Friday 9 May 2008

Useless frontal edge in the morning, better later.....

Heysham Obs
A quietish day so we'll make up for this by another sparrow pic from Emma taken during the processing:


........It didnt 'drop' anything first thing!

North Harbour Wall
Black Tern - two lingering Heysham outfalls morning at least
Arctic Tern - some early morning movement with 106 'in', otherwise up to 50 on the outfalls
Whimbrel 7 in,
Greylag 4 in
Common Scoter 10 in
Swallow - just 73 in 3 hours & no other passerines/hirundines/swift on the move during the early morning.
Common Tern - at least three blogging
Sandwich Tern - at least 18 blogging

The high tide period
There was no known seawatching over the high tide but JBP was manned during this period:
Arctic Skua - 2 dark morph overland via Jack Scout late afternoon
Otherwise just 50 or so Arctic Tern, 5 Black Tern and a single Kittiwake
of note.

Other inshore/off-passage
Black Guillemot - usual routine, perhaps spending slightly more time than expected off the nhw, as opposed to in the harbour mouth
Purple Sandpiper - single with c130 Turnstone on the wooden jetty
3 Bar-tailed Godwit
3 Knot
Common Sandpiper
Middleton IE
Female Whinchat

Elsewhere
Black Kite - one of unknown origin seen at 0900 and 1015 in the Quernmore valley/Littledale area, presumably the bird over Lancaster late evening of 7th
Wood Warbler - singing male audible this evening, over the other side of the river on the dangerously steep slopes of Winder Wood south, from the Haylot gate at the start of the 5-gate road, upper Roeburndale
Black Tern - maxima at various sites: Heysham (2), Pine Lake (4), JBP (5), Leighton Moss (10) [Pine Lake and 4/5 JBP birds probably the same].
Curlew Sandpiper - one with RP & Dunlin, Halforth, upper Kent.
Short-eared Owl - one Jubilee Tower early afternoon
Cuckoo - Heard/seen at: Jubilee Tower, upper Tarnbrook (there since Monday), Birkbank, upper Roeburndale. Obviously a belated arrival
Spoonbill - still EM Pool