Interesting seawatch

It is not often you can roll up on a morning sea-watch ten minutes or so before high tide and see 99% of the birds of interest, especially on a slow-moving neap tide.  The first 55 minutes 0650-0745 were very slow.  Most of the action was after the second Arctic Skua at 0748hrs and the most numerous species were strangely compartmented with almost all the incoming Gannets between 0745 and 0842 and all the incoming Manx Shearwaters in a relatively concentrated fashion between 0840 and 0915, including a flock of 42.  The sea-watch was not without its problems as a lone observer with running eyes for the first hour or so, leading me to leave the 'scope-only' Knowlys site to mix and match with binoculars at the suboptimal location of the 'new' north wall barrier. 

Sea 0650-0930
Arctic Skua - 7 - DM unless stated - singles in at 0711, 0748, 0802, 0815 (LM), 0831 (Darkish M), 0842, 0918 (LM)
Light morph Arctic or Pomarine Skua - probably the latter in very distantly and rapidly at 0846 looking 'heavy and long-tailed' but not seen clearly enough in the slight heat-haze
Manx Shearwater - 119 in and then many coming out which were treated as already counted
Gannet - 83 in, all but one full adult, with several coming out later in the watch treated as already counted
Arctic Tern - flock of 3 in
Kittiwake - flock of 3 in (1 x 2CY)
Sandwich Tern - mostly flying purpose fully in = 32 with some out/blogging later in the seawatch with one being briefly chased by the last Arctic Skua  
Common Scoter - 3 in (one male)
Fulmar - one in
Guillemot - 2+ 2 in on incoming tide therefore not duplicates

Seemingly useless southerly

Assuming there was not a 'one off' around like Ian's singing Firecrest at Fleetwood, today was quickly dispensed with in favour of a day behind a computer

Tomorrow am should produce a few seabirds and hopefully Friday's forecasted south-easterly will be a proper one and produce a few terns and maybe a spot fly, not a localised thing

Whimbrel - 3 Ocean Edge
Common Scoter - 9 out
Swallow - 2 in
Sandwich tern - about 6 blogging

Pomarine Skua puzzle

A light morph adult pomarine Skua flew distantly out of the bay heading across towards piel island at 0907hrs.  Why did it not go overland in what were very clear conditions looking out of the bay?  Then realised the lune  valley and wray area was inundated with a band of slow moving low cloud on the outbound journey and a look inland revealed quite murky conditions and cloud-topped hills - not great for overland migration.  Nb bird wholly in Cumbria during observation
Common scoter - 5 out
Sandwich tern - c10 back and forth
Red throated diver - 2cy on
Shag - 2cy inshore having flown from wooden jetty direction

Not a lot else happened today but probably missed some Arctic Skuas earlier in am

A few more terns

North Harbour Wall 0615-0915 with additional sightings from Heysham Head in the same time frame
Arctic Tern 37 (2/7/8/4/14/2) - before 0800hrs
Sandwich Tern 57
Common Scoter 50+ (largest group 20)
Red-throated Diver 4 (2 in, 2 winter plumaged on)
Mute Swan 4 across Bay
Guillemot 1 - the winter plumaged bird at the harbour mouth
Shag - the 2CY summering on the wooden jetty
Gannet - 1
Turnstone - 20 on rocks below harbour wall
Wheatear - 1
Swallow  - 14
Redpoll - 1
Pink-footed Goose - 15+ distantly on sea

Ocean edge
Two sanderling, 74 Dunlin, 26 ringed plover

Two grey seal close to each other offshore near the sewage pipe plus some of the same presumably as regards Sandwich and Arctic terns

Mainly seabirds

Clear as a bell this am and landbirds were at a premium but the sea was covered pretty well (Pete Crooks, Jean Roberts and Nick Godden at SJ).  The saga of the ancient A ring on a Sedge Warbler is being resolved.  The string was donated to the group recently by an ex-ringer and used on a Sedge Warbler at Leighton Moss on 18/4/18 (hence bright new ring when we caught it) and it has now been caught three times at Middleton central marsh so presumably on territory there (male wing length) and a case of a minor overshoot to Leighton Moss on migration!

