Sandwich Tern floodgates open

Light but cool NE wind. Warm in the sunshine 

Shaun did a thorough check from early morning:

Heysham Head

Tawny Owl calling - pre dawn

Middleton Nature Reserve 06:30-07:30

Barn Owl 1 hunting over the marshes at dawn. It was quite grey on the upper parts and no ankle straps, so clearly not the bird regularly seen on Imperial Rd and Heysham Moss earlier in the year.

Cetti's Warbler 7 singing. 

Shaun produced this map showing the location of this morning's singing Cetti's warblers.
The western bird (B) is interesting - not heard one singing from here before.
Definitely two singing at Tim Butler.

Also, 2 Willow Warbler and 13 Chiffchaff.

Sand Martin 2

Pair of Raven's.

Female Goosander on No Swimming Pool. 

Heysham Nature Reserve  07:45-09:00

Chiffchaff 6 singing

GSWoodpecker one drumming

pair of Jays. 

Pete and Jean also did a thorough check. Report from Jean:

Here's what we had on our seawatch from 0830-1010hrs (we = Pete, Shaun and me)

Sandwich Tern 104 

Kittiwake 35 

Whooper Swan 7

Common Scoter 7 (2in, 5 out)

Red-throated Diver 1 into Bay

Goosander - 1 female flew past the roundhead and into the Bay

Sand Martin 11

Linnet 15

Meadow Pipit 10

Pied Wagtail 3

Carrion Crow 4 

Black-headed Gulls and Common Gulls flew into the Bay but weren't counted

In the distance about 1000 Pink-footed Geese got up but then landed again

Grounded: 1 Wheatear (female)

pair of Rock Pipits on Red Nab and a pair at the Lighthouse.

Raven - 2 flew over towards the shore then returned a bit later

Red Nab - 4 Pale-bellied Brent Geese

I had a look from the shore out from the saltmarsh (MD). I didn't manage to see any of the Sandwich Tern, but Jean said many were quite distant. 

There was a bit of Meadow Pipit movement close to the shoreline 23 north. 

Also lots of Carrion Crows resting on the mud.

Some of the 33 Carrion Crows resting on the mud out from the saltmarsh 

I also managed a view of the Brent, looking back towards Red Nab. They are having a drink from the freshwater run off, as were the gulls. This clip does emphasise what a small goose Brent are, these are only Lesser Black-Backed gulls.

Interestingly lit Little Egret

Heysham skear - low water 16:25 (MD)

Eider 85 (mainly males)

Wigeon 6 (3 each male and female) resting on the sea before continuing north

Great Crested Grebe 3

Red-breasted Merganser 6. These three male were following a female. She flew off, I don't know if she wasn't impressed by any of them or just finding out which one was the "fittest".

Waders, just: Oystercatcher c 2,000, Redshank c150, Turnstone c120, Curlew 5, Knot 2.

Another, bigger, Goosander surprise

A light SE to east wind. Overcast with a few very light showers.

Saltmarsh to Red Nab 08:00-08:30 (MD)

Shelduck 6

Wheatear 3 on foreshore 

Rock Pipit 1 on Red Nab

Meadow Pipit 3 over to north

Linnet 2 on foreshore 

Middleton Nature Reserve 08:45 - 10:15 (MD)

I went to check if the female Goosander was still on the "no swimming" pond, but first a check of the main pond located

Goosander 2 - a male and female together. The Coot weren't happy about it, but this one got a mouthful!

I did think this female had a more pronounced pale chin than yesterday's bird.

It was getting busier by this time and they headed off to the east

But the female on the "no swimming" pond was still there. So three Goosander, I think this is an unprecedented inshore record for the recording area.

The "no swimming" pond bird seemed more comfortable and relaxed today

Mute Swan 5 juvenile plus two breeding pairs.

Mallard 6

Teal 2 on Tim Butler pond

Coot 10 - the main pond birds still arguing over territory, but more threats than conflict today.

Cetti's warbler 4 at least singing -the only other warblers heard were Chiffchaff 

Sand Martin 1 NE

This male Bullfinch seemed out of place, resting alone on some light willow scrub
at least 70m from the nearest trees they often frequent

Sparrowhawk 1 high drifting north

Kestrel 2 NE

Roe Deer 1

I bumped into Alan, he was just checking a moth trap, as well as moths there was this nocturnal parasitic wasp. I'll not attempt to identify it, but these shots should be good enough for anyone who wishes too.

