Disappointing all round for visiting birders

Heysham Obs
Visiting birders had an unfortunate double whammy this morning with a visit to the newly secured heliport seawall seeing two 30 something females wandering about in there with no apprehension by security staff and no birds.  Secondly something must have flushed the gulls off Red Nab and a visit to the outfalls near a (lowish) high tide only produced the Ad and 2CY Kittiwakes

Moths were slightly better if you are a fan of Dingy Shears and Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing - first of the year for the checker and definitely FFY in latter case

Routine high tide check from Ocean Edge

Heysham Obs
A bit tricky because of drizzle preventing a check along the tideline

Ocean Edge vantage point
Med Gull - x 5 ad
Little Gull - x 1 2CY
Dunlin - 12
Curlew - 210
Little Egret - 7

Moths
Decent variety, nothing of note

More unringed young warblers by the office

Heysham Obs
The office nets are about feeders and a few local-ish or so we assume warblers at this time of year but just two days after a previous ringing effort there, 30 birds were caught, 28 of which were unringed.   Lots of birds were seeing and avoiding the nets as well in the bright sunlight.  Totals of unringed birds:  Chiffchaff (4), Whitethroat (3), Blackcap (3), Sedge Warbler (1), Greenfinch (7), Goldfinch (3), Chaffinch (2), Great Tit (2), Blue Tit (2), Dunnock (1)

Outfalls/Red Nab/mudflats off OE just after HT
Med Gull - 6 ads
Little Gull - 2CY
Whimbrel - 1
Bar-tailed Godwit - one with Curlew on Red Nab

Mammals
Pigmy Shrew - 1 found dead on path below Princess Alexandra Way.

New moth and the low tide med gathering kickstarts

Heysham Obs
Not a lot on a dropping tide check of outfalls but a later check of the wooden jetty area and Heysham one outfall by Phil saw a gathering of Med Gulls in the usual place between Heysham one and the wooden jetty and also a return of the two Little Gulls ...but no terns and the 2CY Kittiwake may have succumbed after yesterdays health check.  Later on there were 15 x adult, 6 x 3CY and one x 2CY meds! The toilet moth trap was surprisingly good, including the inexplicably scarce Elephant Hawk-moth!

Outfalls/Red Nab early on
Med Gull - unringed Ad

Outfalls low tide check by Phil Simpson
Med Gull - 8 adults (6 between wooden jetty and heysham one, 2 between outfalls) early afternoon then by late afternoon a minimum of 15 x ad, 6 x 3CY and 1 x 2CY - these were definitely not present yesterday!
Little Gull - adult and 2CY
Kittiwake - adult

Moth trap

Aethes rubigana new for the site and Elephant Hawk-moth, True Lover's Knot, Herald, Anania coronata of note

Much quieter on the Heysham front

Bit of a change from yesterday with much reduced numbers on the outfalls, Red Nab and Ocean Edge.

Today's sightings thanks to AC, PW, JR, JP and MD

Best birds:
Whimbrel on Red Nab at low tide
Mediterranean Gulls - ad and 3CY at Ocean Edge at low tide and the 3CY seen later on the outfalls
Kittiwake - adult flew past as the tide rose.  A juv sat on the seawall at high tide
Bar-tailed Godwit seen at high tide
Little Egret - 4
A white-looking gull was seen this afternoon but not well enough to rule out leucistic Black-headed Gull. Worth checking again in case it's something more exciting!

Ringing 0630-1130
44 birds caught: 32 new and 12 retraps. Only 4 adults, the rest were this year's young.
Good variety (new birds only):
Reed Warbler (1)
Willow Warbler (1)
Chiffchaff ( 3)
Whitethroat (5)
Lesser Whitethroat (1)
Blackcap (1)
Goldfinch (3)
Greenfinch (7)
Chaffinch (1)
Great Tit (3)
Blue Tit (2)
Robin (2)
Wren (1)
Dunnock (1)
Great Spotted Woodpecker (1 retrap)

Photos showing the different eye colour of Whitethroat in an adult bird (upper photo) and young bird (lower photo)

Middleton NR this am - thanks Malcolm
There is certainly a feel of autumn now! Mute - pair with 4 young boating pond. Second pair (appearing to be bonding) on Tim Butler. Coot - 6 all mature Moorhen - 3 plus 2 immature Tufted - m & f together Mallard - 3 female type, one with 3 young Lots of small birds around, particularly common whitethroat. 5 males singing. 4 female type seen. One must have been adult female as it was protecting at least 3 newly fledged birds (surely local). Also heard singing: Blackcap 1 Sedge warbler 2 Reed warbler 1 Chiffchaff 1 House martin - 2 feeding Swallow - 5 feeding (near Tim Butler) plus 2 singles over to south. Swift - 2 feeding over boating pond at 10am. Increased to 10 by noon.

Middleton NR insects - thanks Janet.  The Ringlet was from a completely new area on the south side of the access road (the 'community woodland' bit):

Middleton NR later this afternoon - thanks Andrew and Pete W - Southern Hawker, Comma and many Gatekeepers seen in the afternoon sunshine

Good variety for mid July

Heysham Obs
Outfalls/Red Nab/harbour low/incoming tide.  Thanks for the pics Janet

Arctic Tern - adult
Common Tern - adult - with the above on red nab late pm
Med Gull - 2-3 adults and 3cy
Kittiwake - adult-type and 2CY
Little Gull - 2CY on red nab late pm

A waste of decent seawatching conditions

Heysham Obs
Thanks to Mark for putting in 30 minutes before other jobs this morning

Gannet : adult diving for fish off end of Heysham one!   2CY out

No outfalls check I am aware of or tidal seawatching

Saturday sightings

Heysham Obs
Just enough time to see Ad summer and 2CY Little Gull flying on the outfalls

Moths included the first Straw Underwing of the year

Darvic ringed adult Med

Heysham Obs
One of the two adult Meds had a darvic on the left leg - a dark colour with yellow or white letters.  Hopefully someone with better eyes can read this.

Outfalls/Red Nab
Two very brief visits at low tide and incoming tide
Med Gull - 2 x ad, 1 x 3CY
Little Gull - same 2CY
Arctic Tern - adult
tern spp - seen very briefly seaward end of Heysham one outfall - looked like ad 'commic'

Moths
Scalloped Oak new for year

Biodiverse outfalls

Heysham Obs
Outfalls/Red Nab one hour before tide
Too late for Meds but:
Arctic Tern - adult inner end Heysham 2
Little Gull - 2CY Heysham two outfall then disappeared (IOA)
Sandwich tern - adult Red Nab (IOA)
Greenshank - adult ocean edge saltmarsh (IOA)
Whimbrel - one displaced by tide from Red Nab
Little Egret - 1

Thanks for these pics, Janet, including the first Ringlet open winged shot ever taken here and a 'proper' Riband Wave!

 

 

Moths

A small catch but good variety as the trap was checked prior to any sunlight.  Double Dart was unusually topping the list until pipped at the post by two Dark Arches on the last egg packing.  Catch included White Satin and Blackneck