Shag still present

Heysham Obs
Shag - 1CY by the harbour waterfall with Great crested Grebe
Snipe - 10 OE saltmarsh
Linnet - c36 OE saltmarsh

Ringing recovery coincidences

Heysham Obs
A nice set of ringing recoveries have just come through, all involving birds ringed at Middleton Nature reserve this autumn.  All 1CY.

1) Chiffchaff ringed on 2/10 caught at Hungerford, Berkshire on 7/10 304km SSE

2) Chiffchaff ringed (next ring number!) on 2/10 caught West Bexington, Dorset on 12/10  373km S

3) Reed Bunting female ringed on 3/9 caught on the Fleet, not far from the above, Dorset on 30/10 - a notable movement of 381km S

4) Willow Warbler ringed on 2/7 caught at Queen Mary Reservoir, Surrey on 7/8 - 332km SSE

5) Whitethroat ringed on 8/8 caught at Haxton Down, Wiltshire on 31/8 318km SSE

These were the only recoveries affecting Heysham Obs other than a Walney to Heysham Chaffinch and were amazingly similar in terms of quality and distance - no 'down the road' Greenfinch etc. in this lot!  

Never too late to find a mate

Heysham obs
The highlight of the first daylight visit I can remember without seeing a bird was a pair of December moth which, despite its name are usually done and dusted by now.

Moths
Mottled umber, winter moth, dark chestnut and a pair of December moth
Nearby an actinic catch in the lune valley included 1,164 mottled umber!

Moth weather again

Heysham Obs
A very brief visit this afternoon saw

Moth trap
Parsnip Moth and Mottled Umber in the trap

North Harbour Wall
Brief visit mid afternoon just produced on the seed
1Twite
4 Linnets
11 Goldfinch
2 Dunnock
1 Robin
1 Chaffinch

JM

Heysham Obs

North wall feeder:

 

Goldfinch   17

Linnet        13

Chaffinch     1

Twite           3

Dunnock      1

Robin           1

Hardly Worth Posting?

Heysham NH Wall

A brief visit to put down nyger seed late morning saw only:

Linnet - 10
Goldfinch - 4
Twite - 1

ajd

Hopefully some more sightings later?

Not a lot on a grotty day

Heysham Obs
First of all, the time has arrived where there will be little coverage from at least three regular observers for the rest of this year.  Please text me if you have anything worth publishing on the blog 07532433043.  Thanks.

Shag - 1CY reportedly on wooden jetty mid-pm
Med Gull - ad Fisher's roof
Ringed Plover - 21 on shore just south of Ocean Edge

Moths
A late finish produced one umber spp, presumed Mottled, on the reserve road and two Winter Moth along the SD45 section of Moneyclose Lane and one Winter Moth along the SD46 section.  Worth checking the trap tomorrow

Routine stuff on a nice day

Heysham Obs
The flat calm morning sea held no surprises and there was no time for a Chiffchaff search on the reserve otherwise the area was well-covered today (thanks Malcolm & Kevin)

North wall
Shag - 1CY wooden jetty mid/late pm
Twite - up to 5
Reed Bunting - 1
Chaffinch - 2
Med Gull - adult
Great-crested Grebe - one in harbour

Middleton NR
9 mute (7 1CY)
1 coot
1 moorhen
4 tufted
2 mallard
4 gadwall
62 teal (most counted in flight at one time, there were more I'm sure)
5 common snipe
1 heron

Ocean edge
c30 linnet
4 reed bunting (together)

Red Nab
Just 2 little egret

One good bird leads to another

Heysham Obs
A Little Auk flew in with a Redshank towards the heliport seawall and then landed on the water.  It remained for five minutes before flying out past the Near Naze towards the harbour entrance.........just before the camera arrived (1238-1242).  Found by Tom Walkington, who was here looking for the Glaucous Gull and I was fortunate to be next to him monitoring dog walkers and, as such, could quite easily have missed this bird.

Inshore sightings
Little Auk - see above
Med Gull - adult along north wall
Purple Sandpiper - single noted on the heliport/half moon bay corner rocks with Dunlin and Turnstone well before the tide, so maybe feeding on the increasingly stony lower beach there.  Presumably roosted/was disturbed from roosting.  This sadly included an elderly gentleman who made two visits with his dog along the top of the heliport seawall disturbing the whole roost which included stopping and staring at the monitoring process i.e. my car & protruding scope, which I assume he mistook for/objected to a video camera.  Unfortunately our presence may have therefore influenced his behaviour, the nature of  which I must not make comment, and prompted the second visit.  Unfortunately difficult to remain neutral and invisible!
Kittiwake - adult Heysham two outfall for a short period
Shag - 1CY north harbour wall late afternoon (thanks Derek)
Very few large gulls around today but...........

Yesterday's Glaucous Gull was reported around the outfalls 1030-1100 and apparently also independently at 1100hrs

Nearby
A family party of five European Whitefronts visible from the Golden Ball 

Glaucous gull and genitalia

Heysham obs
Decent compensation for the wind being too far (just) to the north of west to produce any amount of seabird bonuses to an all day survey of the intertidal

A classic example of the disadvantage of sitting in a hide, in this case a car this morning. In position to scan the shore off Ocean Edge when a Glaucous Gull flew low to the north over the grass behind me.  Fortunately had received a phone call from Jean, surveying further to the south where it had gone 'in front' of her........otherwise would definitely have missed it within 150m 'behind' the field of view.  Thanks Jean!   It flew over the nature park and then over the Nature reserve, quite low, and was then lost as it headed for the Half Moon Bay area.  Not seen subsequently but the only proper coverage, due to the survey, was of gulls on the outfalls/using the updraught of the Power Stations - to join these it would have had to 'back-track'

The second major news for the last three days was a new species of moth for Lancashire at Middleton NR looking like this:

This was found on Middleton Nature reserve (or the whole moth was) on 30th August 2014 and genitalia examination is the only way to be certain of the identification.  This is a lengthy process and there is a stored backlog which can be caught up  with during the long winter nights! Thanks to Justine and Nigel 

Ocean Edge area
Glaucous Gull - see above - juvenile north at 0845 (when first seen just south of the recording area)-0850 (over Ocean Edge).  Marginally but obviously larger than accompanying Herring Gulls with a lengthy dark-tipped 'pink' bill, 'deeper chested' appearance and slower wingbeats
Little Gull - adult seaward end Heysham one outfall first thing only
Kittiwake - 1CY as Little Gull, then at least two adults behind freight ferry at about 1420hrs
Interestingly the mudflats were completely deserted by the usual wide scatter of Curlew making the work rather easier than usual!
Med Gull - adult seaward end Heysham one outfall first thing

10th December
Little Gull - adult far offshore during very brief seawatch
Shag - juv along north harbour wall
Med Gull - Fisher's roof roost
Twite - at least one

9th December
Nothing of any note reported