As Alan said, it's amazing that the thin waist can support the abdomen 

Heysham Nature Reserve (MD)

Raven 1

Chiffchaff, there was no location on the reserve where you couldn't hear one singing. No other warblers heard though

Roe Deer 2

Peacock butterfly 1

Small Tortoiseshell 1

Small Tortoiseshell 

A week ago I said the Snakes Head Fritillary will be looking splendid by now. And splendid they do look!

Snakes Head Fritillary - the pale flowers probably an indicator of the likely cultivated
origin of this colony, although they have been naturalised here for at least 20 years

North Shore

Red-Throated Diver 1 in the low water channel north of Heysham Head this afternoon - ref Pete.

First Willow Warbler and a Goosander

A lightish SW wind. The rain stopped just after 07:00. After that just a few light showers and plenty of sunny spells.

South Shore 08:30 - 1:00 (MD)

Shelduck 2

Wigeon 2 - first arrivals are easy, but last sighting of spring are only really practical in hindsight, but these could be they.

Meadow Pipit 15 

Skylark 1

alba Wagtail 2

The above all over to the north and none seen past Red Nab

Wheatear 2 on foreshore 

Linnet 5 on foreshore plus 3 near the lighthouse. One of the foreshore birds had a large black seed again. I suspect these washed in on the last set of spring tides. No idea what they are.

Greenfinch 6 at Red Nab, at least 2 of them ringed. They also were foraging the flotsam.

This female seems to have a seed, or nut too big to crack!

Kittiwake 3 x 2nd calendar year on their pipe in the harbour.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Kevin Singleton had a look around early afternoon 

Willow Warbler 1 singing - first record this year

Goosander 1 female on the "no swimming" pond. They are very uncommon in the recording area, particularly inland like this.

I went for a look later in the afternoon (MD) she was still there.

Female Goosander

She was constantly dipping her head below the water and, as you can see in this clip, appearing to wash her mouth out. I've seen diving birds behave like this before on this newt rich pond, and wondered if they had eaten, or attempted to eat, a newt that had left a nasty taste. My camera was being particularly noisy this afternoon (I really shouldn't have dropped it!) so we are silent mode.

I've left the volume on for this short clip. If you can manage to ignore the camera clicks, there is a nice burst of song from a Cetti's Warbler 

Water Rail 1 calling

Sand Martin 5 - I can't blame my camera for this, I'm just not a good enough cameraman to catch a decent inflight shot. This disjointed clip gives a nice flavour of their movement though.

Heysham "skear"- low water13:40 (MD)

Skear is in inverted commas as these very low neap tides barely expose the inner skear.

Eider 34

Little Egret 3

Bar-Tailed Godwit 22 feeding along the shoreline (the Godwit are after lugworms, the Oystercatcher seeking cockles)

Knot 21 - these are some of them resting on the skear edge with Bar-Tailed Godwit and Oystercatcher. One of the Godwits is just starting to acquire summer plumage.

When you see a flock of a thousand Knot they are almost instantly identifiable. But this small group against the light was not immediately obvious. You can't really see much of the birds in this clip, but it does provide a view from the skear and ends with the Sea Cat leaving the harbour.

Other waders: Dunlin 1, Curlew 20+, Turnstone 30+, Redshank 100+, Oystercatcher c2,000.

Subtle movement

A freshening south wind. The rain held off till mid afternoon.

Saltmarsh to Red Nab mid morning (MD)

There was quite a lot going on this morning, but it was subtle.

Shelduck 5

I started on the east side of saltmarsh, only stuff there were 4 Goldfinch flying inland, but I didn't see where they came from.

Thought that was going to be it as nothing else till c50m from Red Nab end of the foreshore, then:

8 Meadow Pipits feeding on the grass. They seemed to be finding plenty to eat.

Meadow Pipits

Rock Pipit 2 together on Red Nab plus two single birds that may have been passage. This is one of them.

Rock Pipit

7 Linnets on foreshore - they also seemed to be finding plenty to eat. This one is just finishing off a large seed.

2+4 more Goldfinch on foreshore then inland.

