Brilliant Jack Snipe!

Heysham Obs
Whilst scoping some Linnets on the high tide shingle beach at Ocean Edge, a bouncing Jack Snipe was noted walking slowly up the beach towards the only sizeable rock.  As it neared this rock, a second sleeping bird was seen to be already there!

Ocean edge foreshore
Jack Snipe - two as above
Linnet - 13
Grey Plover - 3
Skylark - 3 together on shingle beach

North harbour wall/wooden jetty
Purple Sandpiper - at least one, possibly two but very mobile
Med Gull - the usual two adults (one Czech-ringed) by the anglers
Twite - c40

Elsewhere
No sign of the Shorelark but has anyone checked the shingle beach at Crag Bank on the other side of the Keer?  Yellowhammer Hutton Roof Crag

Innumerate foggy geese

Heysham Obs
Skylark - at least two SE over reserve but couldnt see them
Pink-footed Goose - either hundreds, thousands or tens over the reserve but couldnt see whether the same ones were going round in circles, or work out the direction!
Twite - 46 early morning, 45 later
Brambling - two office feeders early morning but flew off
Med Gull - two adults (including Czech bird) hanging around the anglers
Rock Pipit - one flew over the heliport towards Heysham Head c1230hrs

Cannon-netting at the heliport
This was an extremely well-organised operation by Richard du Feu and included many local ringers, including the Fylde Ringing Group.

207 Oystercatchers cannon-netted on the heliport late morning.  The weights generally appear to be very good and the number that had not completed their primary moult was very low. This ties in with the low numbers of birds found dead in the bay this winter which are normally birds that have failed to complete their moult (c/p 15 in just 4.5km of shoreline checked following a later spell of severe weather in early 2010).  The lack of a national increase in wader ringing recoveries (BTO pers comm) and a detailed intertidal study off Ocean Edge just prior to Christmas suggested that the waders were able to cope with frozen inner shore (or indeed snow-covered on the (neap tide) morning of 18th Dec).  There was some obvious displacement to (at the very least) nearby intertidal areas which were further from the shore and subject to longer 'defrosting' by tidal incursion  (similar 'evacuation' also noted by the observers in the Glasson area of the Lune estuary), but neither large-scale mortality, nor observation of excessively tame, 'arthritic' waders.  The obvious logic is that early winter severe weather, when birds are theoretically 'stronger and fitter', does not impact as greatly as post-New year spells.

Back to the Oystercatchers:
Out of ten birds already bearing rings, one was a Grampian bird. Ringed as an adult on 27/3/10 at an inland spring roost near Tarland and, as the date suggests, this is inconclusive as to whether it was a prospective local breeder or a migrant heading further north (presumably not an overshoot from a more southerly breeding site!).  Thanks to Richard & Raymond Duncan for this info.

Other retraps were ringed at Heysham as follows
2x 01/02/2006

4x 01/02/2010
3x 12/12/2008

The 207 birds were made up of:  181 were full adults, 9 hatched in 2009, 17 hatched in 2010

Short ringing session by the office (whilst finishing off the abovementioned intertidal report!) produced very little other than two unringed Robins and a very active welcome retrap Wren

Other sightings.
Pinkfoot were constantly calling from just above the mist between 9am & 1pm above Middleton Nature Reserve and Harbour South Wall area. The impression was that this was largely the same flocks trying to find a suitable place to land. Caught a few glimpses through the gloom, the largest flock seen was c250. There were c150 on the mud off Ocean Edge calling to the overhead birds.
Also on Ocean edge:
14 teal (come here when ponds are frozen)
2 bar tailed godwit
2 black tailed godwit
Stoat – This appeared to be moving young to safe ground (rocks on foreshore) ahead of the rising tide. But it seems too early in the year, it could have being moving an earlier kill (rat?).
Middleton Nature Reserve (only small pockets of open water and limited visibility due to fog)
2 mute
5 coot
2 moorhen
4 mallard
18 redwing
(MD)

The rites of spring

Heysham Obs
This was going on at Middleton NR today!  Thanks Janet

North harbour wall area
Twite - c30 at dawn, 42 later
Med Gull - two adults
Purple Sandpiper - just one during lengthy vigil (thanks Sean)
Black-tailed Godwit - one off the north wall - very unusual north of the wooden jetty

Apologies for another blank day

The only ornithological titbit from Heysham today was the fact that the calm sea kept the Oystercatcher roost on the seawall instead of the heliport grass!

