Greetings from Machrihanish

Heysham Obs
A small pre-angler Twite catch (22 plus a Goldfinch) included a bird ringed this autumn on the Mull of Kintyre

This morning's male Brambling.  Thanks to John

Other sightings
Twite - c35
Linnet - 2
Goldfinch - 5
Pink-footed Goose - 160+38 S
Meadow Pipit - 5 SE, 3 on mound
alba Wagtail - 3 SE
Skylark - 6 SE
Whooper Swan - 8 + 3 SE
Woodpigeon - 13N
Jackdaw - 20N

More from Dan later who was doing VP nearby

Middleton NR
Jack Snipe - 1
Tufted Duck - 7, Teal - 3, Mallard 4, Little Grebe 4

Grounded first light on reserve
Fieldfare - 2 by office
Redwing - 6 by office
Chiffchaff - one giving collybita calls
Goldcrest - 2+
Chaffinch - c20

Insects
Ovipositing pair of Common Darter Middleton NR but no Migrant Hawker left

Mammal
Stoat on the north harbour wall am - went into sand compound - first record for SD36!!!

Ringing
Ringing comprised 22 Twite (14 new, one control, 4 retraps from autumn 2010, 3 retraps from previous winter periods), one Goldfinch, one male Brambling and three Greenfinch

Sorry about the systematic vis mig planned for today - thought best to take advantage of the early morning angler-free conditions re-Twite ringing.  Certainly no major thrush movements over here & just the one Whooper flock over the bay (no Pinks until very high flock at 1030 over reserve)

Elsewhere
Single Waxwing western end Thrushgill larch plantation late afternoon (to 1615hrs at least).  Female/imm Long-tailed Duck Jenny Brown's Point (see also Walney site)

Back on track?

Heysham Obs
The coverage is getting frayed at the edges as the weather doesnt exactly motivate (and the number of 'hits' to this site appear to be at their lowest-ever level).  It really is only the third week of October (but Walney pulled a Yellow-browed W out of the hat this morning!).  This seems to cover the whole western palearctic with Vincent Legrande spending yesterday afternoon asleep on Corvo as the easterlies we want dump such megas as House Martin.  At least there are some Rough-legs and Waxwings and hopefully some local Lap Bunts to look forward to this winter.  This morning saw a return to the cutting edge after yesterdays target tick-box dross, encouraged by it being a national vis mig day

Office 0800-1030hrs
Swallow - singles south 0920 and 0936 - dont think it was the same bird doing a circuit
Pink-footed Goose - flock of 75 SE 0958hrs
Coal Tit - 2 S
Song Thrush - just one south
Brambling - 1 south at 0850
Grey Wagtail - 1 heard (blogger?)
Greenfinch - absolute minimum of 38, mainly east
Dunnock - 2 high to the south at 0905 - late for fidgety behaviour here
alba Wagtail - just 3 SE
Meadow Pipit - 1+1+2+1 SE
Woodpigeon - flock of 5 SE
Fieldfare - ONE!!!! SW at 0908hrs
Goldfinch - 21 S
Chaffinch - absolute minimum of 65, mainly E

Grounded
Goldcrest - 2
Blackbird - only about 15
Redwing - 1!

North wall
Twite - 29
Linnet - 8
Goldfinch - 9
Shag - 1CY on the wooden jetty

Whip round

Heysham Obs
The usual suspects were in place today during a car-based 30 minute guillotine

Little Gull - ad on mud by Stage 2 outfall
Med Gull - 1CY patrolling the north wall (crunch time for this bird - several previous lingering 1CY's have disappeared at the end of October)
Arctic Tern - juv on Stage 2 outfall
Shag - 1CY on wooden jetty
Twite - just 13 seen this morning (6 ringed)
Linnet - 9 mound
Goldfinch - 4 mound
Rock Pipit - one OE foreshore
Blackbird - arrival of c40 on reserve
Song Thrush - c10 on reserve

Moths
Feathered Ranunculus (1), Red-line Quaker (3), Angle Shades (1), Pink-barred Sallow (1)