2 alba Wagtail over (assumed Pied rather than White)

6 Greenfinch near Red Nab, think these were just birds from the Nature Park feeding here.

5 Wheatear 

Two male Wheatear amongst the foreshore rocks

2 female Stonechat initially one either side of the bay just before Red Nab, later, probably the same two, seen together.

Female Stonechats

Heysham Head (MD)

I exercised my daughter's dog here after lunch. Probably what I didn't see was the most interesting. There were no Brent Geese to be seen on the north shore.

I also didn't check below the cliffs so no Rock Pipits seen.

Two displaying Greenfinch

Chiffchaff 2

Jay 2

Both the above in the wooded area.

Rain affected play....

A light south wind. Rain began about 09:00 and continued till after lunch.

Shaun did an early circuit:

Morning. 07:00-08:30. Had a stroll over Heysham Head to the Helipad and back before the rain arrived. 

Stonechat female on HH. 

Pink-footed Goose 140+50 north. 

Walked along base of the cliffs on the way back and had 4 pairs of Rock Pipits! Pretty sure none got back in front of me. 

I checked from Red Nab to saltmarsh after the rain had started (MD)

Blackbird 7 feeding on the short grass near the pond in the Nature Park. Although possibly as much to do with no dogs being around than grounded birds.

Rock Pipit 1 on Red Nab

Shelduck 1

Wheatear 5 along the foreshore 

One of the foreshore Wheatears - likely a first winter male

The only bird on the saltmarsh was a Wren (shame, I'd saved a nice Reed Bunting shot from yesterday!)

And that was about it. Apart from, I stopped briefly in passing on Imperial Rd. These two Greylag Goose were flying south towards Middleton Nature Reserve. A clip, taken through a rain covered windscreen. I wouldn't normally post it, but it does demonstrate there is wildlife to be seen here without having to leave your car.

First Blackcap and Whoopers on the move

 Very light variable wind, mainly NE in the morning and SW later in the afternoon, warmer and plenty of sunshine.

North shore

Morning report from Pete:

Pale-bellied Brent Goose 4 (earlier 6)

Eider 77 

Red-breasted Merganser 5

Great Crested Grebe 7

Whooper Swan 32 swans presumed this species seen distantly flying up Leven Estuary (plus later in the afternoon, c50 whooper swans on edge of tide off grange. Middle of bay)

Goldeneye 1 female

I was checking from the skear (MD)

Many of the Eider were males, desperately trying to woo the few remaining females.

The Goldeneye was feeding and was never on the surface for long, this is probably the best clip of it with a couple of Great Crested Grebes

One of the six Pale-bellied Brent feeding out from the play area early on was a first winter.

Canada Goose 3 distant flying east.

Bar-Tailed Godwit 1 

Bar-Tailed Godwit

Black-Tailed Godwit  - a flock of c40 godwit flew directly overhead unfortunately the sun was behind them, but the calling and behaviour strongly suggests this species

Knot c50

Dunlin 3

Plus Oystercatcher, Redshank, Turnstone and Curlew 

Little Egret 3

Grey Heron 1

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Ringing report from Alan:

John and I set three nets at Heysham this morning from 09.00. The conditions were not ideal with bright sun and northerly, but light, airstream. Captures were few to start but improved, and did also include a Blackcap at 14.00.

Dunnock 3 retraps

Robin 2 + 2 retraps

Blackcap 1

Chiffchaff 1 + 1 retrap

Goldcrest 2

Long-tailed Tit 3 retraps

Blue Tit 1 + 1 retrap

Great Tit 2 + 2 retraps

Greenfinch 8 + 1 retrap

Goldfinch 9 + 4 retraps

Bullfinch 2 retraps

Mark Jones had a walk around at lunchtime.

3 singing chiffchaff , 2 reed buntings, 1 bullfinch and a comma main sightings

First Comma of the year

Middleton Nature Reserve (Mark Jones)

Quite busy, heard a water rail, 1 goldcrest, at least 2 little grebe trilling
also 2 cormorant fishing

Immature Cormorant on the main pond

South shore

Report from Kevin Eaves

Kittiwake 3 x 2nd calendar year, 2 on their pipe in the harbour plus one fishing on outflows with a few immature Common Gulls

I just checked from Red Nab to saltmarsh at high water (MD)

Shelduck 3 

Wigeon 6

Rock Pipit 2 on Red Nab

Wheatear 1 male on foreshore 

Different view of a Wheatear

Reed Bunting 1 on saltmarsh 

Common Snipe 10 flushed as the tide reached the marsh grass just south of the saltmarsh 

Four Cetti's singing

The wind had shifted to the NE and was noticeably colder. Dry with sunny spells.

