Red-veined Darter confirmed

Heysham Obs

Middleton model boat pond this afternoon.  Thanks Janet.  Are they still hanging out at this formerly prolonged breeding site or is this a primary migrant? (one sighting on one day in last year's grotty summer).  One was thought to have been photographed on the dragonfly event on Saturday, so hopefully another pic on its way from the observer.

Also seen up to 6 Black-tailed Skimmer, a single male Ruddy Darter and at least one Emperor

Please take care not to disturb the Mute Swan family if you visit this pond.  Thanks

Outfalls/Red Nab
Med Gull -  at least 4 2CY and one adult
Arctic Tern - at least one adult
Common Tern - one adult

Moths
A really decent catch by this year's standards.  New for the year were: White Satin, Dotted Clay, Barred Yellow, Scalloped Oak and I think V-Pug.  Notable were Broad-barred White, a latish Eyed Hawk-moth, Bee Moth, Diamond-back Moth, 3 Silver Y and 6 Double Dart.  Clay (15) the most numerous  

Thorough check of Med Gulls

Heysham Obs
A careful check of the Med Gulls on the outfalls over the low tide period saw 15 individuals but no sign of yesterday's juv!  Thanks Mark (and others?)

Outfalls area early am
Med Gull - 8 x 2CY, 2 x 3CY, 5 x adult.  No info on whether any were ringed and not sure if anything else was seen
Redshank - 56 over the afternoon tide (all but one adult)
Whimbrel - 1 (IOA) over the afternoon tide

Office area
Ringing suggested that resident species had not done too badly but juvenile summer migrants, other than Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff, were well below par.  'New' birds included (juv unless stated):  4 Willow Warbler, 3 Chiffchaff, 6 Wren, 12 Greenfinch, 6 Robin, 3 Chaffinch, 2 Goldfinch but just 2 Whitethroat and one juvenile and two adult female Blackcap

Moths
The first Straw Underwing of the year

Ruddy Shelduck visit earlier this week

Heysham Obs
Thanks to Sandra and John for showing us pics of two Ruddy Shelduck which were on the mudflats by Ocean Edge saltmarsh on 2/7/12.  Just going out to see if they are still around.

Thanks very much to Sandra and John for these pics which suggest two female or immature Ruddy Shelduck with no obvious evidence of any hybridisation.  They are part of an established pattern of summer post-breeding influxes, perhaps from a feral population in the Netherlands or elsewhere

Outfalls/Red Nab
Curlew - influx with 221 on Red Nab, then flushed on to mudflats off OE
Redshank - 31 - influx
Grey Plover - 9
Med Gull - the first juvenile of the autumn on the outfalls, at least 3 2CY, including the strikingly black-headed bird but only one adult could be found
Kittiwake - 2CY
no terns on the incoming tide

Office area
Swift - at least 30 high to the south & others heard
Greenfinch - 15 new birds ringed on the feeder
Chaffinch - 5 as above
Ones and twos of Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff ringed during the morning in the office nets

Moths
The first Common Rustic & Chilo phragmitella of the year.

More Meds and miserable weather

Heysham Obs

A glum juvenile Wren in the rain wondering if there could be a better life elsewhere (thanks Janet)

A different lot of young wrens taking their first steps into the world. Thanks Janet

Outfalls/Red nab

Med Gull - 2 2CY, one a new bird (both unringed), one adult but the tide a little too high for a proper check

Moths

Decent catch by this summer's standards with not all the small stuff identified yet.  Best were a late and worn Shaded Pug (one of the few pugs you can easily identify when worn!), an Obscure Wainscot, two Double Dart and a single Silver Y

Close encounter with a Silver Y and a Straw Dot at Middleton.  Thanks Janet

Middleton CES and a Raven mystery

Heysham Obs
Sanity was questioned this morning as I drove through the Lune valley at some ridiculous hour with rain showers and a gusty wind.  Blind faith in the forecasted weather window for the Middleton CES and already the wind speed was way out.  The net-setting was a bit tricky but as soon as the CES period started the weather changed for the better - indeed it was too sunny!  With the assistance of John Mason and no heavy shower clouds on the horizon, we were able to set two supplementary nets, mainly to try and assess the Grasshopper Warbler situation.  The following observations were made:

Middleton NR 0545-1045hrs
Raven - Four flew very high from the west - seemingly from over the Bay and headed due east until lost from sight.  An odd record for this time of year but they breed early and disperse early?
Siskin - five lots of calls heard - all appeared to be single birds heading south/south-east
Swift - 7 south
Reed Warbler - there appears from ringing data and other singing birds to be about 6-7 territories
Sedge Warbler - Four separate independent 'old' juveniles were caught along with one unringed adult and one adult retrap which did at least have a brood patch.  This was thought to be associated with just the one obvious territorial male, the only one heard singing or calling
Grasshopper Warbler - With the assistance of a caveat on my ringing permit allowing brief playback for this species at Middleton, two retrap adults, one unringed adult and two juveniles were caught.  Much better than expected after the recent weather and obvious demise of the much larger Sedge Warbler population.  The playback, of course, was only used by the two supplementary nets, not within the CES envelope.
Gadwall - male seen once in flight
Curlew - three separately high to the east

Ringing at Middleton NR
Better than expected with quite a few tits and Willow Warblers keeping the session going in the absence of any significant numbers of other warblers, especially Sedge.  41 new and 12 retraps were caught with almost half the newly-ringed total being Blue Tit and Willow Warbler

Red Nab and outfalls - quick mid-morning check
Med Gull - three adults and at least 2 2CY
Kittiwake - usual 2CY
no terns seen

Moths
A very early Toadflax Pug was left for me to look at by John Girdley (thanks John) - no, not a misidentified Foxglove Pug - this is a known site for Toadflax and we do know what they look like!  Common Emerald best of the rest

