early morning offshore observations

North harbour wall
Med Gull - two adults on the north wall, one Czech-ringed - both in full summer plumage
Twite - just 8 on the seed

Heysham NR
Green Woodpecker - one calling down Moneyclose Lane
Siskin - one north
Meadow Pipit - one north

Ocean Edge area
Black-tailed Godwit - 11 (unringed)
Knot - c3,200
Dunlin - c2,500
Bar-tailed Godwit - c1,200

Elsewhere
20 Whooper Swans along A683 just south of Hornby, including darvic S53.

Heavenly Siskin

Annual Report
30 copies of the 2009 Heysham Obs report have now been printed but still need ring binding with the colour front cover added.  They should be available early next week, or perhaps earlier, from the Heysham NR office or in a short time, when the necessary admin has been carried out, at Leighton Moss shop.  Thanks to Tony Moriarty and EDF/British Energy for printing

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall early morning low tide
A bit disappointing:
Siskin - heard twice high overhead
Red-throated Diver - 1
Twite - 32
Linnet - 1
Red-breasted Merganser - good count of 21

No high tide checks today

Heysham Nature Reserve
Green Woodpecker - by the entrance gate
Blue Tit - unringed bird trapped
Grey Wagtail - one high to the north
Reed Bunting - female by the feeder for a short time

Elsewhere
Great White Egret and single Avocet on Allen/EM Pools.  Smew Freemans Pool.

'Early' morning low tide rewards

Notice and apology
Anyone recently using the contact e-address for Reuben Neville by shading and right-clicking on properties has not been receiving the correct address.  The correct address was showing on the blog, but a false address was showing on the properties.  This was obviously the reason why e.g. the Sandwich Bay group could not get through on e-mail the other day and we are really sorry about that.  The address showing under links IS correct and is also now the one on properties!

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall
Whooper Swan - 22 on the sandflats to the north 0925hrs
Dark-bellied Brent Goose - two, at least one of them adult, flew past the wooden jetty, along the channel and landed on Aldren's Hedge skeer off Sunny Slopes at 0905hrs
Red-throated Diver - one early on, then two later floating in
Eider - 105 visible at low tide
Red-breasted merganser - 10
Great-crested Grebe - 7
Wigeon - flock of 54 floated into the bay - not the Red Nab birds
Pink-footed Goose - 60 south 0850hrs
Purple Sandpiper - 2 on wooden jetty
Twite - c50 - 32 examined on the ground contained two unringed & the regular Askam bird.  Please view these birds ONLY from the road.  Thanks.
Grey Wagtail - one north - the first migrant this year
Med Gull - 2 adults

South side
Black-tailed Godwit - 2
Wigeon - 71
Med Gull - one adult Red Nab, then flew south

Elsewhere
Male Snow Bunting Teal Bay 0930ish but disappeared south.  An unringed Great White Egret is now back at Leighton; in front of Jackson hide during the day and roosting at 1728hrs in the evening (the ringed bird of last autumn/early winter is now near Cardiff).  A visit to Thrushgill plantation gave 35 minutes without seeing or hearing a bird - is this a record for daylight hours in this area in recent times?

Unringed Dunnock shock

Heysham Obs
That epitome of mass migration, an unringed Dunnock, graced a single net round before wind and facilitation with a very pleasant 32-strong group from Sandwich Bay Obs took over

North wall/wooden jetty etc.
Twite - 3 appeared as soon as the food put down
Linnet - 2 as above
Meadow Pipit - one 'in-off' then landed on mound - first evidence of any migration
Purple Sandpiper - two on the lower tiers of the jetty
Turnstone - 78 (possibly +) on the jetty
Med Gull - 3 adults after anglers scraps (1 Czech-ringed)
Nothing obvious far offshore but a bit choppy

Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Jack Snipe - 2 on saltmarsh (per SBO group)
Snipe - 3+ on saltmarsh but many probably already displaced by 10m tide

Middleton IE
Pochard (8), Goldeneye (3) on model boat pond plus a gentleman with an appropriate John Terry-like miscreant mohican slinging a ball into the water for two collies to chase.  Amazingly the ducks stayed on in the NW corner

Heysham N Reserve
Green Woodpecker in the tank farm early afternoon plus the aforementioned unringed Dunnock!