Just my stuff so far (MD)

Nature Park

Despite the cool wind it felt like spring with many species singing:

Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-Tailed Tit, Song Thrush, Blackbird and Wood Pigeon.

Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming

The only warblers seen or heard were Chiffchaff, at least 3 singing. This was one directly above my head (thankfully my camera was mercifully quiet!).

Red Nab to saltmarsh 

The tide was completely out so not many sea birds, just 2 Shelduck 

Almost no passerines either, just a Rock Pipit on Red Nab and the only bird on the saltmarsh was a single Wren!

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Mute Swan two pair plus 5 immature 

Coot 8 (6, still arguing on the main pond)

The only ducks seen were drakes - 3 Mallard

Little Grebe 1 trilling

Cetti's warbler 4 singing (1 each end of the "no swimming" pond and the central and western marshes.

The only other warblers seen or heard were several Chiffchaff.

Stonechat 2 - a male and a female but not together

Male Stonechat 

This bird was in the same area as the first Stonechat record this spring on the 14/2. There were two that day and one the following day. Then no more till 11/3, we now have a total of at least 76 birds this spring. Compare that to last year's spring tally of 5, which was poor. 16 in 2021 and 6 in 2020, and you can see why this year's passage is described as exceptional!

Not quite just my stuff, Kevin Eaves had a Raven fly over his garden. Being chased by Carrion Crows

Kitts blown in, and Stonechat movement continues

Heavy overnight showers stopped by 07:30, there were sunny spells by the afternoon. A fresh west wind eased and shifted more to SW.

Heysham Skear - low water 08:10 (MD)

Kittiwake 52 flew into the bay at 08:35

They seemed to "disappear", I knew they must have landed on the sea, but it took a surprising amount of time to find where they were, mainly as they were pretty much the same colour as the sea. By this time they had been joined by a Herring Gull and a few Black-Headed gulls.

Just after this clip, at 08:50, they flew out again towards Walney.

There were 10 "ducks" in the far channel and I couldn't make out what they were, the tide was coming in quickly so I couldn't get any closer. Fortunately they were still there when Pete and Jean arrived a little later. Jean realised that they all had their heads tucked in, she watched them till they "awoke". Revealing them to be 

Great Crested grebe 8 - perseverance resolving the puzzle. Presumably migrant birds.

Plus Red-breasted Merganser 2

Eider 12 - these are 6 shooting through the first channel on the rising tide

Definitely time to leave!

Pale-bellied Brent goose 6 - as I was coming off there were these four freshening up and drinking at the edge of one of the freshwater drains. Later Jean saw six.

Report from Pete:

In about three hours seawatching: 

Kittiwake 13 plus 5 plus c30 in, two single adults out and that’s it!!  The c30 were floating in on the sea, rest flying 

Red Nab to Saltmarsh towards high water (MD)

Kittiwake 1 second calendar year feeding on No.2 outflow

Pale-bellied Brent the six from the north side feeding on Red Nab then south

Wigeon 23

Rock Pipit 5 - 1 on Red Nab 4 on saltmarsh (plus 2 fighting on the helipad (ref Jean))

Stonechat 6 at least. So much for my suggestion that yesterday's female may be the last this spring. I saw more today than I see in total most springs! They were along both sides of the saltmarsh and in the flotsam covered corner. Pretty sure 2 moved on, so probably even more earlier.

One of the west side male Stonechats

Female and male Stonechat on the flotsam 

20:30 Pink-Footed geese passing over Meldon Rd (ref Janet)

A bit of a contrast

A dry day with a slightly fresher SW wind. 

South shore (MD)

In contrast to yesterday's fall of migrants, today was almost devoid of them.

