Tuesday, 25 February 2014

Patch check

Heysham Obs
 
Outfalls
Little Gull - 3 adult and 4 x 2CY
 
North Harbour Wall
Twite - 30
Linnet - 5
Goldfinch - 3
Dunnock - 1
 
Harbour
Kittiwake - 14 (1 x 2CY)
 
Middleton Nature Reserve
Model Boat Pond
Scaup - 1 (the usual male)
Tufted Duck - 2 pairs
Pochard - 4 (3M, 1F)
Oystercatcher - 3
Lapwing - 1
Mallard - 1 pr
Grey Heron - 1
Coot - 1 pr
Mute Swan - 6 juvs
 
No Swimming Pond
Tufted Duck - 10M, 4F
Gadwall - 2 prs
Teal - 1pr
Coot - 4
Mute Swan - 1pr
 
Tim Butler Pond
Mute Swan - 1 pr
Moorhen - 3
Teal - 12
Mallard - 1 pr
 
Fence Pond
Coot - 1pr
Gadwall - 1pr
 
Other areas of Middleton
Little Grebe - 1 heard
Ringed Plover -1 heard
Linnet - 25
Pheasant - 3F
Song Thrush - 1 singing
 
 
Selection of feeders at the Twite station, this dinner time.



Monday, 24 February 2014

Little Grebes return

Heysham Obs
Another mild day and another sign of spring with trilling Little Grebes now on three of the Middleton ponds.  Good coverage of Middleton but rather patchy elsewhere.


Offshore
Eider - 81
Kittiwake - flock of 32 'in'


Inshore
Kittiwake - 19 harbour
Guillemot - 3 harbour
Twite - c60


Middleton NR
Scaup - 2CY male
Tufted Duck - 19
Gadwall - 2
Little Grebe - 3
Teal - 50
Pochard - 4
Coot - 10
Linnet - 17
Stock Dove - 2
Grey Wagtail - one colour ringed bird definitely older than last autumn
Reed Bunting - 1
Little Egret - 2

Sunday, 23 February 2014

More of the same

Heysham obs
Bit windier today and more seagulls around but no new species

Little gull - min 16 outfalls
Med gull - 3 ads
Kittiwake - 19 (2 2cy)
Guillemot - 4
Scaup - 2cy male Middleton MB pond
Pochard - 5 with above
Twite - at least 45, prob many more as birds no identified in sea buckthorn


Saturday, 22 February 2014

Fewer of the same

 Heysham obs

Little gull - 4 (2 ad)
Kittiwake - 18 harbour, one offshore, one outfalls
Eider - 72
Guillemot - 2
Twite - c55
Scaup - 2cy male Middleton
Wigeon - 74

Moth
Drowned dotted border Middleton

Friday, 21 February 2014

Lesser Black-backs pile in

Heysham Obs
Lesser Black-backs piled in today with up to 120 at any one time.
Sightings:
Little Gull 28
Kittiwake 23
Guillemot 4
Pintail 1 out
Med Gull 2 adults
Twite 35 plus

Middleton Nature Reserve
Scaup 2CY male
Pochard 5
Gadwall 9

Done from memory - notes left in office ! Will update tomorrow.
Thanks to Ian ands Malcolm.

Thursday, 20 February 2014

Doing the rounds but little change

Heysham Obs


Middleton NR model boat pond
Scaup - 2CY male
Pochard - 4 males, I female
Tufted Duck - 11
Snipe - 1


Offshore low tide
Eider - 78
Red-throated Diver - 1


Harbour area
Shag - 1, prob 3CY briefly then flew out
Kittiwake - c15
Guillemot - 1 (& 1 inshore)
Twite - at least 60 (one green/white Machrihanish bird plus the old Heysham bird caught two days ago)


Outfalls
Little Gull - 2 x 2CY, 1 x Ad
Kittiwake - 2 Ad


Selection of Gulls in the harbour.


Wednesday, 19 February 2014

New moths, similar birds

Outfalls
3 x 1W Little Gulls

North Harbour Wall
adult Mediterranean Gull
72 Twite
14 Linnet

Heysham Nature Reserve
Common Quaker - first of the year
Dotted Border - 2
Med Gull at North wall

Ringed Gull at North Wall

Black Headed Gulls at different stages.

Tuesday, 18 February 2014

Harbour Wall Finch Catch at Last

Heysham
North Harbour Wall

After the recent strong winds and rain, this morning was an opportunity to try for a whoosh net catch.
One early fire caught 21 birds:
Linnet - 4
Goldfinch - 1
Twite - 16  including one retrap from oct-dec 2010 and two recent retraps.

Thereafter, the birds in the vicinity were mainly Linnets that were very unsettled and feeding in a spread-out manner mostly off the designated catching spot.

ajd
Waders at the heliport.


Monday, 17 February 2014

North-bound Whoopers the only surprise

Heysham Obs
A good number of gulls around this am before the 0925 rain watershed......but couldn't find anything of real interest


Thanks to Craig Bell for these pics taken yesterday

Twite - 55, including a green/white Machrihanish bird
Linnet - 14
Med Gull - 2 ads in harbour
Kittiwake - 19 in harbour, one outfalls
Little Gull - only three seen on/around outfalls (1 Ad)
Guillemot - 2 in harbour, one offshore
Whooper Swan - 26 north at about 0910hrs
Scaup - 2CY male Middleton mb pond
Pochard - 3 males and female Middleton mb pond



Sunday, 16 February 2014

Good coverage, Shag new in and Twite increase

Heysham Obs
Shag - 3CY or older harbour, then flew out (thanks Margaret and Mark)



Kittiwake - 19 harbour, 1 outfalls
Little Gull - up to 8 outfalls
Guillemot - 3
Twite - 74 on seed
Linnet - 14 on seed
Red-throated Diver - 2