A good morning at the local patch

Heysham Observatory
This morning was an excellent example of what goes on if you have a local patch and you are an imperfect birder and why having your own is just great for getting the most out of your birding!   The morning had its 'RSPB moment', a very definite 'Heysham moment', a Mainwaring/Pyke 'stupid boy' piece of misidentification, a sensible decision not to go for the third blank morning in a row with the mist nets, a disappearing 'v-shaped' large raptor, a completely unexpected Wren-fest.....and no sign of the targeters target.  The 'Heysham moment' comprised the second seawatch shift which saw asphyxiation by a lurid green rust bucket called Maersk Importer, a few seagulls and some unidentified auks.  The 'RSPB-moment' occurred early on when there was a good movement of Kittiwakes, including a swirling flock of 80 close enough to hear the multiple calls as per Bempton cliffs.  The observer also works for the RSPB.

North harbour wall in two-person shifts 0730-0900, 0900-1030
Kittiwake - not possible to be sure of exact figures as early morning coverage was in the fog but it included a flock of c101 and 80.  Two other flocks were heard but not seen in the fog.  As the fog lifted so did the Kittiwakes which had floated in as far as the yellow buoys.  As per the terns they circled higher and higher until lost again in the cloud, presumably heading north east.
Sandwich Tern - just 2 - the only terns
Razorbill - one floated in
Auk spp - three flew out
Purple Sandpiper - one under jetty
Turnstone - 122+ under jetty
Great-crested Grebe - 5
Red-breasted Merganser - 2
Whimbrel - one in
Redpoll sp - flock of 6 NE plus 8 others
Swallow - 8 NE
Meadow Pipit - 20 NE
alba Wagtail - 5 NE
Goldfinch - 6 NE

 No sign Black Guillemot

Nature reserve CBC & vis
Little Grebe - the first record for the Obs Tower pond involved a calling pair.  In retrospect, the muffled "odd trilling noise" heard the other day - dismissed as a strange Great Tit - was exactly this - the excuse being that I had forgotten there was a pond there!  A great record for the Business challenge
Grey Wagtail - one very late migrant NE - adding to the rather time-warped vis this morning (e.g. a minor re-surge of Meadow Pipits, lack of terns plus the Kitt passage being more like late March)
Meadow Pipit - 24 NE
alba Wagtail - 5 NE
Goldfinch - 11 NE
Linnet - 16 NE
Marsh Harrier/Common Buzzard - probably the former glimpsed in disappearing silhoeutte (NE) pursued by gulls at about 0840hrs
Wren - after just one, then two, then three singing males appearing, the latter during the last week, this morning saw NINE singing males scattered around the reserve.  It was not a brilliant morning for song (frosty) and these were all singing pretty continuously apart from the long-stayer by the office.  I would suspect that these have just infilled vacant suitable habitat in the last day or so, hence the continuous song.  Ringing has revealed a small but significant movement of Wrens during mid-late April.  These birds were not there previously in non-singing mode.  I wonder if they will all stay and how many were actually paired up this morning?
Willow Warbler - just one burst of song from a presumed passage bird on a circuit of the reserve
Chiffchaff - just two singing males on the reserve, one wide-ranging & continuous, suggesting not paired
Blackcap - just two singing males on the reserve CBC circuit - below par

Middleton IE
Singing single Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat but no Groppers as yet

Ground Level

No reports of the Black Guillemot today.  Whaaaat!  Just checked the tally counter & 800+ visits to this site in c36 hours c/p usual c100/day - surely not the due to a Black Guillemot!!!   Thanks very much to people who covered the sea this morning and to Tom & Mick for posting the sightings

Please note that I lost my mobile phone yesterday evening and therefore SIM cancelled.  Please text/ring Jean Roberts re-any sightings/work issues.  Thanks. Pete

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall 0640-1030
Red-throated Diver     14 Kent Channel  incl groups of 6 and 4
Red-b Merganser        12
Eider                            7
Teal                             5 and 6 on sea then in (mega!)
Sandwich Tern             20
Linnet                           5
Redpoll sp                    2
Whimbrel                     5
Meadow Pipit              3
Swallow                      4

Mammals
Grey Seal                    1

Red-l Partridge!!!!       1 calling from an area south of the south round head, presumably within th PS perimeter fence. Counting this for the BTO Business challenge is on a par with Eagle Owl listing, but we'll have a try at getting away with it!  Presumably the bird seen in suburban Heysham a few days ago.

Its back!

