Thursday 10 April 2008

Brief early morning low tide visit

Heysham Obs
Vis 0740-0900 office area
Meadow Pipit 41NE
Pied Wagtail 1NE
Swallow 2N
Woodpigeon 10E
Skylark - late bird high to the NW
Reed Bunting 1NE
Goldfinch 17NE
Linnet 6N

Grounded
Yet again, no ringing possible, so difficult to discern but at least one Willow Warbler passed through next to the office & one Wheatear on the NHW. Ocean Edge/Red Nab not checked

North harbour wall - short visit
No white-winged gulls on the exposed sandbanks
Linnet - three on nyger seed (no Twite)
Gannet - two very distantly south across the mouth of the Bay
Eider - c40
Red-breasted Merganser - just 3
Red-throated Diver - one in non-breeding plumage
Great-c. Grebe - 5

Elsewhere
No sign WS Bluethroat. Ross's Goose in field just NE of Pilling Lane Ends. Osprey at Leighton Moss c1700-1800hrs. Now FIVE Scaup on Conder Pool. Pale-bellied Brent Goose Sunny Slopes groyne. Two Spotted Redshank north Morecambe seafront again - on Teal Bay groyne today. Small flock of Common Scoter & the first (definite) migrant skua of the year in the form of a mid-afternoon Bonxie loitering off JBP. This eventually flew high NE overland right over the heads of people at JBP and a single RTD was also observed to apparantly head overland. 3 Common Scoter on the Lune estuary by the south end of Aldcliffe Marsh. NNEW Chough since Monday's sighting