Sunday 30 October 2016

Bits and bobs of late migrants

Can't complain about Yellowhammer, Merlin, Brambling, Twite etc, but may have missed a southbound Lapland Bunting over our air space or flushed from eg Ocean Edge foreshore (see just to the south of the recording area).   The ringers were dealt a few scraps but this is the time we utilise the feeders for passage finches and but can't get at them due to the on-going construction site for the new office! 

This gives a rather finch-less aspect to the October ringing totals.  Totals for the month including 31st:

Goldcrest (137), Redwing (80), Reed Bunting (70), Long-tailed Tit (46), Chiffchaff (42), Blue Tit (38), Blackbird (36), Pied/White Wagtail (34), Meadow Pipit (33), Goldfinch (32), Blackcap (31), Robin (27), Wren (22), Chaffinch (18), Coal Tit (15), Dunnock (10), Yellow-browed Warbler (8), Song Thrush (4), Great Tit (4), Lesser Redpoll (3), Bullfinch (2), Great spotted Woodpecker (2) and singletons of Sparrowhawk, Water Rail, Greenfinch (!), Mealy Redpoll, Siskin, Linnet and a late Willow Warbler. 

Amazingly we seem to have managed to go throughout September and October catching a decent number of birds, but no rings at all from elsewhere other than ring-reading the returning Czech Med Gull!

Vis mig from various places - strong Skylark passage just starting as I called it a day
Merlin - female south (also seen by the Sunderland people)
Brambling - 4 - all first thing
Chaffinch - 60
Skylark - 33
Rock Pipit - 1
Greenfinch - 3
Goldfinch - 2
Pink-footed Goose - c200 and 45
Meadow Pipit - 3
Redwing - 2
Reed Bunting - 1

Grounded (all the mound stuff flushed by Merlin before I had sorted through them - then very spooky with Twite moving over the harbour)
Meadow Pipit - 15 mound
Twite - at least one probably 4 mound
Linnet - 12-14 mound
Rock Pipit - 1 seawall
Goldcrest - at least 10 Heysham Head
Blackbird - not a single one at Heysham Head or the lower part of the reserve (didn't do NE corner) - astonishing departure c/p yesterday and esp the day before.  Maybe just 10 Heysham NR upper part and 5-6 Middleton
Chiffchaff - 1 Heysham Nr
Yellowhammer - one heard calling Heysham western marsh west end but couldn't see it then stopped and had presumably 'vissed off' (Pine Bunting not eliminated)
Reed Bunting - 2-3 Middleton

Ringing
Combined totals Middleton and Heysham of new birds:  Chaffinch (2), Goldcrest (10), Blackbird (5), singles of Coal and Long-tailed Tits, Greenfinch and Chiffchaff


Saturday 29 October 2016

Firecrest remains


Thanks Janet


A lengthy session on Heysham nature reserve included a significant amount of time waiting for the Firecrest to reappear around the obs tower pond. After calling it was located in a birch tree for about a minute then just one more call in the next 25 minites.   Presumably went back into yesterday's nearby area

There were quite a few goldcrest scattered through the reserve including a loose gang of 14 but the only other prominent migrant was blackbird, mostly in the eastern sector

Heysham NR (not including tank farm)
Blackbird - 30
Goldcrest - 35
Redwing - 5
Song thrush - 2
Firecrest - 1
Bullfinch - 2
Chaffinch - 15 s
Goldfinch -2 a
Meadow pipit -3 s

North wall feeder
Starling -10
Linnet - 6
Meadow pipit - 3

Middleton
A handful of thrushes and goldcrest were caught along with two less expected meadow pipit

Heysham head rectory wood
Coal tit -3
Goldcrest - 2

Insect
Emmelina monodactyla on ivy Heysham rectory wall

Friday 28 October 2016

Firecrest highlights retrieval behind abus

Ouch - overslept after forgetting to set alarm and on my own for the rest of the recording area whilst Malcolm covered Middleton.    A 1000 start saw a decision to cover two sites which I knew would not have been disturbed - hence 'abus'.

North wall sandworks and mound (SD36V)
Goldcrest - 9 in seabuckthorn and one in gorse
Meadow pipit - c30 including four in off
Rock pipit -two together on sea wall
Linnet - 5
Twite - flighty singleton with some of meadow pipit
Robin - 5
Wren - 3
Pied wagtail - 2
Coal tit - 1 - ?? New for SD36
Song thrush - 1
Dunnock - 1
Cormorant - 83 on wooden jetty and nearby
Greenfinch - one south
Goldfinch - 7 south
Starling - 4

Tank farm
Firecrest - pretty sure this was a male - caught glimpse of fiery red in centre of crown
Took some nailing in a mix of bracken and hawthorn and only called three times in 30 minutes
Goldcrest - c15 scattered about
Blackbird - at least 50 allowing for mobility, perhaps as many as 70
Song thrush - 2
Redwing - 6
Coal tit - 4 - the only tits seen
All the rest if the stuff was deemed resident eg all robins were singing

Middleton (thanks Malcolm)
Wood pigeon - flock of 44 east
Cetti's warbler - one singing Male
Redwing - 12

Insects
Speckled wood - very tatty one


Thursday 27 October 2016

Sand works fare

Managed to get access into the sand works and mound area to search for finches in what was unfortunately just about the worst landbird migration conditions of the month.

