Sunday 26 April 2009

Poor nice sunny morning

Heysham Obs
The weather in the south Irish sea was again significant, I suspect with very frustrating seawatching this morning with potentially the best birds (3 possible skuas and two duck spp) remaining very distant and unidentified in the heat haze

North wall & office vis 0930-1000 - all flying NE unless stated
Black Guillemot - harbour mouth area
Purple Sandpiper - wooden jetty
Arctic Tern 1 + 4, the latter dropped from a height, faced into the wind before climbing again
Sandwich Tern - perhaps no more than 10 blogging
Guillemot - 11 floating in during the latter stages of the tide
Red-throated Diver - one out distantly
Gannet - 2 out distantly
Swallow - 32
Goldfinch - 49
Linnet - 16
Redpoll spp - 2
Sand Martin - 2
Meadow Pipit - 3

Red Nab/Ocean Edge/outfalls
Med Gull - 3CY in full summer plumage and probably the 2CY seen intermittently recently
Whimbrel - 8, including a flock of 4 in from the south
Gulls - up to 500 immature Common and Black-headed Gull - well worth regular perusal on the incoming tide

Moorhen
Unprecedentedly, one was wandering around on the grass by the office completely ignoring everyone. Escape from Martin Mere?

Moths
Common Carpet was a first for the year

Elsewhere
A new tetrad for Ring Ouzel in Bowland slightly lifts the gloom and doom with this species this year. Two Curlew Sandpiper Leighton Moss