Wader increase and a dribble of phylloscs

Heysham Obs
Rossall Point seawatching persistence seems to suggest we are missing a trick or two as the coverage has firmly revolved around checks of the outfalls/Red Nab area, a bit of routine monitoring ringing and moths.  Maybe we ought to start giving the sea (and overhead coastal vis) an hour or so each morning

Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Med Gull - 5 2CY (all roosting together!), 3 juv, 2 ad or 3CY but at least half of the gulls too far away down the tideline towards Potts Corner
Little Gull - usual moulting ad
No terns
Bar-tailed Godwit - 260
Grey Plover - 172
Dunlin - 320
Sanderling - 1 adult
Redshank - c250 but some possibly missed on Red Nab
Curlew - 180
Oystercatcher - 3250 (75% on Red Nab)


Dog exercising statistics
A dog exerciser and a small child & a black lab-type were observed for 20 minutes on the tideline south of Ocean Edge just after high tide.  The action was to use a ball sling and throw it into the sea for the dog to fetch.  The child remained under 'close control' and was not an influence. Therefore all the movement was at right angles to the tideline.  Waders were displaced either side as follows
250m - Dunlin
300m - Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover, Black-headed Gull
400+m - possibly coincidence, but no Curlew within 400m
The remainder of the waders were not using that stretch of beach

I didnt see the walk out to the tideline but a previous check suggested that this was right in the centre of the feeding/roosting assemblage, hence equal numbers of the four main species either side of the activity


Office area
Trickle of migrant Willow Warbler (9 ringed), 3 Chiffchaff ringed (possibly migrants but a bit early) and, encapsulating the poor success during the recent breeding season, just the one Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat ringed.  No evidence of overhead passage with up to 30 House Martin and 25 Swallow probably just milling about.

Moths
Pristine Heart and Dart and True Lover's Knot were unexpected.  Another latish Dingy Shears

A bit of coastal coverage

Heysham Obs
No ringing this morning although the dumbed-down TV forecasts of "rain from the word go" did not happen. Always best to look at the fine detail in proper forecasts in this sort of weather

Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Med Gull - 6 juvs, 3 2CY, one adult & could have been more with one large chunk of gulls too far away down the tideline to the south (locations a mixture of Red Nab and on the sands)
Little Gull - moulting ad Red Nab
Sandwich Tern - juv Red Nab
Grey Plover - 141
Bar-tailed Godwit - 75
Dunlin - 52
Whimbrel -1

Moths
Checked rather late (0900) and they were very flighty.  Square-spot Rustic new for the year and Dingy Footman getting a bit late

Shoveler surprise

Heysham Obs
No migrants and nothing new with the outfalls collection other than a couple of 1CY Shoveler - most unexpected at this time of year

Outfalls/Red Nab high tide
Med Gull - 2 ads, 3 2CY and 2 juv
Little Gull - moulting ad
Shoveler - 2 1CY in the saltmarsh channel
Whimbrel - 3
Grey Plover - 115 but distant
Dunlin - c150 distantly
Bar-tailed Godwit - 75 distantly

Grounded migrants
No evidence


Moths
Not a lot in the easterly wind

Routine stuff

Heysham Obs
A stiff easterly breeze restricted the mist netting but there didn't seem to be any great number of migrants around, although perhaps Willow Warblers were missed very first thing.  Moths were similarly knocked on the head as the trap window faces east

Red Nab/outfalls/Ocean Edge dropping tide
Grey Plover 93
Bar-tailed Godwit 86
Dunlin - 32
Redshank - 168
Med Gull - 2 ads and a juv

Moths
Best were single White-line Dart, Barred Rivulet and (for here) Ruby Tiger

Great weather at last for the butterflies

Heysham Obs
The flower-rich grassland next to the office was a hive of activity today with Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper and Common Blue in good numbers.  Ten years ago for Gatekeeper you would have read Wall Brown, but the latter seems to have mysteriously disappeared from this area.  Warblers seem to be moving around a bit with the retrap evidence suggesting at least some of this involves dispersal of locally born birds.  Unusually, two Whitethroat and a Reed Warbler ringed as recently fledged juveniles about 1.5km away at Middleton NR in July have been caught next to the office in the last two days.  In the absence of rings, these would have been labelled as 'early migrants'

Office area
Unringed Sedge warbler, Reed Warbler, Willow Warbler (3) and Chiffchaff but not many Greenfinch today

Red Nab/Ocean Edge well before high tide
Med Gull - at least 4 juvs, 2 x 2CY and at least one adult

Moths
A nice mixed catch including a rather late Barred Red (uncommon here), Barred Rivulet, White-line Dart, 3 Dingy Footman, Dingy Shears, Agriphila latistria.  Of the specialities, Bordered Beauty conspicuous by its absence - maybe its having a late emergence like a few other species

'Enjoy your birding' or see it as a challenge?