Linnet (11), wren (2), meadow pipit (1), robin (1) and two rabbits and a brown rat

Elsewhere there was an adult media gull and single black-tailed godwit on the south side

I'll post your pics tomorrow Janet

Wednesday 26 October 2016

Tuesday 25 October 2016

Czech mate returns

Feels as though I have grown up with this bird, or more accurately grown old.  2003 and still counting as it sat on the railings on the north harbour wall this morning

North wall
Med Gull - Czech-ringed adult on the railings

Middleton NR and Heysham NR
Ringing on both sites didn't produce a great deal as the forecasted mist was a no-show.  Vis mig was terrible yet, like yesterday, a decent bird was in Morecambe Bay's airspace but unlike yesterday, sadly missing us out (Richards Pipit)

Ringing at both sites struggled to reach 30 birds in total which included half a dozen Goldcrest, 4 Redwing, 2 Reed Bunting

Grounded stuff at Heysham NR
included one Chiffchaff, 25 Blackbird, 3 Song Thrush and about 25 Goldcrest

Vis mig at Heysham NR
Brambling - 1
Chaffinch - 5
Siskin - 1-3
Skylark - 3

Monday 24 October 2016

Mealy Redpoll a welcome addition for the year

The sort of morning where you felt something had to be about but didn't expect a small vis mig passerine to highlight, given the lack of numbers in that department




Considered to be an adult female (wing length 74.5mm)

Heysham NR coverage 0900-1000
Grounded
Blackbird 30-40
Goldcrest 20
Redwing - 6
Chiffchaff - 1

Vis mig intermittent coverage
Redwing - 13
Carrion Crow - 6
Jackdaw - 21 (& 3 more over Middleton)

Heysham Head coverage
0855-0955 vis mig
Bullfinch 2
Goldfinch 4
Chaffinch 19
Greenfinch 1
Linnet 3
Skylark 12

In the bushes
Goldcrest 4
Coal tit 2
Blackbird 7
Song Thrush 1

Middleton ringing
Included one Mealy and two Lesser Redpoll - all caught as singletons

Sunday 23 October 2016

Slow going for an October easterly

Some blocking cloud over southern Scandinavia has seriously disrupted the supposed second wave from the east and even the east coast was relatively quiet.

Here it was scraps under the table with the potentially best bird calling but not playing ball on visuals in the awkward NE corner of Heysham Nr - a candidate for Siberian chiffchaff

Heysham Nr grounded
Chiffchaff - 1
Cetti's warbler - one calling early am
Goldcrest - 5
Blackbird - 20
Redwing - 4
Jay - 3

Middleton ringing session
Long tailed tit - 10, redwing 4 and singletons of reed bunting, chiffchaff, goldfinch and a few retraps

Vis mig
Brambling 1 E
Grey Wagtail 1 NE
Chaffinch 6 E
Skylark 14 NE
Pink-footed Goose 60 N offshore
Lesser Redpoll 1 E
Rock Pipit 1 SE
Meadow Pipit 13 E
Siskin 10 NE
Heysham Head
Grounded: Siskin 2, Meadow Pipit 5, Goldcrest 5
South Harbour wall area:Black-tailed Godwit 1 feeding by outfalls
Meadow Pipit 5
Wigeon 83
OE foreshore:
Meadow Pipit 3
Linnet 21
Snipe 2
Former Pontins:
Goldcrest 2
Meadow Pipit 2
Middleton NR South:
Grey Wagtail 1
Goldcrest 2

Saturday 22 October 2016

Brambling bonanza (for Heysham anyway)

Overhead vis was low key but livened up with coastal finch passage:
Brambling - 10
Chaffinch - 114
Siskin - 5
Goldfinch - 17
Greenfinch - 1
Lesser Redpoll - 1
Meadow Pipit - 15
Skylark - 2
alba wagtail - 3
Reed Bunting - 2
Redwing - 7
Blackbird - 6
Song Thrush - 4
Pink-footed Goose 53 (16,37)
Whooper Swan - 6
Mute Swan - 2
Woodpigeon - 32
Jackdaw - 147
Snipe - 1
Raven - 2

For the first day since 6th October NO Redwing were caught and ringed.

News was received of a presumed Great Grey Shrike seen yesterday at 10:15 at Heysham Head. So that's two Greats missed by yours truly but at least someone was around to witness them.



Friday 21 October 2016

Quiet weather and quiet day

 Nice 'air shot'!
 .........a bit stubby-billed
probably now in winter residence



No weather to really drop anything much today - visibility better than forecast.  As so often happens in quiet calm weather perfect for mist netting there was quite a lot of tootling around by local tit flocks and retraps were the order of the day for the first time for at least a couple of months.

