Finch blitz

Heysham Obs
The only remotely suitable ringing weather (but not for mist nets) at the moment led to all or most of the north harbour wall finches being caught.  Unfortunately no Twite.  31 new Goldfinch and 6 new Linnets were ringed plus another 25 retrap Goldfinch

Inshore
Med Gull - adult following freight ferry and 2CY roosting on Red Nab
Wigeon - 44 Red Nab
Mallard - 4 Red Nab
Shelduck - 178 off Ocean Edge
Little Egret - 2 Ocean Edge

Vis mig by office for two 15 min stretches
Chaffinch - 23 SW
Mistle Thrush - 3 SW
Woodpigeon - flock of 35 S
Goldfinch - 3 S

Moth
The first (and perhaps the only on previous form here) December Moth of the year

Mammal
Grey Seal - 1 close under the north harbour wall on the incoming tide.

Bits and pieces

WEDNESDAY
Four Pintail were mentioned by the person who was going to post them!

TUESDAY Heysham obs

Kittiwake - five ad behind IOM ferry
Auk spp on sea then out
Pintail - 16 plus 4 put
Wigeon - flock of 29 out

No moths!

Thats more like it!

Heysham Obs
Some decent horrible weather for a change and some things which have been scarce/non-existent this year

Sea 0810-0940 Heysham north wall
Great Northern Diver - on the water 0845, then flew after about 30 seconds and disappeared around the wooden jetty remains - lost in the poor visibility.  Almost certainly a juv - faint impressions of dull edgings to mantle.  Big feet!
Red-throated Diver - 1+1+2 out
Guillemot - one on water close in
Pintail - flock of 13 out
Shelduck - 5+23+18+14 out
Great-crested Grebe - juv on water
Rock Pipit - one windblown bird

Mammal
Grey Seal close inshore

Moths
All singletons of species with Red plus a hyphen, the latter pretty scarce here!  Red-line Quaker, Red-green Carpet, Red Sword-grass

A Lone Fisherman

Heysham North Harbour Wall
Conditions so poor this morning that only one fisherman was present, and this a Sunday morning!
High wind and very heavy rain discouraged me from leaving the car and visibility through the windows was awful. A group of  about 60 finches briefly on the seed were so tightly packed in the wind that it was impossible to count them.

They comprised approximately equal numbers of Goldfinch and Linnet.


Heysham NR
No moths in the trap - lamp failed during night.

No other reports

ajd

Late afternoon:   north wall feeding station completely flooded by a raging torrent
Adult Med Gull on the sea
Absolutely soaked between office and the car!

The A Team's Away

Heysham North Harbour Wall
At the feeding site this morning were:
Goldfinch - 32
Linnet - 8

from jm

Middleton NR
Sightings received from Malcolm, thanks very much:

Mute Swan - 7
Coot - 2
Moorhen - 3
Teal - 28
Tufted duck - 10
Grey Heron - 1
Cettis Warbler - male singing at 11.15 just after rain stopped.  No sign at 13.15.
Redwing - 54 minimum
Fieldfare - at least 4 feeding in hawthorns

Ocean Edge
Little Egret - 2
Linnet -c25
Meadow Pipit - 2

Insects
Just three moths in the Hut Trap:  Silver Y (2), Feathered Thorn (1)

Red Admiral - 1 Middleton NR

ajd

Minimum Coverage

Heysham North Harbour Wall

Feeding Area:
Goldfinch - 30+
Linnet - 20+
Robin - 1
Magpie - 1

No Twite in the area.

Hut Moth Trap
This morning the trap held: Silver Y (3), Feathered Thorn (2) and Mottled Umber (1)

North wall on form

Heysham Obs
Visited the north wall in some murky but dry weather early morning and was surprised to see three Brambling and two Chaffinch amongst the Goldfinch/Linnet hordes on the seed.  Meadow Pipit were heard and there were about half a dozen scattered around.  Clearly further investigation needed in the absence of dog walkers and anglers.  Many of the birds were really awkward, feeding in mayweed on top of the bank and there was no easy way to get close and observe.  A rather short hard call was heard and then two brief silhouettes of something different which eventually gave itself up as an imm Yellowhammer - nice!   Unfortunately my left leg decided to give up as well and proposed visits to check the south harbour were abandoned.  Don't recommend sciatica.

Returned to the car and feeding station and gingerly staggered down with a new supply of nyger seed which inevitably flushed everything and the five larger finches headed off SE

North harbour wall mound/feeder
Brambling - male and two females
Chaffinch - two males
Goldcrest - 1
Yellowhammer - one immature
Linnet - 21
Twite - one
Goldfinch - 30+
Rock Pipit - 3 (two together)
Meadow Pipit - 6 grounded and joined by a flock of 17 which seemed to come in-off
Wren - 2
Pied Wagtail - 2
Starling - 13
Robin - 3
Dunnock - 2
Song Thrush - 1

Heysham Head - Stuart and Dan
Goldcrest - 10
Lesser Redpoll - 1
southbound vis:
Brambling - 5
Chaffinch - 3
Rock Pipit - 2
Redpoll - 2
Meadow Pipit - 5

Ocean Edge from car
Rock Pipit - 1
Meadow Pipit - 1
surprisingly dead

Moths
Feathered Thorn and a late Common Marbled Carpet

Lacking detail!