Heysham Obs
Interesting sky with no vapour trails, but some nice volcanic dust shapes, including what appeared to be huge 'v' sign, presumably relating to the money our  northern friends owe us.  Bits of vis but no evidence of any grounded stuff in pretty clear weather

Black Guillemot - this returned about 0930hrs & sat in the harbour mouth, disappeared mid-morning bit seen again late afternoon

Vis mig/sea combo (most of Meadow Pipit & Goldfinch cutting across via natgure reserve, rest from NHW), vis heading NE
Sandwich Tern - 38
Arctic Tern - 16
Red-throated Diver - 2
Gannet - 17
Whimbrel - 1 (IOY)
Kittiwake - 44
Common Scoter - 1
alba Wagtail - 6
Goldfinch - 64
Linnet - 47
Lesser Redpoll - 22
Carrion Crow - 4 in-off
Meadow Pipit - 29
Sparrowhawk - 2 high to NE
Swallow - 4
Purple Sandpiper - one with c50 Turnstone on wooden jetty
Guillemot - 2 on sea
Razorbill - 1 on sea

Hopefully some coverage whilst the regular observers are away tomorrow morning & we are not too 'gripped off'!

North-East winds and Arctic terns

Heysham Obs
One was belatedly reported yesterday, but the first (small-scale) movement of my favourite migration event in this area, the Arctic tern passage, began today on the early-morning low/incoming tide.  No Wheatear on thorough coastal trawl

North harbour wall 0640-0920
Arctic Tern - 1+1+2+8+11+2 north-east= 'in', all but the first group of  two at a low level in a quite strong headwind
Sandwich Tern - 52 'in' plus low single figures blogging to the south of the harbour
Gannet - 14 in, 6 out plus 8 'u-turning in the mouth of the bay
Razorbill - 2 on water
Razorbill/Guillemot - 5 'in'
Red-breasted Merganser - 8 on water together
(no Red-throats or scoters, small passage of Black-headed & Common Gulls)
Linnet - 24 NE - up to 17 on the Twite(less) food
alba Wagtail - just one NE
Meadow Pipit - 10 NE
Lesser Redpoll - 2 NE

Ocean Edge foreshore
Redshank - 220
Dunlin - 33
Black-tailed Godwit - 11
Common Gull - 74
Black-headed Gull - 38
Eider - 8

First Arctic Tern

Male Lesser Redpoll taken by John Mason

Heysham obs
North Harbour Wall
0700-0800
1 Arctic tern
12 distant Sandwich Terns
1 Reed Bunting NE
1 Meadow Pipit at the sand plant
NO TWITE

Nature Reserve
4 Redpoll (of a group of at least 9), including an adult male (see above pic) and 1 Willow Warbler ringed.  Chiffchaff calling.

Heysham Head & Barrows – 07.40hrs.-08.30hrs. Sunny but cold, little breeze.
10-12 Greenfinches & 20-30 Linnets in gorse bushes. 5+ singing Wrens. Song Thrush singing near castellated wall again but further down slope. 5-6 pairs Blackbird – no singing. 2-3 pairs Dunnock. C.25 Meadow Pipits flying over NE. C.15 Curlews near Throbshaw Point

Late Whoopers

Heysham North Harbour Wall
0700-0800


Beautiful weather, sunny, blue sky, excellent visibility - but hardly any birds to see!  The main sighting was a raft of 35 Whooper Swans floating into the Bay.
8 Sandwich Terns were also seen plus
11 Red-breasted Mergansers
3 Great-crested Grebe (a displaying pair and one other)
78 Eider visible


Vis - almost non-existent:
Lesser Redpoll 3
Linnet 1


Grounded
1 Meadow Pipit


Feeding station
Only 9 Twite today (including an unringed bird).  


Ringing
male Blackcap and Chaffinch


Elsewhere
Golden Eagle seen in the Langden Valley.  Osprey over Leighton Moss early morning.

Redpoll passage continues

Heysham

Nature reserve
Very short ringing session resulted in:
Willow Warbler - 2
Chiffchaff - 1
Robin - 1

North Harbour Wall
0650-0850
Redpoll sp 24
Linnet 15
Goldfinch 6
Chaffinch 1
Meadow Pipit 52
alba wagtail 7
Swallow 5
Sand Martin 6
Carrion Crow 1

Wooden Jetty
Still around 100 Turnstone and 1 Purple Sandpiper

Feeding station
c45 Twite still hanging on in there

At sea
Red-throated Diver 1 in
Sandwich Tern 10

The Sandwich Terns were behaving like Arctic Terns and, after feeding for a while and having a rest on the buoys, they started to call madly and circled up higher and higher until lost in the cloud, presumably heading NE overland.  They acted like this on Friday as well.

Other areas
The (literally) big news was a White-tailed Eagle over Leighton Moss.  An Osprey was also reported from there this morning as well (NB the use of the word "reported" here doesn't mean I'm doubting the record, it just means that someone reported one and put it in the book at the Moss).
Jean

145 metres from the King Canute tribute act

NO Wheatears seen in comprehensive coastal coverage!