The highlight was an out of habitat capture of Cetti's warbler below the old obs tower at Heysham Nr, presumably a newly arrived migrant. Low single figures of Coal Tit and Reed Bunting were ringed at Middleton and a single Chiffchaff at Heysham NR

Middleton saw a complete lack of migrant warblers - just probably two singing male Cettis

Vis (MNR)
Bullfinch - 1
Blackbird - 12
Pink-footed Goose - 1165 heading north in 4 flocks probably disturbed from Lane Ends
Jackdaw - 65
Linnet - 2
Chaffinch - 9
Meadow Pipit - 3
alba wagtail - 1
Grey Wagtail - 3
Sparrowhawk - 1
Song Thrush - 2
Mistle Thrush - 8 grounded, 1 over
Swallow - 1



Thursday 20 October 2016

More migration

Vismig over the Heysham area from 0730-1030:
Pink-footed geese - 1085
Barnacle Goose - 2
Redwing - 86
Fieldfare - 30
Song Thrush - 1
Whooper Swan - 2
Siskin - 60
Redpoll sp - 1
Chaffinch - 64
Meadow Pipit - 17
Linnet - 19
Skylark - 21
Jackdaw - 32
Rook - 1
Carrion Crow - 13
alba wagtail - 23
Grey Wagtail - 2
Reed Bunting - 3
Sparrowhawk - 1
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 1

Ringing at Middleton NR (new birds):
Goldcrests dominated the catch.
Redwing - 6
Blackbird - 1
Goldcrest - 13
Chaffinch - 2
Chiffchaff - 1
Wren - 3
Reed Bunting - 2

A Cetti's Warbler was singing. A Little Egret flew over and two Goosanders dropped in briefly.

Wednesday 19 October 2016

At last!

This produced some varied sightings highlighted by a long overdue confirmed first record for the obs - two Great White Egret flying north over the eastern end of Middleton Nature Reserve at about 1015hrs.  Seen by Janet and Malcolm just after Janet had put her camera in the car - cue rapid action and a creditable shot given the circumstances.  One previous report from an angler of a big heron with a yellow beak going back a few years


The as-seen-on-TV mutt known as Mukka flushed two Jack Snipe from the model boat pond:

Vis mig initially from Heysham Head them Middleton when it was realised that it was calm enough for a short spell of ringing
Great White Egret - 2 north 1015ish
Whooper Swan - 2 S
Pink-footed Goose - 8+1
Jackdaw - 9+5
Chaffinch - 47 (early am)
Brambling - 2 (early am)
alba Wagtail - 4
Goldfinch - 9
Meadow Pipit - 7
Redwing - 2
Grey Wagtail - 1 or blogger
Skylark - 5
Song Thrush - 2

Grounded Middleton NR
Goldcrest - 20+
Blackcap - 3

Chiffchaff - 1
Reed Bunting - 2

Ringing in just two rounds of two nets at Middleton (all new):  Reed Bunting (2), Robin (1), Chiffchaff (1), Blackcap (2), Goldcrest (12)

Miscellany
Cetti's Warbler - singing male usual place Middleton
Common Scoter - flock of 10 female/imms off Heysham Head




Tuesday 18th October northwesterly routine

A break from bush bashing in a brisk WNW wind which did not seem to hold any seabirds of note - notably a big fat zero behind the IOM ferry

Red Nab/outfalls incoming tide
Med Gull - 2CY and adult
Little Gull - adult briefly end of outfalls

Heysham Head café area
Chiffchaff - 1
Nuthatch - 1

Monday 17 October 2016

Bit of a trawl

Heysham Obs
After being delayed as someone decided the rush hour ended at 0900 and imposed traffic control on Caton Road by the refurbishing Shell Garage to unload the contents of a huge lorry with a crane, finally made it after a pre-10m tide errand to Sunderland Point was delayed as Jean located a Yellow-browed Warbler calling in the first garden south of the toilet block!   Cue a bit of subsequent coverage of the recording area!

Heysham NR (including quarry and bushes below obs tower)
Chiffchaff - one
Goldcrest - low single figures

Ocean Edge
Rock Pipit - 1
Skylark - flock of 5 south

On quiet days waders sometimes use the seawall at high tide (thanks Janet):

North harbour wall
Linnet - 6 on seed

Heysham Head
Loads of common stuff in the sheltered trees near the churchyard including:
Chiffchaff - singing male and probably one other
Goldcrest - 5 ish
Nuthatch - 1

Insects
Dipped out on Ivy Bee next to the café at Heysham Head
3 Red Admiral Heysham Head and the following pics taken by Janet down the dog track end of Heysham NR:



Sunday 16th October

Heysham dipping pond area and webs

Yellow-browed Warbler - one appeared with very large LTT etc flock and headed north along the bushes by the dipping pond - assume same as two days ago
Long-tailed Tit - at least 16 with all seen unringed
Coal Tit - at least three
Chiffchaff - alder wood

Webs
Rock Pipit - 2 ocean edge, one north wall
Little Egret - 5 roosting on sunny slopes grpyne at high tide (ooa - seen from)