.First Common Darter of the year and there are still no known Emperor records.  Thanks Janet

First Greenshank of the 'autumn'

Heysham Obs
Red Nab/outfalls/Ocean Edge incoming tide
Greenshank - adult in the saltmarsh creek
Grey Plover - 9 on the tideline
Dunlin - 3 on the tideline
Med Gull - 3 original 2CY plus a large and small adult
Arctic Tern - 2 adults
Kittiwake - usual 2CY

Middleton NR
Not a single Sedge Warbler seen or heard during mist net ride clearance.  Therefore perhaps the key species in terms of numbers out of the equation as regards positive local breeding bird CES data.  Hopefully the CES visit tomorrow will not be watching paint dry even if the weather allows it to take place.  Fortunately, the last visit was reasonable with bits and pieces of mainly non-wetland species keeping it ticking over

Insects
A poor catch in the hut trap as there was a bit of east in the wind.  Common Emerald was the only geometrid at an overnight sheet/light at Middleton and quite a few Map-winged Swift at one of the few lowland sites where this species is common

Yellow Shell at Middleton NR this afternoon.  Thanks Janet 

The weather clobbers the more exposed roof-nesting seagulls

Heysham Obs
Better timing for the incoming tide Red Nab check.  Gulls at all angles with some half-hidden behind rocks in the light winds and took five sweeps to be as certain as possible there were:

Red Nab/outfalls
Med Gull - 4 x 2CY, the new bird being large with a black 'dollop' of a mask, and a small adult.  None ringed
Kittiwake - 2CY
Black-headed Gull - 270 (five juvs - first I've noticed this year here)
Common Gull - 19
Common Sandpiper - 1
Grey Plover = 16 along tideline south of Ocean Edge


Gull nest/brood count on 12/6/12
Fisher's Roof north side:
Herring Gull - 6 on nests;
Lessers - 15 on nests plus 3 broods of 2 juvs, and 3 broods of 1 juv
Great BB Gull - 1 brood of 2 juvs
Gull nest/brood count on 2/7/12
Fisher's Roof north side:
Herring Gull - 1 on nest plus 1 brood of 2 juvs ;
Lessers 1 on nest plus 2 broods of 3 juvs and 1 brood of 2 juvs.
Fisher's Roof south side:
Herring Gulls - 2 broods of 1juv, 1 brood of 2 juvs, 1 brood of 3 juvs;
Lessers - 2 broods of 2 juvs
Centrica:
Herring Gull - 1 on nest plus 1 brood of 1 juv;
Lessers 1 brood of 2 juvs
? Roof (flat-roofed building at port):
Herring Gull - 1 brood of 1 juv, 1 brood of 2 juvs
Middleton/Heysham Business Park:
Herring Gull - 2 broods of 1 juv;
Lessers - 3 broods of  3 juvs, 13 broods of  2 juvs and  9 broods of 1 juv
Ocean Edge Caravan site - to be added

Moths
A really good catch at last with the highlight being a Shark, a formerly regular species around here but scarce these days.  Rarer still here was Currant Pug and 'firsts of the year' included Wormwood Pug and Large Fruit Tree Tortrix

A significant influx of Silver Y in this rather muggy weather at the moment and (top) a rather "in between seasons" Treble Bar - usually double-brooded in spring/autumn - presumably a late emergence in the poor weather.  Thanks Janet

Bit of a shortage of Ragwort this year and getting hammered by Cinnabar caterpillar.  Quite a lot of moth larvae use ragwort e.g. Eucosma campoliliana as well as it being a useful nectar source for all sorts of insects.  Thanks Janet 

2CY Med trio still present

Heysham Obs

Red Nab area
A little too late in relation to the incoming tide height

Med Gull - the three 2CY still present and none of them are ringed (no ads seen this morning)
Kittiwake - 2CY

Moths
A small catch included the second Blackneck of the year and a single Silver Y

Moth hoodoo broken at last

Heysham Obs
Another unsettled morning prompted a short seawatch and outfalls check (thanks Mark for some of this stuff)

Sea 0830-0915ish on and off
Gannet - 3 (one close)
Manx Shearwater - at least 3, possibly 5

Outfalls/Red Nab
Med Gull - 2 adults and the black-headed 2CY (definitely unringed), but no sign of the other two 2CY seen yesterday, one of which was the 'regular' bird
Arctic Tern - 2 adults, but drifted offshore as tide came in
Kittiwake - 2CY

Moths
At last, a Figure of 80 whilst I checked the trap!  I've only seen one of this near-annual-at-Heysham before.  It doesn't register at my regular sites in Hindburndale/Roeburndale and area.  The other feature with the moths was a minor emergence of fresh individuals this morning and these comprised Shoulder-striped Wainscot, Clay and Heart and Dart.  SSW and Clay usually only overlap as worn 'back-end' and newly-emerged respectively - an indication that the weather has seriously disrupted some emergence times this year.  

Influx of Meds and Silver Y

Heysham Obs
Red Nab area
A very quick check revealed:
Med Gull -  FOUR: 1 x 2CY with mask, one x 2CY with an almost black head, 1 x 2CY with small amount of black on rear crown, 1 x Ad.  Either sitting or in flight so legs not seen re-rings - anyone time to check?
Kittiwake - 2CY

Reserve
Day-time moth trawl revealed:
Silver Y - 13
Burnet Companion - 2 tatty ones (both in SD4060)
Latticed Heath - 1
Small China Mark - 7

Highlight of a rather poor overnight catch checked rather too late was a late Shaded Pug

Plenty of Nettle Tap moth around the reserve where the taller vegetation can be found alongside the paths (including nettles!).  Thanks Janet