Monday 22 May 2023

Did the Rock Pipit chicks survive?

The continuing pattern of light overnight east breeze shifting to the west and freshening in the morning. Another warm sunny day 

Heysham skear - low water 08:20 (MD)
The continuing pattern of seeing very little, also continues!
Eider - just a single male
Great Crested Grebe 5 - slightly unusually just one pair and three individual birds
Red-breasted Mergansers 4  - 2 pairs together
Little Egret 3
Grey Heron 1
Still several hundred Herring Gulls.
Oystercatcher c400
Curlew 1
Turnstone 3
Dunlin 3
Dunlin with two Turnstone

There were several bumblebees heading north and one white butterfly, think it was a Small White. There isn't really anything to see in this clip, but it is a slow news day, and it is quite therapeutic (well at least I think so)


South shore - high water 13:50 (MD)
I really just had a walk along the wall to see if I could work out what had happened at the Rock Pipit lighthouse nest area. There were no birds above the nest hole. But there were two adults feeding in the scrub near the lighthouse. There were no youngsters in earshot (you can hear them begging when they see food arriving), but I saw the the adults fly into the Power Station grounds and over the harbour wall, unfortunately, I wasn't able to see if they were carrying food. But, perhaps more tellingly, one flew back to the scrub from the very end of the wooden jetty. Possibly they had a youngster there and possibly others in other locations. This isn't like previous post fledging feeding here, but it is definitely a new male this year and possibly a new female too. Either way I'm not as pessimistic as I was yesterday.
The Red Nab bird was constantly calling and regularly parachuting. The west wind was quite fresh by this time, this is the Red Nab bird sheltering from the wind and singing, you can just about make it out above the wind noise.

Eider pair out
Kittiwake 1 x 2nd calendar year on their pipe

These young Lesser and Great Black-Backed Gulls were lined up nicely on Red Nab
The size difference is attenuated as the smaller gull is also further away.

Peacock on the saltmarsh, there were also Large and Green-Veined Whites

There are several resident Common Blue in the scrub near lighthouse, but only males seen

For comparison, Janet took these mobile phone shots of Holly Blues at the end of Moneyclose Lane.

Male Holy Blue

The Hawthorns all are heavy with blossom this year. The scent is quite heady!
One of many Hawthorns in the Nature Park heavy with blossom