Saturday 15 October 2016

Black Redstart


Heysham NR/non-op
Black Redstart - 1CY found in between Heysham Nature Park and Heysham Nature Reserve but in an area out of bounds to the public but visible around the old green 'Nissan hut' looking through the fence from the Nature park.  No phone-scoping here!
Ring Ouzel - one with a noticeable band and one without - arose separately from the same cover just to the east of the construction compound and flew into the tank farm - one via the mist nets if they had been set!
Blackbird - c15 on reserve
Redwing - 2 on reserve
Song Thrush - 3 on reserve
Chiffchaff - 2 on reserve
Goldcrest - pretty non-existent - 5 with tit flock
Brambling - at least one over early am (two birds together but only one call)
Chaffinch - 25 S
A huge flock of LTT-dominated tits but also including at least 4 Coal Tits seemed to hoover everything except two long-staying Chiffchaff up and head off down the dog track.  Not all additional birds seen properly
No sign/sound of yesterdays calling Cetti's Warbler

Gate 38 and wooden jetty
Meadow Pipit - 6 by wooden jetty
alba Wagtail - 15 by wooden jetty
Nothing in 'firecrest cover'
Shag - 1CY on wooden jetty - on lower tier and very nearly missed!

Heysham Head
Only did churchyard and area as r.s.p.
Pink-footed Goose - 45E
Goldcrest - 10
Treecreeper - one
Nuthatch - one - seemed to be more in gardens
Tawny Owl - one called x 3!

Middleton NR
Vis:
Redwing 17 ex roost mainly
Fieldfare 5
Song Thrush 2
Snipe 1
Brambling 1

Ringing (rained off at 10am)
Redwing 6
Blackbird 1
Blackcap 2
Reed Bunting 3
Chiffchaff 2
Goldcrest 8
Long-tailed Tit 1 plus 2 retraps
Goldfinch 1
Blue Tit 1
Robin 1 retrap

Friday 14 October 2016

Reduced coverage not without interest


Heysham NR grounded
Quite a bit of stuff by the dipping pond-reserve entrance
Yellow browed Warbler - calling about 100m down dog track,
Cetti's Warbler - calling behind dipping pond
Treecreeper - in the taller trees
Chiffchaff 2
Blackbird - 11
Song Thrush - 2

Ringing at Middleton saw mainly tits with a handful of odds and ends with them

Vis Heysham and Middleton - poor is an understatement given the conditions:
Redwing 17
Fieldfare 4
Alba Wagtail 6
Snipe 4
Chaffinch 16
Greylag goose 14S and 7 N (most unusual at this time of year)(
Woodpigeon 8
Blackbird 8
Raven 2
Skylark - 14
 



Then off to Easington for a nice relaxing twitch after the morning madhouse and before the after work hordes. Parked by the entrance and was watching the bird within seconds! (Siberian accentor not requiring a plane charter)

Thursday 13 October 2016

Flagging!

Heysham Obs
Two observers and one ringer produced 2-3 new Yellow-browed Warblers and we were a bit disappointed!  There just wasn't the number of birds around today with the possible exception of Chiffchaff on the wastelands to the south of Ocean Edge.  The Yellow-browed Warbler caught at Middleton had a fat score of 4, indicating off passage but couldn't obviously be related to any we had found previously.  It is perhaps significant that NONE of the birds ringed this year (eight) have given any indication of their presence prior to capture and all the 'in the field' finds have been away from the nets, notably Middleton

Vis over MNR/Pontins :
Redwing 11 E
Skylark 7 E
Brambling 1 SE
Pink-footed Goose 244 N
Meadow Pipit 16 SE
Lesser Redpoll 3 E

Grounded MNR/Pontins :
Yellow-browed Warbler 1 (either moved c300m or two birds)
Siskin 2 then E
Blackcap 5
Chiffchaff 5
Goldcrest 5
Meadow Pipit 4
Blackbird 13


Heysham Head (too windy?) :
Tree Sparrow 1
Goldcrest 4
Meadow Pipit 1
Chaffinch 2 E

Outfalls/Red Nab
Med Gull - 1CY
Wigeon - 114
Black-tailed Godwit - 2

Ringing Middleton
Yellow-browed Warbler (1), Coal Tit (4), Redwing (5), Goldcrest (4), Chiffchaff (2), Wren (1), Reed Bunting (1)

Vis mig Hey NR
alba Wagtail - 14 SE
Redpoll spp - 1 SE
Meadow Pipit - 16 SE
Brambling - 1 SE
Chaffinch - 14 S
Mistle Thrush - 1 S
Jackdaw - flock of 33 west then NE
Carrion Crow - 3 S

Grounded HNR
Poor
Song Thrush - 6
Blackbird - 2!
Goldcrest - 11
Chiffchaff - 1
Redwing - 1!

