Early return or early passage?

Heysham Obs
The main news today was an early Purple Sandpiper on the wooden jetty with c40 Turnstone (thanks Sean)

Other stuff seen during the morning by John (early) & Sean (incoming tide):
Wheatear - three north wall
Med Gull - ad north wall
Little Gull - ad outfalls
Kittiwake - 4 juvs still hanging around but more mobile/offshore than yesterday
Swallow - 30-40 blogging/south
Knot - singleton still around

Early morning by the office (too windy from the wrong direction for ringing)
Tree Pipit - 2 together south
Meadow Pipit - one south
Swallow - 4 south
Willow Warbler - 2
Whitethroat - 2

First full wing formula of the year!

Heysham Obs
Grounded migrants
............the 'usual' wing formula at places which don't catch many rarities, a check on an 'out of habitat' migrant Reed Warbler in the HNR office nets.  Even if it was in the reedbed at Middleton, should really check all of them at this time of year

A handful of migrant phylloscs around the NR office (at least four Chiffchaff and two Willow Warbler) but the only presumed newly-arrived sylvia was a single Whitethroat, with two off-passage birds also caught (one with fat score of 4) and there were very few 'tacks' and 'churrs' in the brambles compared to last week

One of the things about an excellent month for ringing, reflecting good productivity, has been the unprecedented late summer/early autumn total of 65 Greenfinch, with very few retraps.  Most of these have been young birds, with quite a variation in the stage of moult from juvenile to first winter body feathers, reflecting first, second or even perhaps third broods.  This species has been at a very low ebb in recent times due to the virus (see e.g. BTO website)

Vis
Non-existent early on, other than a trickle of House Martin and Swallow amounting to no more than 6 & 15 respectively, all casually noted moving south late morning

Coastal stuff (thanks to Derek Gifford)
Little Gull - moulting adult outfalls
Med Gull - either 2nd summer moulting to adult winter or first summer moulting to second winter (stage of primary moult not clearly seen)
Sandwich Tern - one off outfalls
Kittiwake - 7 of yesterdays juveniles were still hanging about off the north harbour wall/outfalls
Cormorant - 52
Dunlin - 2 Red Nab
Knot - one Red Nab
Swallow - 20 or so blogging

Butterfly census around the reserve
Highlighted by three Wall Brown with possibly another seen casually near the office.  Also confirmation that many late summer butterflies had been trashed by the recent weather with just two Gatekeeper seen, although Meadow Brown comprised 36 worn individuals.  Three each of Brimstone and Small Copper were also seen

A few seabirds and trashed insects

Heysham Obs
A degree or two too far to the north west early on, then several degrees too far to the north-west after the mid-morning prolonged squall/cold trough/front.  As a result, a handful of stuff in off their own bat early on, then the rest probably dragged into the bay by various Fleetwood/Heysham-bound boats

Offshore/transient seabirds (thanks to Tom & Mick Wilmer for the later stuff)
Bonxie (Great Skua) - one distantly in about 0815hrs
Manx Shearwater - one across the mouth of the bay about 0835hrs
Gannet - one out 0820hrs, 2 later
Kittiwake - 3 juvs in the harbour early on, then up to 30 milling around the harbour mouth after the squall - unusual in recent Augusts
Fulmar - 4 out after the squall
Common/Arctic Tern - one rapidly and distantly out was amazingly the only tern seen

Outfalls
Little Gull - ad
Med Gull - ad
Mute Swan - pair on Red Nab - check this isnt a new BTO challenge species!

North harbour wall
2 Ad Med Gulls (including Czech bird) early on

Moths
A pretty trashed stunningly unremarkable catch, plus a similarly battered Meadow Brown seen in the field

Udea lutealis and Meadow Brown suffering in the weather.  Thanks Janet

CES and opening heavens

****Worth seawatching tomorrow morning if the forecast goes to plan this time!

Heysham Obs
The short-range forecast prompted both the Heysham & Middleton CES this morning in the supposed 'weather window'.  Oh yeh! We were very lucky indeed to get away with it, with a constant watch on clouds which seemed to be changing direction all the time.  Indeed, conditions were so localised that Middleton actually got away with just one small pulse of rain before the heavens opened just after the end of the CES time period (0630-0930) with all but one of the nets taken down.  Heysham NR unfortunately suffered a slightly earlier downpour (nets temporarily furled) and then six wet (already closed) nets as the rain hammered down during 'take down'.  At Middleton we decided to quickly take the nets down ahead of a Long-tailed Tit flock & entrails and this was the correct decision [you are allowed to carry on ringing after the CES time period, but the birds are not included in the CES statistics]

It was a very difficult morning to assess as there have not been any recent morning ringing visits to Middleton to know what might have been lingering.  There was certainly a mass clear-out of Whitethroat/Lesser Whitethroat by Heysham office and this was reflected in the poor CES catch there (irrespective of the interruptions).  At Middleton, on the other hand, there appeared to be a small fall of Whitethroat species!