Summed up by a sheltering Shag

Heysham Obs
Freezing cold west-north-westerly this morning didnt produce anything obvious on the sea.  The longish-staying 1CY Shag had the right idea, cowering on the lee side of the rusty tower on the end of the wooden jetty

Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Med Gull - adult with well-defined masks joined round the nape - not familiar with this bird
Arctic Tern - juv Heysham 2 outfall
Little Gull - adult Red Nab
Grey Plover - 2 Red Nab

Harbour area/north wall/wooden jetty
Shag - 1CY wooden jetty at high tide
Twite - 27 (including 4 from previous seasons)
Linnet - c15
Goldfinch - c8

Heysham village
Goldcrest - 3 by Beech Stores in leylandii

Arctic Tern still hanging in

Heysham Obs
Alerted by Rob Thorpe's info that an Arctic Tern was still around on 17th (thanks Rob), todays search for flocks of Snow Buntings both grounded and overhead was abandoned as a birdless shivering zero in favour of ducks, waders, gulls and outfall checks.  Not very credible at a so-called migration site in October but better than expected!

Ocean Edge/Red Nab/outfalls on incoming tide
Twite - 5 by saltmarsh the ONLY grounded shoreline passerines other than a Robin!!!
House Sparrow - 2 in the Red Nab bushes may have been wanderers from the single family group by Ocean Edge reception
Arctic Tern - juvenile stage 2 outfall
Little Gull - adult Stage 2 outfall
Med Gull - yesterdays 2CY & 1CY & Ad
Wigeon - sharp increase to 64
Black-tailed Godwit - 2 - first (noticed!) for a bit
Bar-tailed Godwit - 7

North wall area
Twite - 13
Goldfinch - c8
Linnet - c14
Meadow Pipit - 2

HNR Office
10 minutes vis mig 0815-0825 revealed:
Chaffinch - 8 SW
Goldcrest in the bushes and a count of c5 in the bushes at lunchtime. 
Blackbird - much reduced numbers from yesterday - c15
Song Thrush - c5

Unfortunately the wind direction (NNW) is the worst for any ringing at Heysham and it was felt to be marginally unethical with the possibility of occasional gusts blowing birds around, so no nets were set, seemingly unlike everywhere else!  Even more unfortunately, the short-term forecast looks awful = not really good enough for seabirds (winds have to be VERY strong & consistently WSW/W in late October) but far too windy for any ringing/passerine movements

Late arrival reveals a Blackbird influx

Heysham Obs
First decent influx of continental Blackbirds today with 45-50 on a walk round the reserve area at lunchtime! 

Grounded around reserve at lunchtime
Redwing - 4
Song Thrush - 4
Blackbird - 45-50
Chaffinch - 10
Treecreeper - 1
Goldcrest - 2

North wall/harbour area (thanks to Sean for last two sightings)
Med Gull - ad & 1CY north wall, well-marked 2CY stage one outfall
Twite - 8 including at least 4 unringed and one pale blue/red-white and one ringed the other day
Linnet - 9 north wall
Goldfinch - 8 north wall
Meadow Pipit - 4 north wall - 2 in-off
Wren - one north wall - no other small passerines other than the resident two Robins
Skylark - one 'in-off'
Shag - 1CY roosting with Oystercatchers by the heliport on seawall
Merlin - female 'in-off' then over the wooden jetty & inland

Insects
Red Admiral butterfly by the officve and a nice pic of the only dragonfly seen today - a female Common Darter taken by Janet near Ocean Edge.  Thanks

Little to Report from a Brief Visit

Heysham
N Harbour Wall
Small Twite/Linnet flock on feeding area - Twite 3, Linnet 14, probably a few others around. All in windy and slightly drizzly conditions.
Med Gull - 1adult patrolling NHW.