Wednesday 12 October 2016

More YBWs and three Crossbill

Heysham Obs
Ringing today was split between Middleton (having an 'off' day) and an attempt below the old Obs tower which was rather successful.  Question:  how many Yellow-browed Warblers would we have recorded if we had been able to use our office net site this autumn?  As it is, this attempt saw our first ever example of two in a mist net on the same day (John Mason) in an area which was well-searched and blanked yesterday by two observers


The third YBW bird allowed the comment "almost certainly the same as the previous day" for this first time during this influx.  Heard calling along the northern boundary of the reserve from the alder copse boardwalk, so necessary to check it wasn't someone messing with playback as this was a 'known site' from yesterday!  It wasn't.

Three fly-over Crossbill heading SW were the first of the year I am aware of.

Grounded and intermittent vis mig Heysham NR 0740-0900
Goldcrest - c20
Yellow-browed Warbler - 3 (one for second day and the other two ringed)
Chiffchaff - 3
Redwing - 16
Song Thrush - 5
Blackbird - just 10
Rook - 4 north
Jackdaw - 26 N
alba Wagtail - 11 S
Meadow Pipit - 14 S
Skylark - 2 S

Middleton
Redwing - just 10 ringed first thing
Otherwise seemingly dead apart from
Jackdaw - c40 N/NE
Reed Bunting - 1E

Outfalls area
Wigeon - 126






Tuesday 11 October 2016

No Yebwas at Middleton NR

Yet another Yellow-browed Warbler at Heysham today (yawn!) but none at Middleton where there was, however, a slight boost in Chiffchaff and Blackcap numbers.  Fewer thrushes though.

Keep an eye open for Ivy Bee amongst the hordes of social wasps and drone flies etc on ivy.  One was seen at Sunderland Point 3 days ago and there is a report from Heysham on the database but these are two of only ??three in the north west

Heysham Head :
Song Thrush 7
Blackcap 3
Chiffchaff 1
Goldcrest 4
Mistle Thrush 1 then N
Meadow Pipit 4

Nuthatch 1
Coal Tit 2
Heysham Head visSkylark 5 N
Redwing 6 NE
Meadow Pipit 36 E
Lesser Redpoll 3 E
Rook 4 NE
Pink-footed Goose 49 N
Grey Wagtail 1 E
alba wag 5 E

The Legendary 'Tank Farm' (no general access)
Goldcrest 1
Chiffchaff 2
Blackcap 2
Redwing 5
Song Thrush 5
Bullfinch 1
Meadow Pipit 11 E
Grey Wagtail 2 NE

Grounded Heysham NR
Yellow-browed Warbler - noisy one in the willows near the alder copse, then moved to and 'went quiet' in the alder copse before calling again once.  A Yellow-browed or Pallas's seen very briefly near the dipping pond but we couldn't dig it out again and it may have been the small silent silhouette which shot across the road into the dog-walk screening.  Not a peep from it in an hour or so and only the  size/jizz, underparts (white with no obvious yellow anywhere) and a bit of a supercilium seen.
Coal Tit - 6+4 through rapidly south
Chiffchaff - 2-3
Blackcap - 2
Song Thrush - 6
Blackbird - 11 - all near dipping pond
Redwing - 1
Goldcrest - 20

Vis at Middleton 0630-1030
Meadow Pipit 11
Redwing 30
Pink-footed Goose - flock of 49
Jackdaw 43 ( and 70 more seen later at Overton)
Alba Wagtail 1
Goldfinch - a flock of 24

Ringing at Middleton
Redwing 2
Wren 3
Goldcrest 7
Reed Bunting 5
Pied Wagtail 2
Blackbird 2 new, 2 retraps
Blackcap 4
Blue Tit 2
Grey Wagtail 1
Long-tailed Tit 3
Dunnock 1
Chiffchaff 5
Goldfinch 9
Linnet 1

Monday 10 October 2016

Three more Yellow-brows!

Yellow-browed Warblers
1) By the ex-observation tower pond Heysham NR - an area not checked yesterday along with another bird and two distant calls I would have liked a better view of.  No access possible.
2) Ringed Middleton (pic)
3) Found by Malcolm along the SE perimeter willows on the golf course; access from Middleton





Heysham NR
Chiffchaff - 2
Brambling - flock of three over first thing
Song Thrush - c12
Redwing - just two
Blackbird - 15
Goldcrest - 15
Blackcap - 1

Vis Middleton
GreyWagtail 3
Redwing 28
Brambling 1
Pink-footed Goose 31
Siskin 1
Jackdaw 9
Alba Wagtail 5
Song Thrush 2
Skylark 7
Meadow Pipit 47
Great spotted Woodpecker 1

Ringing
New: Yellow-browed Warbler 1, Robin 1, Redwing 4, Grey Wagtail 2, Goldcrest 6, Blackcap 3, Blackbird 3, Water Rail 1, Reed Bunting 4, Chiffchaff 2, Coal Tit 1, Long-tailed Tit 1, Blue Tit 2

Sunday 9 October 2016

Yellow-browed Warbler fest

This morning took Yellow-browed warbler to a new level with at least 5 and quite possibly 6 birds involved

