Nostalgia isn't as good as it used to be!

Very light air movement early on, initially from NE before moving west and freshening slightly. Mainly warm and sunny.

Heysham Skear - low water 08:45

Great Crested Grebe 9

Eider 24

Little Egret 23 - at least.

Grey Heron 3

Oystercatcher only a few hundred on middle skear but many more on outer skear

Redshank c150

Curlew c60

Turnstone c40

Ringed Plover c30

South Shore,

Sandwich Tern 2 towards high water (ref Kevin)

Just a quick check of foreshore and saltmarsh mid afternoon.

It was very busy with holidaymakers, kites abound and quad bikes on the beach. It was nice to see everyone enjoying themselves, but I didn't hold out much hope for wildlife and wasn't disappointed (MD).

Wheatear 1 on saltmarsh 

Plenty of butterflies on Buddleia though:

Red Admiral 6

Painted Lady 2

Peacock 2

Comma 2

Large White 1

Small White 3

Small Tortoiseshell 8

Common Blue 4

Both Painted Lady looked quite fresh

As did most of the Red Admiral, but this must be the tattiest one I've ever seen!

Middleton Nature Reserve 

John carried out a ringing session this morning and the results were much the same as yesterday. The weather conditions were calm and clear sun again with little evidence of birds moving around the reserve or overhead. The disappointing capture total was just:

Chiffchaff 3

Willow Warbler 2

Dunnock 1

Great Tit 1

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Just a quick look in the evening 

Migrant Hawker 1

Common Darter 15+

I like this shot of a male Common Darter,
resting on one of the many informational notice boards around the reserve.

I know today's title is an old joke, but it's one that I've always liked, plus new jokes aren't as good as the old ones! (MD)

Pete dug this shot out from somewhere. It's looking out over the Heysham Reserve marsh in 1984. Two things are striking, the amount of vegetation in the marsh and the lack of trees and shrubs around.

The good news is that both of these observers still regularly 
provide excellent records for the observatory.

It wasn't possible to take a shot today from the same location, as this slope is now covered in shrubs and trees obscure the view of the marsh, but this shot is looking in roughly the same direction.

The recent work on the marsh has proven very effective 

Kevin had a couple of nice moths in his light trap last night, both good records for the Heysham area.

Blood-vein

Barred Hook-tip