Another YBW!

A cool dry day. Very light breeze from the north. 

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Report by Jean:

I arrived at Heysham full of hope for Redwings and Chaffinches. There were a few of the latter but none of the former. It was pretty quiet, the thick cloud seemed to deaden any vis and the chilly weather put off birds arriving at the feeder till mid morning. But by 1300hrs I'd caught 42 birds - 31 new ones and 11 retraps, so not a bad haul. All the retraps were recent birds.

Great Spotted Woodpecker  0 new, 1 retrap (young male that I'd caught in August)

Coal Tit 1 new

Blue Tit 1 new, 2 retraps

Great Tit 2 new, 1 retrap (all males)

Chiffchaff 1 new (early morning, none later)

Goldcrest 2 new (a male and female caught together  - do they travel together, as a pair I wonder?)

Wren 0 new, 1 retrap

Blackbird 1 new (a female)

Robin 1 new, 1 retrap

Dunnock 1 new, 2 retraps

Chaffinch 6 new

Goldfinch 13 new, 11 retraps

Other birds of note:

2 Mistle Thrushes dropped in.

This report and excellent pictures by Craig Bell:

Yellow-Browed warbler - at the gate/galvanised fence on left hand side of road before the entrance to Ocean Edge

Located mid afternoon, it was still present at 16:00. This was after a thorough search of Heysham Nature Reserve had found nothing of note.

Yellow-Browed Warbler 

South shore 

I Just had a walk along foreshore and sea wall at 08:30 high water (Malcolm)

I started the walk past the galvanised fence and didn't see or hear any warbler at that time.

When I got to the saltmarsh, there wasn't a single small passerine. I suspected that they had been moved on by a raptor. So I had my camera and my wits ready - neither proved to be good enough! 

As I approached the slipway a Merlin flew from that direction low and fast over the saltmarsh, then disappeared . All I managed were a few blurry shots!

As I walked along the foreshore Linnets were returning to the saltmarsh, 2, 20, 1 and 12. When I checked again on the way back there was a flock of 80+ finches. Mainly Linnet, but some Goldfinch amongst them. No sign of the Merlin this time.

Rock Pipit 3 (foreshore, Red Nab and lighthouse)

Meadow Pipit 3 SE

Shelduck 43 - 34 feeding, 8 south and 1 north

Shelduck flying south past along the shipping lane

Wigeon 35

Some of the birds on Red Nab. Wigeon, Redshank, Curlew,
Black-Headed and Lesser Black-Backed gull

Grey Heron 1

Little Egret 6

Little Egret resting on No.2 outfall rail, with Black-Headed and Herring gulls
This bird later flew off NW

Great White Egret 1 - flew NW from the direction of the Lune estuary

This Common Gull was the only gull feeding on No.1 outfall

Immature Herring Gull with a plastic bottle - oh dear!

More wagtail details......but little else

The light early south wind freshened as it shifted to the west. By evening it was very strong. Heavy afternoon and evening showers.

The Pembroke grey wagtail was seen at St David’s 4/10/24.  Ringed Middleton Sept 2022, a distance of 288km SW

South shore (Malcolm)

I was busy this morning and couldn't get out till mid afternoon as the heavy rain was easing. I was hoping the rain might have grounded something, but the Foreshore was deserted.

Shelduck 49 - 46 feeding plus 3 south

Wigeon 29

There is still lush gutweed, even on the outer Red Nab rocks

Some of the male Wigeon are getting their yellow foreheads now

Little Egret 3

Linnet 77 at least - one flock of 70 on the saltmarsh plus 3 and 4 seen along the sea wall.

A small raptor, probably a Merlin, flew across the saltmarsh, unfortunately the sun was out at that point and behind the bird.

Some of the Linnet landing on the saltmarsh, Shelduck on the mud
and Blackpool Tower on the skyline

And that was about it for the birds. Plenty of Black-Headed gulls feeding on the outfalls, but nothing else. The wind is battering heavy rain against my west facing window as I type this, but it is scheduled to ease long before morning.

The strong west wind blew straight into the harbour. This Cormorant 
sat down to brace against it. Also two Great Black-Backed gulls.

30,Cormorants on the wooden jetty.
Another squall was approaching, time to leave

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

Just the briefest of checks of the two main ponds on the way home.

Mute Swan pair with cygnet on main pond. Just one adult on the "no swimming" pond.

Mallard 19

The mute family with Mallard and Coot

Gadwall 11

Tufted Duck 9

Gadwall, Tufted Duck and Coot

Coot 18

Moorhen 7 including 2 immature - the Moorhen strategy in the strong west wind was to wait on the east banks and pick food from the surface that had been blown across the ponds. This is an immature bird.

Grey Wagtail ringing effort paying dividends

A light west wind. Dry but cool, despite prolonged sunny spells.