1) Two with Long-tailed Tits below HNR classroom heading southish through the bushes
2) One with Chiffchaff in willows next to alder copse - almost certainly headed for the NE corner with Blue Tit or just went quiet as they can do - quite difficult to watch these bushes
3) One ringed Middleton NR
4) One calling a lot by the gun club, Middleton - just possibly the ringed bird but no ring noticed
5) One in the newly christened dog-infested 'chavvy scrub' inland from the half moon bay car park (found after a nice break at the excellent half moon bay café)
Bird 5) - photo Dan Haywood
Bird 3) Middleton NR
 

Heysham Head and scrub behind car park at half moon bay (Dan)
Blackcap 2-3
Yellow-browed Warbler 1
Chiffchaff 1
Goldcrest 6
Redwing 10 then N

Coal Tit 2 gorse-hopping N
Long-tailed Tit 10 as above
Song Thrush 2

Swallow 2 E
Redwing 36 N
Mistle Thrush 5 N
Meadow Pipit 143 mostly E (but also N & NE)
Skylark 45 E
Lesser Redpoll 10 E
Siskin 8 + E
Goldfinch 5 SE
Greenfinch 4 E
Chaffinch 12 SE, E
Pink-footed Goose 14 N, 35 SE
alba wag 6 N, 4 SE
 
Heysham NR wetland area and surrounds
Yellow-browed Warbler - 2 together as above and a singleton (0800ish)
Chiffchaff - 4
Redwing - 400 inland - all in first 15 mins
Blackcap - 1
Goldcrest - c15
Coal Tit - flock of 5 headed south
Brambling - one east first thing (IOA)
Blackbird - 10 - less than yesterday

Middleton NR vis 0930-1130
Meadow Pipit 36
Skylark 30
Siskin 5
Lesser Redpoll 1
Song Thrush 1
Chaffinch 1
Redwing 76
Fieldfare 9
alba wagtail 3
Grey Wagtail 1
Blue Tit 5
Linnet 1
Goldfinch 2

Ringing
Sparrowhawk (1), Grey Wagtail (1), Wren (1), Robin (2), Redwing (13), Yellow-browed Warbler (1), Chiffchaff (2), Goldcrest (6), Chaffinch(2), Reed Bunting (10)

 
         

Saturday 8 October 2016

An early snow bunting and a late willow warbler

A Snow Bunting flew se over Heysham head this morning and two Yellow-browed Warblers were found in fairly quick succession at lunchtime. On the warbler front, a late Willow Warbler was more unexpected than YBW.  Of more long term significance than these fly by day/nights was a singing Cettis warbler in a new area

Grounded
Heysham NR
Chiffchaff 8, Yellow-browed Warbler  1 (in willows next to south side of entrance road - settled and present 1.5 hrs at least), Goldcrest  c20, Redwing 5, Song thrush 7, Blackbird 25, Siskin 2, Jay 3, Coal Tit 5

Middleton NR
Cetti's Warbler - singing male SW corner near caravan site boundary
Yellow-browed Warbler - one (unringed)  in bushes alongside caravan site SW corner
Vis:
Song Thrush 2
Redwing 79
Reed Bunting 6
Snipe 3
Goldcrest 1
Meadow pipit 5
Chaffinch 1
Grey Wagtail 6
Mistle Thrush 2
Greylag 9
Linnet 6
and a Little Egret flew north.
 
 
Heysham Head
Blackcap 2
Chiffchaff 4
Goldcrest c10
Grey Wagtail 1
Coal Tit 4 hopping south
Blackbird 8 continental-looking
Song Thrush 2
Vis mig
Middleton details with Jean
 
Heysham Head
Snow Bunting 1
Reed Bunting 1
Swallow 2
Chaffinch 3
Grey Wagtail 3
Pink-footed Goose 9
alba wag 17
Mistle Thrush 18
Skylark 27
Meadow Pipit 32

Middleton Ringing
Ringing was quite slow this morning with birds caught in small numbers throughout the five hour session.  There were 40 captures in total:
Redwing - 5
Blackbird - 1 (a large, probably continental, bird)
Song Thrush - 2
Reed Bunting - 9
Wren - 2
Goldcrest - 2 + 1 retrap (the only retrapped bird of the day after 8 consecutive days' ringing at this site)
Blackcap - 3
Great Tit - 1
Blue Tit - 2
Grey Wagtail - 1 (the only one captured of a number of passage birds today)
Pied Wagtail - 4
Chiffchaff - 1
Goldfinch - 1
Siskin - 1
Willow Warbler - 1 (a very late individual whose identification was scrutinised carefully by three ringers

ajd

Friday 7 October 2016

More easterlies and migration...and a bit of cloud

The key things today were cloud cover with drizzle just inland of us and this dropped a few more Yellow-browed Warblers with two in the recording area and one just outside to the south and a really big gang of alba Wagtails (at least two very obvious adult White) on Ocean Edge foreshore............but the juv Sabine's Gull was nowhere to be seen after a good innings

Ocean Edge foreshore grounded
alba Wagtail - 125
Meadow Pipit - 30
Skylark - 2
Linnet - 16
Med Gull - the only interest on a prolonged long range scan of the outfalls was a single 1CY

More grounded migrants
Yellow-browed Warbler - one seen and heard by the pond along the footpath to Red Nab (Brian Tollitt) and one caught and ringed at Middleton NR (thanks to Joanne for the pic who was then inspired to go and find her own just to the south of the recording area (see pic LDBWS sightings thread))!