Heysham Obs
A small flurry of migrants this morning, especially Lesser Redpoll - mostly early on - and a motionless sub-adult male standing in the water off Ocean Edge for at least 20 minutes whilst the sea lapped around his ankles.  Using the survey maps from earlier this year, the 274 Redshank flock he bisected kept pretty well exactly 145m away either side.  I dont think he was the start of a new version of Crosby beach.  North wall & reserve vis, as usual, involved different birds heading NE

Ocean Edge 0820-0840
Redshank - 274
Black-tailed Godwit - 5
Bar-tailed Godwit - 13

North harbour wall 0710-0850 (vis NE)
Linnet - 5
Meadow Pipit - 18
Goldfinch - 11
Sandwich tern - 17
Lesser Redpoll - 18
alba Wagtail - 4
Common Scoter - 16 in, 25 out
Gannet - 2 adults in
Red-breasted Merganser - 2
Purple Sandpiper - one on jetty with Turnstone

Heysham Nature Reserve (vis very intermittent 0705 to about 0830)
Willow Warbler - at least 4 migrants early on & one ringed later
Meadow Pipit - just 11 NE (1 ringed)
Lesser Redpoll - at least 30 NE (13 ringed)
Chiffchaff - 2 ringed
Blackcap - 2 males ringed
Goldfinch - 15 NE
Linnet - 17 NE
Swallow - 2 NE

'Seen-from'
Marsh Harrier female north towards Heysham Moss over the bypass at 1030hrs

Butterflies
Peacock (4), Small Tortoiseshell (4), Comma, Speckled Wood, Brimstone (2)

Middleton IE/Red Nab area
Singing birds included:  11 Chiffchaff, 4 Willow Warbler & Blackcap

Another Wheatearless mixed bag

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall 0700-0830
Lesser Redpoll - 4+NE
Red-throated Diver - 5 & 3 late morning
Sandwich tern - 19, with 10 still around the buoys late morning
Canada Goose - flock of 4
Twite - c60 early morning, just one unringed bird seen
alba Wagtail - 5 NE
Meadow Pipit - just 29 NE
Linnet - 14 NE, others later with Twite
Goldfinch - 5 NE
Common Scoter - 6 in then landed
Sand Martin - 1 NE
Siskin - 2 NE

Heysham NR office and area
Not a lot of time this morning and late with it, therefore the vis was very intermittently logged, even for just 0730-0900hrs
Dunnock - unringed bird caught (unusual)
Meadow Pipit - 62 NE (3 ringed)
Goldfinch - 21 NE
Swallow - 2 NE
alba Wagtail - 2 NE
Lesser Redpoll - 1 NE
Woodpigeon - flock of 12 rather confused and ended up heading SW (also seen north wall)
Willow Warbler - singing male by classroom
Jay - one 'intruder', possibly a migrant, chased off by the local bird

Moths
The Hebrew Character total reached a giddy 17, but 'only' 14 other moths this morning

Mammals
Rabbit in the bottom shelf of a mist net for a short period.  Grey Squirrel on Moneyclose Lane & apparent drey located

Elsewhere
Osprey north over Skerton Weir early morning

A case of what might have been

Heysham Obs
A couple of very distant 'things' in flight up the Kent channel seemed to suggest one of the smaller grebes with (sp) Slav the most likely candidate.  Otherwise a reasonable hour of variety on the sea.  Lets kickstart things by suggesting the Black Guillemot is not going to return (worked with booming Bittern!!)

North harbour wall 0730-0830
Gannet - 12 in then out
Whooper Swan - flock of 20 north
Red-throated Diver - 3 out one in
Red-breasted Merganser - 2 out
Kittiwake - flock of 26 in
Razorbill - 4 on the sea
Common Scoter - 27 in
Sandwich Tern - 2
Meadow Pipit - 27 NE
Lesser Redpoll - 2 NE
Linnet - 5 NE
Chaffinch - 2 NE
Goldfinch - 1 NE
alba Wagtail - 2 NE
Twite - still c60

Reserve by office 0730-0900
Chiffchaff - one ringed and at least 2 other migrants
Green Woodpecker - first thing
Meadow Pipit - c55 NE
Goldfinch - 11 NE
Swallow - 1 NE
alba Wagtail - 6 NE
Great & Blue Tit - unringed singles quite unusual at this time of year

Moths
Pretty decent catch with what might be record (!) numbers of Clouded Drab for here - never been common:  Hebrew Character (13), Clouded Drab (12), Common Quaker (12), March Moth (4), Shoulder Stripe (1), Diurnea fagella (1)