Moths - Yellow-line Quaker in hut trap. This is only the second record here (although quite common and widespread elsewhere), the first being in 1996, I think.

ajd

Varied vis

Heysham Obs
Office area 0725-0925
Pink-footed Goose - 38 (f) N
Chaffinch - 154 SW, mostly before the cloud rolled in at about 0815hrs
Redwing - 45+2+6 SW
Song Thrush - 5+2+1+2+2 S, 14 out of bushes and east in singletons
Blackbird - little evidence of any new migrants
Reed Bunting - 2 S
Coal Tit - 4+6+4 S
Goldfinch - 2 S
House Sparrow/Richard's Pipit type call - twice very high heading south at 0850 but couldnt see bird
Skylark - 1 SE
Greenfinch - 7 SW
Linnet - 2 SW
Grey Wagtail - 1 SE
Common Buzzard - one high over Heysham village drifted NE
Jackdaw - flock of 89 S
Carrion Crow 5 (with Jackdaw)+2+1+2+3 purposefully south
Meadow Pipit - 2 SE
Brambling - 2 SW

Bits and bobs highlighted by adventurous Blue Tits!

Please could others update the site tomorrow and Monday.  Thanks

Heysham Obs
Vis mig & grounded reserve area
Just a trickle of 'conventional' vis
Chaffinch - 20 SW
Meadow Pipit - 8 SE
Song Thrush - c15 grounded on reserve (4 ringed & one escaped)
Robin - 4 new arrivals ringed
Blackbird - little evidence of fall & only 2 ringed
Blackcap - very heavy off-passage bird ringed
Goldcrest - quite a few first thing but only one ringed (10-15)
Redwing - c15 first thing
Pink-footed Goose - flock heard
alba wagtail - 5 SE
Blue Tit - flock of 25 high to the south over the mound, then the wheel!
Rock Pipit - one Heysham Head

Grounded on the mound & area
Song Thrush - 3
Dunnock - 2
Wren - 2
Meadow Pipit - 22
alba Wagtail - 5
Linnet - 39
Twite - 5 (including two birds ringed in previous years (red/white & blue/white)).   There is a posting on birdforum about Linnet/Twite at Heysham.  Could "DerekG" please contact me on PMrsh123@aol.com.  Thanks.
Wheatear - 1

Miscellaneous
Med Gull - 1CY railings, adult behind dredger
Shag - surprisingly a 1CY on jetty then flew into bay
Kingfisher - one reserve

Ringing
Redwing (2), Song Thrush (4), Kingfisher (1), Long-tailed Tit (2), Greenfinch (5), Chaffinch (2), Blackbird (2), Dunnock (1), Robin (4), Coal Tit (1), Blue Tit (1), Goldcrest (1), Wren (3), Blackcap (1).  Amazing lack of tit captures, given the number wandering around!

...........and now we look to the north-west

Heysham Obs
.....from whence come Whooper Swans, more Pinkfeet, belated Meadow Pipits and 'our' Scottish Twite.......& hopefully another Snow & Lap Bunt or two.  Tomorrow, however, will theoretically see the last 'corridor to Scandinavia', albeit a pretty weak one, for a bit and the radar & vis mig reports suggest a thrush passage tomorrow.  Work in north Cumbria today gave c1000 SW-bound thrushes (via the Tyne gap) in two hours over midday - about 5:4 Fieldfare:Redwing.  We'll see what happens here - it certainly wasnt at Thrushgill this evening

Office vis mig 0730-0800
Chaffinch - 6 SW
Song Thrush - 3 grounded, then inland
Blackbird - 5 grounded then inland
Redwing - 1 SW
Greenfinch - 2 SW

NHW mound area early morning
Meadow Pipit (5), alba Wagtail (7), Linnet (21), Twite (2), Wheatear (1), (continental) Blackbird (2), Rock Pipit (1), plus the two resident Robin.

Ringing
3 Twite and 8 (out of a flock of 14) Linnet caught by Alan Draper mid/late afternoon

Moths
A really good catch for here at this time of year comprising 17 Red-line Quaker, 9 Pink-barred Sallow, Large Wainscot, 4 Silver Y, Dark Chestnut, Parsnip Moth, 3 Epirrata spp, Common Marbled Carpet, 2 Mottled Umber, Feathered Thorn. The forecast suggests this might be twice as many moths as for the rest of the year put together!