Middleton vis mig
Redwing 30
Song Thrush 1
Snipe 2
Pied Wagtail 24
Siskin 33
Grey Wagtail 3
Meadow Pipit 13 (a lot more over Ocean Edge)


Thursday 6 October 2016

Sabine's remains and another Middleton vis/ringing session

The juvenile Sabine's gull switched outfalls this morning as Heysham two's food source seemed to be temporarily suspended as per 'outage'.    Three rock pipit were along ocean edge foreshore but nothing else of interest eg no meds.

Middleton saw the following
Field fare - singleton IOA
Redwing - 44
Most of the trickle of vis consisted of pied wagtails (40) and a slight upsurge in meadow pipit (58), Song Thrush (2), Snipe (16), Lesser Redpoll (2), Chaffinch (1), Siskin (4), Skylark (1), Grey Wagtail (4), Reed Bunting (3).

Ringing included 5 Redwing, 8 Pied wagtail, 15 long-tailed tit, two chiffchaff, one blackcap and three reed bunting

Wednesday 5 October 2016

Sabine's stays and Ring Ouzel arrives.

The juv Sabine's Gull was feeding on Outfall 2 again and sometimes resting on the sand nearby. Here are a couple of superb photos by Mark Nightingale showing all the plumage details and comparison with Black-headed Gull:


 
Also on the Outfalls was an adult Little Gull and 2 x 1CY Mediterranean Gulls.
Two Rock Pipits and 6 Siskin passed through the Red Nab area.

It was a calm start this morning at Middleton Nature Reserve but by 10am the ESE wind was up to force 4 so ringing proceedings had to come to halt.

Pre-dawn a number of Blackbirds were chacking and shortly after dawn, 4 Redwing rose from their roost. A Cetti's Warbler gave a short burst of song and a Water Rail squealed. The 7 o'clock Grey Wagtail evaded the nets once again. A bit of excitement was afforded by the sudden arrival of a Ring Ouzel which disappeared just as quickly somewhere behind the small brick building on the north side of the reserve.

Visible migration was far more meagre than the last few days and consisted of the following:
alba wagtail 62 (largest flock = 17)
Reed Bunting 2
Swallow 3
Chaffinch 1
Goldfinch 7
Meadow Pipit 29
Song Thrush 2
Siskin 1
Skylark 4
Grey Wagtail 3
Snipe 1

Ringing consisted of:
Blackcap 2
Goldcrest 1
Blue Tit 1
Reed Bunting 3
Blackbird 1 (a fine young male continental Blackbird with long wings and a black bill)
Pied Wagtail 3
White Wagtail 1

JR


Same again minus the geese!

Outfalls/Red Nab
Med Gull - 1 x 2CY, 1 x Ad, 1 x 1CY
Sabine's Gull - juv until at least 1305 and there were birders watching it when I left, so any update?
Little Gull - ad

Thanks for the pics Jim

Middleton vis mig
Reed Bunting - 2
Meadow Pipit - 25 at least
Alba Wagtail - 39
Snipe - 1
Grey Wagtail - 9 (2 ringed)
Linnet - 2
Swallow - 2
Siskin 2 lots heard
House Martin - 1 over Heysham nr later

Grounded
Yellow-browed Warbler - TWO calling at the same time Heysham NR dipping pond area early am then one called twice in 50 minutes along the nearby golf course screening planting c1320 and c1345
Chiffchaff - one ringed Middleton
Blackcap - one ringed Middleton

Ringing at Middleton:  Grey Wagtail (2), Pied Wagtail (5), Goldcrest (2), Chiffchaff (1), Wren (1), Blackcap (1), Coal Tit (1), Robin (1) and 'some' Blue Tit!

Mink seen Middleton NR (per Dave)






Monday 3 October 2016

Great day after a slow start

Usually migration weather is all about a dawn start on the west coast and take it from there.  A routine bit of coverage say for 2-3 hours from dawn today would have labelled the morning as 'duff' apart from the lingering Sabine's Gull.  Then the wind started to kick in a bit........  My personal day's birding included finding and seeing just two warblers - two Yellow-browed - and I even turned down the chance of seeing the Middleton bird in the hand.  How times have changed with this species! Thanks to Jean Roberts for the YBW pic and Mark Breaks for the Brents (there were seven!) and Sabines Gull pics