First this from yesterday:

Whinnysty lane - just prior to high tide

single skylark over head, 14 little egrets moving inland, plus Great Crested grebe beyond the groyne - Kevin Singleton 

Turnstone, turning stones

There have been two resent sightings of colour ringed Grey Wagtails (see sidebar for scheme details):

One in south west Wales (Pembroke) 

the other ‘down the road’ at Grimsnargh Wetlands near Longridge (30km SE)

Seen by Mark Breaks today, ringed at Middleton Nature Reserve 18/09/24

North shore (Malcolm)

Just a very quick check of the rocks below the heliport wall.

Common Snipe 11

Lapwing 14

Rock Pipit 2

South shore this morning (Malcolm)

A walk along the sea wall at low water was very pleasant, but not very productive.

Shelduck 43 - these are some of them vacuuming up the small molluscs from the surface of the mud.

Wigeon 15

Little Egret 4

This little Egret came from the north side, rested by the wooden jetty a 
while, then continued south

Grey Heron 1

This Heron was sheltering from the cool west wind and taking advantage
of the warmth from No.1 outfall sides. Warm as it was in full sun, but also
the cooling water behind will be a few degrees warmer than ambient.

Kingfisher 1 flew to No.1 outfall across the mud

Then tried fishing in the pools beside the outfall

Rock Pipit 2

In the Nature Park

No warblers seen or heard

Common Darter 1

Speckled Wood 2

Worn and battered, female Speckled Wood

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

I did the same short walk as yesterday, and got the same result as far as the wildfowl goes.

Pair of Gadwall (9 in total)

The only warbler heard was a Cetti's singing

Reed Bunting 1

Migrant Hawker 3

Migrant Hawker

Common Darter 2

Common Darter

Whoopers over

A cool dry day with a light NE wind switching to NW by evening.

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Report by Jean:

It was a clear start after a clear night so I didn't expect to catch much or be able to see much vis but surprisingly there was a steady little flow of Chiffchaffs and evidence of Icelandic birds arriving with Whooper Swans and Pink-footed Geese overhead. The latter two species take a day or two to reach the Heysham area and usually "stage" ie rest up and feed up in at Scottish sites and/or Cumbria before continuing south. The passerines listed in the vis below are the absolute minimum that flew over but give an indication of what species were going over.

Vis:

Pink-footed Goose 60

Whooper Swan 18 

Pied/White Wagtail 3

Chaffinch 9

Greenfinch 1

Goldfinch 3

Siskin 1

Reed Bunting 1

Ringing:

32 birds were caught in 5 hours, 21 were new and 11 were retraps

Blue Tit  0 new, 2 retraps (both this year's young birds)

Great Tit 1 new, 2 retraps ( ditto)

Long-tailed Tit 2 new

Chiffchaff 9 new

Goldcrest 1 new

Robin 2 new, 2 retraps (one a year old, the other this year's young)

Dunnock 1 new, 4 retraps (one a year old and the others this year's young)

Chaffinch 3 new, 1 retrap (from this year)

Greenfinch 1 new

Goldfinch 1 new

Also present on the reserve:

A Jay, probably collecting or burying acorns

13 Carrion Crows - these gather on the pylon opposite the office and call each other in forming a "parliament" of crows. They then disperse in various directions to feed or some at this time of year migrate south.

Heysham skear - low water 10:45 (Malcolm)

Shag 1 immature rested briefly on conger rock then went fishing further south.

Immature Shag

Little Egret 18 - there are 10 in this clip.

Red-breasted Merganser 2

Great Crested Grebe 6

No Eider

This young Herring gull was trying to break open a Whelk shell, probably after a Hermit crab inside. Two Carrion Crows wanted to share the prize. The gull has to judge the best height to release the shell. Too low and it won't break, too high and there is less chance of it being first to reach it on the ground.

You can see in these last shots that the whelk shell is plummeting point down, and
appearing empty. This is what you would expect for a Hermit crab, it would retreat right
to the back of its shell, placing the centre of gravity just behind the point of the shell.
Perhaps the architect of its own doom!

The gull got there first this time, but had to repeat the process. I left them to it. My money would still be on the Hermit Crab, or at least on the whelk shell not breaking. I've never found a shell broken at the tip. That said, the gulls and the crows both seemed expectant, so perhaps the pounding renders the Hermit crab senseless and then easier pickings. I do regularly find empty whelk shells.

Oystercatcher 400

Curlew 30

Redshank 60

Knot 40

Turnstone 30

Ringed Plover 2

Ringed Plover

Middleton Nature Reserve 

I just did a quick check of the main ponds (Malcolm)

Mute Swan a pair with a cygnet on the main pond. Two more adults on the "no swimming" pond, one sat on the breeding pairs old nest.

