Warm weather brings out the insects

Even warmer today despite there being less sunshine. A light NW wind.

South shore (Malcolm)

A check mid morning at low water.

Black-Headed gulls 160 mainly on and either side of No.1 outflow.

I'd gone along the sea wall to see if any of the gulls (specifically Meds) were feeding
on the sandmason worms on the beach between the wooden jetty and No.1 outflow.
On approach it was clear that there were plenty of gulls on the beach.......

.........but most turned out to be Black-Headed gulls

The tubes of the sandmason worms were visible, but the gulls were either just resting or paddling to flush out small invertebrates (it hardly seems worth the effort!)

Mediterranean gull just 2 on the beach, and no others seen.

First summer Mediterranean gull (left) with first summer Black-Headed gull

Second summer Mediterranean gull

Kittiwake 1 first summer 

Rock Pipit 1 display flying and singing near lighthouse 

Peregrine Falcon presumably 2 - commotion only heard, the birds were on the opposite side of the Power Station.

This male and juvenile Pied Wagtail were feeding on Ocean Edge field. The gurgling noise is from the groundwater runoff near the slipway.

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Janet had a stroll around the main reserve early afternoon.

Moths:

Straw dot

Six-spot Burnet

Burnet Companion 

Silver Y

Butterflies 

Meadow Brown

Very worn Common Blue

Small Skipper

Ringlet were particularly abundant 

Various

Blackfly aphids

"Blackfly aphid" hunter

One of the (large) funnel-web spiders

Tatty looking Magpie

A few more Meds

A very light early morning east breeze quickly switched to west and freshened slightly. Sunny and very warm.

South shore

Janet checked early morning

First summer Kittiwake by No.1 outflow

Plenty of Black-Headed gulls feeding on the outflows. At least 120 around this morning

Herring gull with a crab, but not a regular shore crab. Note the
flattened rear legs, this is a velvet swimming crab.

The gulls normally remove the claws off crabs this size before swallowing them.
It suggests that this crab was soft, that is, it has recently shed its carapace and
exoskeleton. The new exoskeleton takes a few days to fully harden.

Young Cormorant and a Black-Headed Gull

Linnets on Red Nab, 4 more between lighthouse and waterfall 

Rabbits everywhere, they have had a successful breeding season........there's a shock

I checked later in the morning as the rising tide was corralling the shore resting gulls (Malcolm)

Mediterranean gulls 6 at least. Definitely 4 first summer birds and at least 2 adults

This clip demonstrates how the rising tide move the gulls together and closer to the sea wall. It begins on 2 adult Meds, there are 2 first summer later in the clip. A couple of Common Gulls and the rest are Black-Headed.

First summer (left) and adult (right)

Adult and first summer

Two adults with a nice Black-Headed gull for comparison 

These two adults on Red Nab later looked to be the same birds

A second check in the evening saw just a first and a second summer bird. So at least 7 Mediterranean gulls seen today as I didn't spot a second summer in the morning.

Herring and Black-Headed gulls plus the first summer Kittiwake on No.2 rail

Peregrine falcon 2 seen on two occasions around the NE corner of No.2 Power Station. A large and smaller bird noisily exchanging prey mid flight. It wasn't clear if it was an adult feeding a young or passing food to another adult (to feed young?). It wasn't even possible to see which bird passed the prey, the Power Station security are understandably suspicious of anyone using optics to look beyond the perimeter.

In the Nature Park 

Ringlet 3

Common Blue 2

Large Skipper 1

Large Skipper

Returning? Med

Overnight showers finished about 08:00. Then dry and eventually sunny. A light west wind.

South shore (Malcolm)

A mid morning check on the rising tide.

Curlew 38 flew to Red Nab

Oystercatcher 10 on Red Nab

Redshank 1 on No.2 outflow rail

Black-Headed gull 150+ including several juvenile.

Black-Headed gulls with 2 juvenile 

Juvenile Black-Headed gull

This juvenile was feeding on No.2 outflow and seemed to be quite adept.

No sign of the Kittiwake today, perhaps there is now too much competition, or perhaps it was just resting out of sight somewhere.

Mediterranean gull 2. An adult was resting on the mud between the outflows with Black-Headed gulls. Unfortunately most of the gulls were facing away into the wind, not helping with identification.

The above shot is from the beginning of this clip. The arrow is pointing to the Med. Not easy to identify, but it takes a short flight in this clip and is then clearly a Med.

Another confusing factor was that it was "stood" very low to the mud.
Making it look no bigger than the Black-Headed gulls

Later, it was resting on Red Nab (just right of centre).
You can just make out a second summer Med top left

You can see in this shot why it stands low to the ground, it is missing the 
lower half of its right leg, so has taken to using its left knee as its left foot

We've seen this characteristic before. One of the first Meds to arrive last year (12th June) was a second summer bird also with the lower half of its right leg missing. It didn't hang around long, possibly as its disability would hamper it feeding on the favoured sand mason worms here. No guarantee it is the same bird of course, but it does seem likely (Malcolm)

This is a shot from last June

Greylag goose 9 - they flew from the south then NW along the sea wall, directly above my head, but even so I didn't get a clear view of them. They were either head on or above and I didn't hear a single honk.

Greylag geese

Grey Heron not welcomed on No.2 outflow rail

Grey Seal just beyond No2 outflow

Two of four Turnstone with the Oystercatcher on the old heliport wall

This nice sequence of a Swallow having a bath on the main pond at Middleton Nature Reserve - by Janet

Curlew and gull numbers continue to rise

Warm and sunny after overnight rain. A light west wind.

South shore

I had a walk along the sea wall mid morning on the rising tide (Malcolm)

Little Egret 2 on Red Nab

Curlew 157 minimum number. Birds seen on, flying to and flying from Red Nab.

Just a few of the Curlew moving on from Red Nab

Black-Headed gulls not counted today, but definitely more than yesterday so 100+

It's good having lots of gulls on the outflows again

Kittiwake 1 first summer

Five gull species in this shot. The Kittiwake is central and looks large as it was
closer. Also, Herring, Lesser Black-backed, Common and Black-Headed gulls

First summer Kittiwake. Had been resting on the wooden jetty before a
feeding trip to both outflows and patrolling the sea below the sea wall

Mediterranean Gull 2 - 1 adult flew east, this distant one on the shore looked to be an adult also, but a zoomed in shot revealed it to be a second summer.

Second summer Mediterranean gull, at least its legs were visible today 

Rock Pipit 2 - one near waterfall and one along the sea wall.

Peregrine Falcon 1 over Nature Park

Also in Nature Park

Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Common Whitethroat and Blackcap.

Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch and Bullfinch

Great Tit, Blue Tit and Long-Tailed Tit

Blackbird, Song Thrush

Robin, Dunnock and Wren

The only butterfly seen was a single Ringlet.

Male Ringlet, also spotted by Janet a little later

Heliport (Malcolm)

Just a stop off towards high water.

Roosting Oystercatcher, plus a single Knot
(where the sea meets the rocks at the very left of this shot)

Solitary Knot

Rock Pipit 2 foraging amongst the Near Naze rocks