Heysham obs
Bit of an end of season feel about today. Blackbirds and chaffinches in small numbers but very little else. Unfortunately the exact figures in the ringing book - will be sorted tomorrow

Heysham nr
Brambling - 2 sw
Chaffinch - 50 plus sw
Blackbird - c50 grounded
Mistle thrush - 3 se
Pink footed goose - 6 s
Chiffchaff - one
Goldcrest - three unringed
Jay - one sw
A few goldfinch and greenfinch

Ringing
Goldcrest (3), greenfinch (2), chaffinch (1), goldfinch (1), blue tit (1)

Moth
Just a parsnip moth!

First Whoosh of the Season

Heysham North Harbour Wall
Much less misty this morning. A whoosh netting session was curtailed by noisy fabrication work close by in the Centrica compound, however not before two catches were made with a total of:

Goldfinch - 29 unringed plus 5 local retraps
Linnet - 3 unringed

There were more finches around before being displaced by the fabrication,  but apparently no Twite.  Apart from a local Robin and a pair of Pied Wagtails little else was seen by the ringers.

ajd

Meanwhile those not ringing went scouting round for odds and ends. JR found a few odds and ends while DH found some odds and ends worth reporting, including this superb Shortie):

 

Moneyclose Lane:

Brambling 1

Goldcrest 14

Chiffchaff 2

Blackcap 1

Redwing 15

Mistle Thrush 2

Coal Tit 5
Bullfinch 6
 

Red Nab:

Grey Wagtail 1

Twite 1

 

South Harbour Wall

Grey Wagtail 2

Meadow Pipit 3

Linnet 10

Goldfinch 1, Dunnock 1, Wren 1, Pied Wagtail 1

 

Sandplant and the Mound (North Harbour Wall)

Skylark - 1 grounded (very unusual here)

Song Thrush - 2 (the sea buckthorn has its uses)
Pied Wagtail 2, Robin 1, Goldfinch 2, Linnet 1, Wren 1, Carrion Crow 4, Starling 4

 

Heysham Nature Reserve

Of note - 15 Blackbirds, 1 Redwing plus 5 others over, 1 Brambling over, 1+Siskin over, 2 Goldcrests

 

Then saving the best till last:

 

Heysham Head:

Crossbill 2 - in sycamores by the Barrows, then flew east

Short-eared Owl 1 - sat on top of the cliffs, then was flushed by man's best friend and flew out over the water, then looped back and seemed to land on the rocks below the cliffs.

Brambling 1

Chiffchaff 1

Blackcap 1

Goldcrest 4

Redwing 3

Skylark 1

Patchy

Heysham Obs
Amazing difference between Heysham NR and Middleton this am - the former clear at dawn and the latter fogbound all morning.  Arrived far too late at Heysham with Long-tailed Tits already calling and entering the nets as I was setting up and one of the biggest grounding of thrushes I have known here with upwards of 100 Redwing and 50 Fieldfare was disturbed from the thin line of bushes alongside the mist net ride!   What a shame they were not up pre-dawn.  A decent catch at Heysham of the sort conspicuously absent this autumn i.e. dominated by finches, especially Greenfinch.  Middleton on the other hand was virtually thrushless with the only capture being the first Fieldfare to be ringed this millenium and the small catch was dominated by Goldcrest.  After a virtual absence of Blackcap in the second half of October, six have been ringed in the last two days in the SE winds - are these central European origin prospective winterers? 

Middleton
Cetti's Warbler - singing male central marsh early on
Lesser Redpoll - 2 ringed
Brambling - 2 over
Blackcap - 2 ringed
Vis mig not possible due to fog but plenty of e.g. Pink-feet heard

Heysham NR
A good two hours of clearish conditions saw some vis mig
Redpoll - 1 S
Fieldfare - 50 at dawn, then inland + 25 SW
Redwing - 100 at dawn then inland plus a further 220 either SW or rising from bushes and heading inland.  Then it went pear-shaped about 0900 and many subsequently heard in the fog
Blackbird - at least 48 migrants
Chaffinch - at least 40 S
Song Thrush - at least 4 migrants
Carrion Crow - 6 S
Goldfinch - 25 S
Pink-footed Goose - 350 north then 5 lots heard after 0900hrs
Bullfinch - 2+2+1 S
Skylark - 15 SE and 4 subseuqnt registrations in the fog
Meadow Pipit - 2 S
Reed Bunting - 1 S
Collared Dove - 1 E
Short-eared Owl - one "found" by a gang of Magpies on the plateau and flew, chased by 7 Magpie towards the golf course
Chiffchaff - at least two new arrivals and one ringed yesterday at Middleton
Blackcap - female ringed
Greenfinch - some movement as evidenced by ringing total
Dunnock - two lightweight unringed birds unexpected so late in the season
Long-tailed Tit - at least three flocks at or just after dawn with the only ones caught being unringed 

Ringing Heysham and Middleton new birds
Fieldfare (1), Blackcap (3), Chiffchaff (1), Lesser Redpoll (2), Goldcrest (19), Chaffinch (5), Goldfinch (3), Greenfinch (16 - equalling the grand total for October!), Song Thrush (1), Blackbird (1), Dunnock (2), Long-tailed Tit (5), Blue Tit (2)

Moths
Angle Shades x 2, Silver Y x 1, LBAM x 1