This is the new adult on the "no swimming" pond

Coot 18

Moorhen 7 including 2 immature 

Mallard 8

Gadwall 9

Tufted Duck 8

Little grebe 1

I didn't manage to see one this afternoon, but Mark Jones took
this shot shortly before I arrived

Water Rail 2 squealing 

Cetti's warblers 2 singing

Migrant Hawker 6

Common Darter 12

I thought this Brown rat was scurrying off with a wafer biscuit......

........but it turned out to be a complete fat ball!

South shore

Wheatear 3 along the foreshore this morning - Linda Renshaw

I had a walk along the sea wall this evening (Malcolm)

This young Herring gull in the harbour has a small fish (looks like a whiting). The other gulls saw an opportunity so it flew off to eat it in peace elsewhere.

Grey Heron 2 - one each Red Nab and Wooden Jetty

Heron resting on the wooden jetty

This cormorant was fishing close to the sloping wall, not after large prey, but it was doing pretty well. I saw it catch two Common Blenny in two consecutive dives.

A smallish Blenny first dive

Quite a large one, as Blennies go, the next dive

Wigeon 29 - a Peregrine Falcon lifted all the waders off Red Nab and the Wigeon flew with them.

Wigeon

In the Nature Park

When I set out at 16:30 I heard two Chiffchaff calling, as had Kevin Eaves who checked a little earlier. But when I returned at 17:45 there were at least four calling.

And then they were gone!

After a week of light SE to east winds it moved to the NE overnight and freshened somewhat. A dry night but heavy and prolonged showers in the morning.

Middleton Nature Reserve

Shaun did a very thorough check after the morning rain had stopped, but only managed to locate 2 Chiffchaff. No sign of any Yellow-Browed warblers.

I'd just had a quick look earlier while it was still raining.

Wildfowl as yesterday plus 1 Little Grebe

Little Grebe

Water Rail 1 squealing

Cetti's warbler 1 singing

South shore (Malcolm)

I checked the Nature Park and the foreshore in the morning rain then again late afternoon. The only warbler seen/heard was a Chiffchaff by the small anemometer.

Shelduck 29

Wigeon 27 - these are some coming in to Red Nab this afternoon.

Wheatear 4

Wheatear in the morning rain

Rock Pipit 1

Meadow Pipit 2 in/off

Pied Wagtail 11

There are so many resident Pied Wagtail here, it is difficult to tell if grounded
birds are off passage or not. But I always suspect that those on the foreshore rocks,
as opposed to feeding on the grass, are more likely to be off passage

Linnet c45

Merlin 1 female/immature landed in the middle of the saltmarsh this afternoon and promptly disappeared. It didn't take flight again so presumably it had made a kill.

No Lapwing, probably no coincidence 

Redshank 55

Common Snipe 1

Three more to the tally!

A light east wind. Mainly overcast with some heavy showers 

South shore (Malcolm)

A heavy shower eased at 08:30, so I went to see if there was anything grounded along the foreshore.

Chiffchaff 3 in the Nature Park, the Yellow-Browed warbler not seen or heard 

Pink-Footed goose 57 north

Shelduck 47

Wheatear 1 

Wheatear, the Wren bottom right wasn't happy. There are at least three 
Wrens defending territory along the foreshore 

Rock Pit 2

Meadow Pipit 3 grounded plus 13 in/off

Meadow Pipit

Raven 1 in/off then east

Raven

Middleton Nature Reserve northern section (Malcolm)

I checked the east side till another heavy shower sent me home for lunch. I returned after lunch to check the west side.

Mute Swan - the pair with the cygnet were on the main pond, another young looking adult was again sitting on the nest used by the breeding pair.

Broody looking Swan plus a male Gadwall and a Coot

Tufted Duck 6 (4 males)

Gadwall 3 males

Water Rail 2

Cetti's warbler 5 singing

Chiffchaff 8 - 1 singing, 2 calling and the rest just seen

Yellow-Browed warbler 3

Not as professional as Shaun's map yesterday, but it will do. 1 and 2 seen before lunch, 3 after lunch.

The first two were calling nicely, but as always continually flitting. I tried to get a clip, but you can only see glimpses of the warbler in it, but it picked up its call well. The clip ends on a Migrant Hawker waiting for it to warm up a little. This is the first bird, between the main pond (right) and the "no swimming" pond.

The third bird was in the willow trees just beyond the gate to the ringing road. It called a few times, but nowhere near as often as the first two. All three were at locations not checked yesterday.

Sparrowhawk 1

There was only the one resting Migrant Hawker in the morning, but in the afternoon the sun tried to get out and things warmed a bit.

Migrant Hawker 3

Common Darter 4

Small White 1

Red Admiral 1