Middleton IE CES/vis
Grey Wagtail - 2 SE
Swallow - 28 SE (& 12 ringed)
Tree Pipit - one appeared to land in the centre of the western marsh
Whinchat - fem/imm first thing in the western marsh
Whitethroat - 7 ringed
Lesser Whitethroat - 3 ringed
Sedge Warbler - just 2 ringed
Blackcap - one ringed
Willow Warbler - just one bird heard calling!
Chiffchaff - two birds seemed to drop out of the sky first thing & one was caught & ringed

North harbour wall
Med Gull - 2 adults (one Czech-ringed)

Moths

Crescent caught at a sheet & light session at Middleton (technically yesterday) - first record for SD45.  Phoenix the best in the HNR trap.  Thanks John

Slum weaver sensation

Heysham Obs
HNR Office area
A good wind direction allowed the top two nets next to the office and these helped to reinforce the impressions over the last three days that there are a lot of Common Whitethroat moving though (10-15 this morning, 5 ringed) and 3-4 Lesser Whitethroat are in vocal residence(? - at least two unringed this morning) in the brambles just north of the office.  Willow warblers, however, were at a premium this morning with just two heard, a big downturn on the last few days. Also:

House Sparrow - Juvenile ringed - the first for at least a millenium and a decade 
Grey Wagtail - first of the autumn south
Meadow Pipit - 4 south-east
Swallow - 35 SW
Sand Martin - one SW

Middleton IE
Tufted Duck - one
Wall Brown - one

Coastal sites (thanks Mark & Malcolm)
Med Gull - three adults outfalls area
Little Gull - winter ad on mudflats off OE
Little Egret - one OE saltmarsh creek
Sandwich Tern - one far offshore
Wheatear - one OE

Rapid whizz round

Heysham Obs
Office area 
Lesser Whitethroat (2), Whitethroat (4), Willow Warbler (5), Chiffchaff (2)

Ocean Edge/outfalls/Red Nab
Little Gull - moulting adult
Med Gull - adult
Little Egret - one OE saltmarsh channel
Raven - two picking at unidentified soggy object on the beach off OE - first time Ravens have been seen on the beach here as far as I am aware

North wall
Dire with not even any Med Gulls

Moths
Smallish catch did include the first (migrant) Rusty Dot Pearl of the year

Spartan meal deal

Heysham Obs
One Sandwich (Tern) and a Black-tailed Godwit was all that was on offer just after high tide off Ocean Edge/outfalls area.   Redshank counted in at 275.

Links
A bit slow to change the sidebars these days - will get round to overhauling them soon.  I had actually forgotten how to add a link, its so long ago!  Please have a look at Bryan Yorke's Blog which has been added today - sorry I did not realise it existed, Bryan, or would have been added much earlier.  Nice poem about the Dalton Crags Grey Grey Shrike.

Magpie highlight!

Juvenile Common Whitethroat, recently ringed by the NR office, seen today by Janet.  Thanks

Heysham Obs
Ocean Edge foreshore
Med Gull - adult winter am & pm, juvenile pm
Dunlin - 6
Whimbrel - one
Little Egret - one
No sign adult Little Gull

Heysham NR office area
Too windy for ringing, but quite a few common migrants around including 6 Whitethroat, 3 Willow Warbler and a Lesser Whitethroat

Moths
A Magpie moth was a rare visitor to this site.  A late Straw Underwing was unusual.

Somewhat Anomalous

Anomalous, Heysham NR trap.  Thanks John

Heysham Obs
Anomalous in the moth trap this morning - first SD45 record and first in VC60 for two years.  Most recent records from Gaitbarrows or occasional ones up the Lune valley/tributaries/Birkbank, with one in an east Lancaster garden facing Birkbank.  Also Toadflax Pug

Grounded migrants
Quite a bit around the office and two nets were erected at 0900ish and produced 4 x Willow Warbler & 2 x Whitethroat in 3 quick rounds along with yet another wadge of young Greenfinches (getting on for 50 ringed so far this autumn, a definite revival in fortunes).  c20 Swallow were casually recorded flying south

Power walking circuit

Heysham Obs
The moth trap light was accidentally left off last night - a bit of a disaster as pre-frontal weather is excellent for moths.  A walk 'around the Power Stations' from the office via the harbour/seawall/nature park/dog track & back to the office produced the following

Med Gull - ad behind ferry, juv on the mudflats
Little Gull - ad on the mudflats
Whitethroat - one in the rosebay on the south harbour wall - looks good for migrants this area as does the increasingly vegetated mound/Twite area on the other side of the harbour, also about 6 heard elsewhere
Lesser Whitethroat - one by the ofice
Wheatear - one by the wheel
Willow Warbler - 18 heard

Rather unfortunate scenario where the old metal hide used to be (and indicating the reasons for removing it) - masses of discarded fishing line, copy of the Sun, 21 lager cans, 5 fag packets, two lots of excrement and, perhaps appropriately, a discarded high-blood-pressure tablet packet