Where have all the Moorhen gone?

Please could anyone visiting the Heysham area tomorrow either post on here, e-mail me the stuff or put on LDBWS site.  Thanks.

Heysham Obs
Malcolm had a nil Moorhen return on Middleton at the w/e, despite a previous week of wet, soggy and warm weather and a significant return by other wildfowl and Heysham NR was similarly devoid of any waterbird (of any sort) action this afternoon

Hey Nat Res Office area
Coal Tit - two unringed birds caught - most surprising at this time of year
Brambling - one at the feeder earlyish morning only
Siskin - 9 south at midday and one south mid pm
A walk around the reserve mid-pm included the following: 2 Wren, 5 Blackbird, 3 Song Thrush, 4 singing Great Tit, 2 singing Dunnock, 3 singing Robin, 3 Bullfinch

North harbour wall
Just 5 Twite seen on a morning visit but the mound was not walked.  No other observations

Update tomorrow

Sorry no postings today so far

Winter gnats have a ball

Heysham Obs
A quick walk round the reserve saw loads of 'winter gnat' type things but a paucity of non-tit insectivores to eat them with just 4 singing Robin, one Wren and three (non-singing) Dunnock.  Best was a Reed Bunting which then flew over to the golf course

North harbour wall first thing
Twite - 36 on the seed and a further 24 nearer the harbour mouth
Linnet - just one
Med Gull - Czech-ringed adult

No sign of Purple Sandpipers or anything offshore on the fairly calm sea, but visibility not so good after 3/4 mile

No moths

Vis
Pink-footed Geese 36  flew north in two flocks (16 + 20)

Monsoon part two

Heysham Obs
The forecasted clearance didnt happen!

Teal - two in the Heysham nature reserve marsh where the reeds have just been cut/cleared
Twite - at least 32 north wall
Linnet - low single figures north wall (39 birds in total in mixed flock, but mobile)

No Little Gull or any sign of Purple Sandpiper or Meds

Lovely weather for ducks to reappear

Heysham Obs
No temptation to go London weekend rubbish tipping, the key word being 'weekend'.  Amazing that as soon as the work in north Kent finishes, this=Slaty-backed Gull happens and knocks on the head a possible fuel-free-trip.  Plan B was a pre-work very wet weather trawl around the north and south of the harbour and only one of the 'usual candidates' played ball and a second one during a short afternoon excursion:

Twite - 47 at the feeder, then flew to the harbour side of the sandworks
Little Gull - adult stage 2 outfall pm, but not morning

Middleton NR
Quite a few wildfowl back, indeed, a very good count of Teal for this time of year:  46 Teal, 8 Tufted Duck, 3 Pochard, 1 Goldeneye, 17 Mallard, 2 Mute Swan, 3 Coot but no Moorhen seen (thanks Malcolm)

A walk from Gate 38 to the wheel and back saw nothing at all in the harbour other than 2 Cormorant & nothing in the 'outer mouth' of the harbour. Wet!

Pink-feet head north

Heysham Obs
After the shame of yesterday's moth-only post, despite being at HNR all day, a brief visit to Ocean Edge foreshore was in order:   No sign of the ad Little Gull on the outfalls

Pink-footed Goose - c160+c70+about 100 or so indiscernable 'grey geese' in the mist = all heading north over the sea/mudflats about 0955hrs
Black-tailed Godwit - 2
Twite - 45 morning only
Coot - 2 back on Middleton
Goldeneye - female Middleton
Mute Swan - 2 Middleton

No moths!