Pomarine Skua - lm ad flew low into the Bay about 0648 (Rossall at 0619, Stone Jetty at 0653)
Arctic Skua - lm ad in distantly at 0600
Arctic Tern - 45 in (7+14+15+2+7)
Common Scoter - 22 in and a few blogging at long range
Gannet - 1 distant
Guillemot - one off harbour mouth
Shag - 2CY roosting on wooden jetty
Pink-footed Goose - 24 NW
Red-throated Diver - 1 in
Sandwich Tern - 51 in, then later birds blogging (c70 in total)

Grey Seal and Harbour Porpoise

Lesser Redpoll - 2+ north
Pair of Little Grebe settling Middleton:

So and so with three species of goose the 'highlight'

A bit of unbalanced coverage this morning with no coastal coverage and everyone ringing site-based at Middleton and Heysham.  There was certainly an element of wondering what I was doing there at 0530 watching three Greylag fly around in circles, but in the end about 20 migrants were ringed at the two sites.  Todays efforts took Lesser Whitethroat total to the heady heights of 14 new plus a returning adult - well above average for this time of the year and five new Common Whitethroat were welcome for what, in contrast, has been a slow spring!   Fortunately Nick was able to cover the nearby Stone Jetty and confirm that there has (still) not been a major Arctic Tern movement past here this spring

Notables
Grasshopper Warbler - only appears to be one on territory at Middleton and, as such, its a pretty quiet one.  One new in on the tank farm next to Heysham NR office (perhaps yesterday as this area was not covered)
Greylag - 3+1 over Middleton
Canada Goose - 2 over Middleton
Swallow - c30 (101 over the sea off the SJ)
Sand Martin - 2
Redpoll - 9+ over Heysham, none further inland over Middleton
Sandwich Tern - 33 off SJ
Pink-footed Goose - 1890 N (550, 62, 940, 340, 1) as seen from SJ but also past here.  Check these late flocks for the Snow Goose still on the Ribble
Great-crested Grebe - an incredible 22 on the dropping tide off the SJ.  These have been a feature for some time now but not this number.  Where are they heading as all the local ones are prancing about with weed if not sitting?

South shore late pm (Malcolm)
Whimbrel - 3

Sandwich tern - 1+ inshore
Starling and Pied Wagtail - small roosts

Heaps of bird racing through in the murk

Anyone puzzled by the earlier request for information on "brand new" British "A" ring A304xxx on a Sedge Warbler this am?  An ancient ringing stock was donated to the group and this ring was seemingly used at Leighton Moss last year.  It was bright and shiny like a ring put on yesterday, not one that had been to Africa and back!

Wood Warbler - singing male at the south end of Heysham Head early on
Redstart - female Middleton NR mid-am
Whinchat - 2 Red Nab
Wheatear - not as many as expected - min of 19
Garden Warbler - 5 singing males and one ringed at Middleton - a very good count for spring and many areas were not covered - this species rarely breeds here
Willow Warbler - 'many' slipping through
Swallow - c475 north, unusually in chunks - notably a gang of c200 over the sea - suggesting gangs taking off together having been grounded by the murk?  None after the sky cleared
House Martin - min 5
Sand Martin - 1
Swift - 1
Whitethroat - at least 7 new singing males
Arctic Tern - flock of 5 in
Whimbrel - 77 in (42+7+21+7)
Sandwich Tern - 2
Tree Pipit - 2 north
Cetti's Warbler - the original resident male was retrapped (first ringed 2015)

CES ringing Middleton
This was impressive with Sedge Warblers ringed elsewhere comprising 2 French, one Belgian and an ancient ring put on at Leighton Moss after a donation of a ring stock.  Other un-ringed arrivals included about 10 Sedge Warbler, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, half a dozen Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Reed Warbler and Blackcap.  This was in four nets in Middleton central marsh

Rubbish

Today was useless................but we maybe should have waited for the band of rain to combine with the tide in late afternoon

Arctic Tern - flock of 19 fishing then 'in' first thing
Goosander - three males 'in' quite high
Sandwich Tern - 2 blogging, 2 out
Red-throated Diver - one in sp out
Great-crested Grebe - still 5 in sp 'on'
Red-breasted Merganser - 2 pairs 'on'
Swallow - 3 N
Redpoll - 1 N
Siskin - 1 N

Gannets and white vans

Cutting edge birding today as I discovered that the best way to tell very, very distant adult Gannets flying out of the bay from white vehicles on the Barrow coast road was that the former wheel up and down and the latter go in a straight line.  Impossible to see anything other than the white section of the wings!

Gannet - 8 adults as above
Wheatear - 4
Cetti's Warbler - two singing males Middleton
Grasshopper Warbler - probably two singing males Middleton western marsh
Whitethroat - singing male Middleton at last!
Thanks for the pics from Middleton today, Janet

Odd day!

A very short ringing session produced one bird - a Robin which "looked northern/eastern" with reduced orange/red and a very grey cast...............and it bore a British ring S808xxx.  Having built it up, we'll probably find it's an aberrant nestling from down the road, but we'll wait and see.  However we also received news of a Reed Bunting ringed at Middleton during that 'easterly' October 2016 which was caught on Fair Isle a few days ago!  Presumably on its way back to Scandinavia.

Todays birds
Wheatear - 2
Whimbrel - 5

Guillemot - 1

Sandwich Tern - 6
Great-crested Grebe - 7
Common Scoter - 3 out
Eider - 124
Tree Pipit - 1 north
Robin - see above

Grey Seal - 1