Saturday, 10 August 2024

A change of venue was all it needed.

A hot sunny day with a light west wind.

South shore (Malcolm)
I went along the sea wall late morning hoping to see some ringed Mediterranean gulls feeding on the beach by the wooden jetty. There were 10 adult and 2 juvenile on the beach, a couple were feeding on sandmason worms, but most were just resting and preening, presumably having already eaten their fill.
Preening adult Mediterranean gull, this shot shows how prominent 
the sandmason worm tubes are again

There were three ringed birds, but all previously seen this year. Other Meds were resting/preening on the other beaches.
Mediterranean gull total 23 - 20 adult/3rd calendar year, 3 juvenile 
Peregrine Falcon 1

In the Nature Park
The juvenile Sparrowhawk was whining again, unfortunately silent in this short clip.

Juvenile Sparrowhawk 

Painted Lady 2 - first record this year
Painted Lady

One of three Small Skippers

Male Large White

Red Admiral 4
Meadow Brown 2
Gatekeeper 5
Speckled Wood 2

Common Darter 5

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)
An early evening check of the main ponds, really just to see what dragonflies were around.
Brown Hawker 4
Emperor 1 male
Broad-bodied Chaser 1 male
Broad-bodied Chaser
Black-tailed Skimmer 1 male
Black-tailed Skimmer

Common Darter 10+

Not many butterflies 
Large White 1
Meadow Brown 2
Gatekeeper 6

This young Little Egret seems to be developing its skills nicely.

Swallow 2, House Martin 3 south

By this time gulls were arriving for an evening bath, including 4 Mediterranean gulls, an adult, a 2nd calendar year and two juvenile.
This is one of the juveniles, I am just sat on the seat in the lower car park for this and the following shots.

This is the adult and a juvenile. If you watch closely (or in slow motion) you can see the adult has a white ring.

Fortunately, it kept lifting out of the water while it was bathing, and it was just possible to read the ring.
After checking so many Meds along the shore, this is the first new ringed 
bird seen this month! 

This is the 2nd calendar year Mediterranean gull




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