Highlights
Sabine's Gull - still on outfalls until at least high tide
Yellow-browed Warbler - Three in the recording area and one just to the south.  Noisy one located by HNR entrance road mid-am which flew towards dipping pond mid-morning and left messing about in the willows on the north side. It or another was seen in the same area by Gav Thomas c1715hrs.  Then decided to work Heysham Head before the wind got up (needed a cup of coffee!) and after doing the churchyard area walked back towards the car and one started calling above about 1015ish.  Incredibly hyperactive and noisy and flew across the rectory garden before flying back across to the ivy covered wall, then back up into the canopy.  After a final call from the canopy at the back of the Rectory garden one more time, it was not seen again and must have moved on avoiding the Long-tailed Tit flock.  Then at 1130 one was caught and ringed at Middleton NR and released by the 'no swimming pond' next to the model boat pond.  One was located just to the south of the recording area along the Potts Corner road late afternoon (unringed) [and one further south still by Sunderland toilet block]
Pale-bellied Brent Goose - the flock of seven located by Gav Thomas two days ago at Plover Scar appeared on Red Nab and logically yesterdays distant skeer sighting was of the only two visible birds on a skeer with a 'far side slope'
Stonechat - male near Heysham NR office then on to tank farm
Nuthatch - one Heysham Head

Others of note
Rock Pipit - one along OE foreshore at HT
Kittiwake - juv harbour area
Little Gull - usual adult around outfalls
Wheatear - two on coast
Med Gull - 2 x 2CY, 1 x Ad and 1 x 1CY seen at various time but by no means cooperative today

Routine vis mig and ringing (over to you Jean!)
Pink-footed Goose - 140 over sea (three skeins)
Redwing 127
Meadow Pipit 13
Greylag 11
Grey Wagtail 9
Skylark 1
Linnet 8
Siskin 3
Carrion Crow 5
Jackdaw 17
Alba Wagtails 16




Sunday 2 October 2016

Redwing arrive along with an unexpected calm weather Sabine's Gull!


The Sabine's Gull was presumably that seen by Stuart Sharp at the northern end of Morecambe a couple of days ago.  Thanks to Gavin for the pics:

 

 
 

 
 
 
The first Redwing of autumn 2016 arrived this morning.
 
Headline birds
A juv Sabine's Gull was found on Heysham Outfall 2 by Mike Robinson. It "showed well", down to less than 10m and was still feeding on small fish on the outfall at 17:05hrs. It could well be the bird seen recently off the Stone Jetty and Hest Bank.
A Yellow-browed Warbler was heard on and off in the small trees at the northern end of the Model Boat Pond until noon at least (Malcolm Downham)
Two Pale-bellied Brent Geese were on an offshore skear at low tide.
A Kingfisher flew past the outfalls (A.Cornall)
 
Middleton Nature Reserve
Ringing 0630-1130
Glorious blue skies (see photo above) usually mean a "clearout" of night migrants and certainly all the warblers of previous days had disappeared.
Redwing 1 (adult)
Blackbird 1
Reed Bunting 6
Meadow Pipit 12
Goldcrest 5 plus 1 retrap
Grey Wagtail 2
Robin 1 plus 1 retrap
Wren 1 plus 1 retrap
Great Tit 1
Chaffinch 2
Blue Tit 2
 
Vismig
Redwing 29 - flying fairly low and going in various directions.
Pink-footed Geese 165
Meadow Pipit 234 - still piling through
Linnet 9
Skylark 2
Swallow 7
Grey Wagtail 5 (2 ringed)
Siskin 6
alba wagtail 1
Raven 1
Buzzard 4
Kestrel 1
Sparrowhawk 2
Lesser Redpoll 1
Corvids 4 (Jackdaw and Crows)
 
Insects
A Small White was near Red Nab - a late date for this species
 
 
 


Saturday 1 October 2016

Yellow-browed Warbler arrives!

Weather: ENE F2, mainly overcast, 10C

Middleton Nature Reserve scored again, this time with a Yellow-browed Warbler.

In addition 62 other birds were ringed or processed:
Meadow Pipit 17
Goldcrest 7 new and 1 retrap
Long-tailed Tit 7 new and 1 retrap
Chiffchaff 6
Blackcap 5
Robin 4 new and 1 retrap
Reed Bunting 4
Great spotted Woodpecker 2
Blue Tit 2
Dunnock 2
Wren 1
Great Tit 1
Grey Wagtail 1

Sites checked today for birds of note or migrants:
Heysham Head - just 2 Chiffchaff. The Nuthatch was still there.
Heysham Nature Reserve - Cetti's Warbler, 5 Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrests, a Kingfisher, 1 Redwing heard
Ocean Edge - Whinchat (female or immature)
Red Nab/Outfalls - 4 Med Gulls, adult Little Gull

Visible migration was slow to get underway until 9am. The totals below are for all birds logged in the Heysham area, from Heysham Head, Heysham Nature Reserve, Ocean Edge foreshore and Middleton NR between 0630-1315hrs:
Meadow Pipit 1077
Pink-footed Goose 167 plus other flocks heard but not seen
Alba wagtail 98
Swallow 71
Linnet 39
Skylark 28
MistleThrush 22 (a flock of 21 and a singleton)
Chaffinch 6
Siskin 5 lots heard but not seen
Grey Wagtail 4
Raven 3
Jay 3
Reed Bunting 2
Lesser Redpoll 1
Teal 1