Stonechat 2 females on the saltmarsh early on, but had moved on later

May as well have a picture, she could be the last one of this impressive spring passage

No Wheatears or Meadow Pipits

Reed Bunting 1 on saltmarsh 

House Sparrow 2 on saltmarsh (attracted by feeders near saltmarsh)

Rock Pipit 2 - one each saltmarsh and Red Nab

Pink-Footed goose 60 north at 08:20

Pale-bellied Brent goose 13 on Red Nab on the rising tide, then towards Potts Corner. Again, may as well have a clip, as they'll also be off soon.

Shelduck 2

Wigeon 45

Heliport 

Pete checked the waders at high water, only c150 Knot today, but he did manage to read another colour ringed bird.

Heysham Nature Reserve (MD)

It was warm in the sun and Heysham is quite a sheltered reserve so I thought I'd see if any butterflies were around - there wasn't 

Chiffchaff 3

Bullfinch 4

Greenfinch 8+

Goldfinch 10+

Chaffinch 2

Long-Tailed, Blue and Great Tits.

No butterflies but plenty of hoverflies and bees

Lots of these hovering, but could only manage a decent shot of one resting.
Think this is a drone fly, but more than happy to be corrected (MD)

Bumble Bee (Buff Tailed?)

And my favourite flowers are just beginning to bloom.

Snakes Head Fritillary - in another week they will look splendid!

Plenty of Pipits

It rained long and hard from early morning till 09:00. After that more showers in the morning, but a dry, and later, sunny afternoon. The SW wind continues.

South shore (MD).

Same routine as the last two days, a full circuit in the morning followed by a check from Red Nab to the saltmarsh in the afternoon. 

Morning check:

It was still raining when I started, but it was easing off and many grounded birds were starting to move on.

Stonechat 5 - there were 2 males and 2 females in the NE corner of the saltmarsh, possibly including yesterday's 3 birds. The increasing height tides have pushed what was a carpet of flotsam into what is now a cliff. This clip includes a male and female Stonechat, but is really just to show the flotsam. The tides are dropping again now and won't reach this height again till the autumn, so barring storms, this vegetation will rot down and harbour all manner of invertebrates for passing, and resident bills to forage for. It stretches for 100m around the NE corner.

The fifth bird was a female near Red Nab and had clearly had a soaking!

A soaked Stonechat

Wheatear 6

Reed Bunting 1 

Skylark 1

Skylark

Rock Pipits 3 - just 1 each Red Nab, Sea wall and Lighthouse (more later).

Meadow Pipit 62 - thee were 51 grounded on the grass behind the foreshore, but they were starting to move off. Another 11 flew over. This clip is some of the grounded birds getting ready to leave.

Pink-Footed Goose 20 - they initially confused me, as they flew silently, low over the sea in a straight line to the east (fortunately my shots were just good enough to confirm species)

Shelduck 2

Wigeon 45

Shag 1 immature on wooden jetty

Kittiwake 2 feeding on No.2 outflow

Linnet 2 near lighthouse 

Afternoon check

The sun was out! The four Stonechat were still in the saltmarsh corner, but no sign of the other bird. This is one of the females sorting her feathers out.

This Wren was hanging out to dry too.

Wheatear 7

Rock Pipit 8 between saltmarsh and Red Nab. One flew north from the foreshore display calling as it went

Pale Bellied Brent goose 9  - they arrived at Red Nab early in the ebbing tide and fed close in on the gutweed below the surface.

Mark Jones had a walk along the wall later in the afternoon, but the sun was still shining.

Some of the Wigeon

Redshank 

Female Red-breasted Merganser on Red Nab

Kevin Singleton took these shots from near the cafe

Knot, not disturbed by Kevin

Carrion Crow

Janet took this clip with her phone, of three Rock Pipit together on Half Moon Bay 

So there were at least 13 Rock Pipits today between the saltmarsh and Half Moon Bay

Imperial Rd (MD)

Just a quick drive in while passing.

Chiffchaff 3

Buzzard 2 - this is just a novelty clip, but it does show that you do not need to leave your car to see wildlife. This is one of the resting Buzzard. This is through my car window, I knew the recycling lorry was about to pass, I thought I'd see what the reaction would be......

........nothing!

Song Thrush, also photographed through car window

Footnote: We have received this comment (source unknown but thanks), it refers to the "mysterious fin sighting" - see post 21/03/23.

Sunfish have been known to invite seabirds to remove parasites by laying on their sides. Maybe the gulls were interested for this potential reason.