Elsewhere
Smew still on Freeman's Pool.  94 Skylark (min count) & 8 Rock Pipit in/alongside maize stubble at river end of Overton-Colloway marsh mud track

Dog trouble at the Twite feeder

Heysham Obs
A pile of excrement amongst the nyger, followed by prolonged exercising of two collies today.  Hopefully temporary.  Very quick late afternoon visit today after some superb teashirt walking/surveying in flat-calm, sunny weather in the snow this morning/lunchtime near the Tan Hill.  The waders are really pawing the ground on the lower slopes as the snow cover goes on & on!

North harbour wall
No Twite!
Med Gull - 2 adults, including Czech ringed bird - these will probably be off this week, so last date of the Czech bird would be useful.  Thanks.
Red-throated Diver - two offshore
Purple Sandpiper - at least one silhoeutted on the wooden jetty

Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Black-tailed Godwit - 3 unringed birds in the saltmarsh creek
Kingfisher - one alongside the saltmarsh creek
Med Gull - adult on the mudflats to the south

Shoveler adrenalin

Heysham Obs
Shoveler made their first appearance since 2008 to join a good selection of wildfowl on Middleton IE

Middleton IE (now named Middleton Nature Reserve (LWT))
Shoveler - pair, 8 Pochard, 11 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe, 4 Mute Swan, 12 Coot, 9 Moorhen, 10 teal, 3 Goldeneye.
Pink-footed Goose - 43 NW

Ocean Edge a bit too late in high tide
Jack Snipe - 1
Snipe - 3
Wigeon - 78

North Harbour Wall 8am
4 Mute Swan (2 adult, 2 imms - from Middleton?) flew across the Bay towards Grange
3 Red-breasted Mergansers flew into the Bay
32 Twite - one unringed and the rest with Heysham rings.

.........dropping tide mid-pm
Med Gull - two adults, including Czech-ringed bird, on anglers scraps
Red-throated Diver - one in Kent channel in 5 minute scan
Of interest, what was almost certainly a Shag was also miles out in the Kent channel but it took flight and id confidence was not 100% (size, round wings & fast flap & not a lot else!!).  Several have been round Walney all winter but very scarce this last autumn/winter this side with no 'stickers'

Elsewhere
20 Whooper Swan (4 juv) right next to the A683 road just south of Hornby (including the wintering darvic-ringed bird S53 - please dont create extra admin sending this to WWT yourself).  Two singing male Cetti's Warbler Leighton Moss causeway.  Egyptian Goose still Hillam Lane.   Common Sandpiper still Conder.

A good vis day

............means Red-throated Diver within range

North harbour wall
Twite - 37, including Askam-ringed bird (yellow over dark blue/white); 1/15 examined was unringed
Purple Sandpiper - 2 on wooden jetty
Red-throated Diver - 5 seen offshore in 15 minutes of dropping tide (4 floating, 1 flying out) 1300-1315hrs (no GCG at this stage of the tide)
Med Gull - Czech-ringed adult on the railings

Ocean Edge/Red Nab
No obvious sign of any Blackwits or anything of specific interest
Wigeon - 92

Ringing by the office
Just single unringed Greenfinch & Blue Tit & retrap Greenfinch from last autumn.....before the niggling n-easterly got up

Middleton IE
Just a quick check of the first two ponds.  Looks like a mini Coot/swan/seagull feeding area is developing with about 20 lingering gulls. Looking good for a bit of ring-reading!
Pochard - 8 (7 males) on model boat pond
Goldeneye - 2 on model boat pond
Tufted Duck - at least 12 on no swimming pond

Elsewhere
Redhead Smew still Freeman's Pool.  20 Whooper Swan just south of Hornby by side of A683 for at least 2nd day.  Egyptian Goose still Hillam Lane by pool