Heysham Obs
There were 760 small gulls on Ocean Edge beach, mostly asleep, mostly facing in all directions, mostly in various stages of moult, mostly 'into the sun' and all in a shimmering heat-haze.  It took about 8 slow 'pans' with the newly cataract-free eye to sort them out.  All due to a ginger and white spaniel-type-thing flushing them from the more observer-friendly Red Nab

Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Grey Plover - c110 silhouettes along the tideline
Redshank - c230 as above
Oystercatcher - c2950 as above
Med Gull - 5 juvs (these were easy!), 2 ad and 2 2CY
Common Gull - one juv
No sign of Little Gull or any tern spp

Office area
Quite a bit of movement in the context so far of this low-key post-breeding season with 3-4 Whitethroat the first for over a week!  About 40 birds were ringed, including two juv Bullfinch, 3 Whitethroat, 2 Willow Warbler, one Chiffchaff, 4 Swallow and about 15 Greenfinch.  11 Swift recorded flying south in the afternoon

Moths
Quite autumnal with the first Sallow, Rosy Minor and a local speciality Agriphila latistria   

Butterflies & dragonflies
A walk round the reserve saw c40 Meadow Brown, 15 Common Blue and a few Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Small White, Green-veined White, Small Skipper.  Best were two Peacock (scarce recently), Red Admiral, Small Copper, Large White.  Single Emperor, Brown Hawker and a notable three Common Hawker

Meds, two terns and some moths

Heysham Obs
Ocean Edge/Red Nab/outfalls
Med Gull - now 5 x juv, 2 x 2CY and at least 1 x ad
Common Gull - first juv of the autumn
Little Gull - adult early morning
Arctic Tern - adult
Sandwich Tern - adult
Ringed Plover - 3 - possibly the local breeding birds as they were seen yesterday within the power station grounds (thanks for the info, Mark)
Oystercatcher - 2400
Redshank - 216
Grey Plover - c105 but very distant

Moths
Small Wainscot was new for the year with the best of the rest for here being:  Golden Rod Pug, Southern Wainscot and a Dingy Footman.  Micros included Garden Rose Tortrix and Cydia splendana

Moths and Oystercatchers dominate the numbers

Heysham Obs
Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Little Gull - adult
Kittiwake - 2CY
Med Gull - 4 juvs, ad & 2CY (Czech-ringed adult seen a week last Sunday along the north wall)
Oystercatcher - 2100
Redshank - 206

Dragonflies
Single Common & Brown Hawker & male Emperor on the dog-walk pond

Moths
About 200 of 54 species including the long-awaited Barred Rivulet, Lime-speck Pug (not so common these days), Eudonia pallida, Agonopterix ocellana, Dingy Shears and Pebble Prominent

Fault-barred CES

Heysham Obs
Middleton CES
Predictably rather poor with a couple of juv Sedge Warblers caught with massive fault-bars on the tail, undoubtedly a product of a weather-induced pretty rough ride in the nest which presumably led to the vast majority of breeding attempts failing.  So far, our impressions are that the species which has suffered the most from the awful breeding season weather has been Whitethroat and the singleton ringed this morning does nothing to alter that.  Willow Warblers on the other hand seem to have done "OK" by comparison, no vast numbers but a steady trickle of unringed adults and juveniles.  The question was asked the other day and repeated here - where are the tit flocks - is the absence of especially Long-tailed Tit just a 'Heysham problem'?

Outfalls
A high tide check saw two juvenile Med Gulls on the outfalls

Moths
Purple Thorn provided the second record for the site

Nothing new other than a swift trickle

Heysham Obs
The most exciting thing this morning was a Common Hawker in a mist net - successfully extracted

Ocean Edge/Red Nab incoming tide
Grey Plover - c95
Bar-tailed Godwit - c20 - this and the above very distant along tideline
Med Gull - 4 juveniles (all unringed), adult and 2 2CY
Little Gull - no obvious sign
Sandwich Tern - two adults

Office area
Pretty dead - not a single 'sylvia' seen/heard, reflecting the dreadful breeding season - at this time of year we normally have to beware of Whitethroats 'using' the moth trap
Willow Warbler - one new bird ringed
Swift c15 S 0930-1130
Swallow - 10 S plus others blogging 0930-1130

Insects
Common Hawker by office - unusual here
Moths were mundane with a bit of an influx of Antlers and the 'highlights' being Carcina quercana and another Elachista atricomella