Sunday 17 April 2011

Pre-dawn night migrants, post-dawn vis trickle

Heysham Obs
Clear conditions this morning and revealing just how early you have to get up in order to record a meagre trickle of night migrants on the move at the first hint of any daylight


Tree Pipit

Heysham NR office area
Tree Pipit - 5 north (1 ringed)
Grasshopper Warbler - one ringed pre-dawn, another singing at the same time on the tank farm
Lesser Whitethroat - one migrant singing male moved through
Whitethroat - 2-3 males reserve & one Red Nab
Lesser Redpoll - just 3+1 north
Meadow Pipit - 5 north
Goldfinch - c15 north
Linnet - c10 north
Blackcap - male caught in darkness as the net was being set, female soon afterwards, then 3 others later
Willow Warbler - one caught as net was being set, the only evidence of a migrant!

North harbour wall
Whimbrel - one (first of year)
Purple Sandpiper - 1
Guillemot - 1 floated in at high tide.
Sandwich Tern - 10 blogging on the buoys
Red-throated Diver - 6 out
Gannet - 1 north
Eider - 70
Red-breasted Merganser - 7

Ocean Edge
Wheatear - 7
White Wagtail - 2
Ringed Plover - 86
Dunlin - 121
no obvious sign Little Stint but birds hard to see on rocks

Vis north harbour wall 0645-1030:
Meadow Pipit - 37
Tree Pipit - 1
Goldfinch - 6
Linnet - 16
Redpoll sp - 5
Swallow - 1
Chaffinch - 3
alba wagtail - 2

Middleton
Grasshopper Warblers still singing but not easy to see. 
And what about in flight?