leachs

leachs petrel - one distantly slowly out 1500

Little Gull - ad red nab
Kittiwake - ad associated with iom
Ferry
Little Gull - ad red nab
Med Gull - 22 Red Nab and outfalls (6 Juv)

Monday

Shag - new in 1cy harbour mouth midday

Little Gull - ad red nab

Pinkfoot goose - 5 south
Canada goose - 3 south

Sunday

Med gulls - 9 adult plus 3 juv on beach near wooden jetty. A further 6 adult plus 1 juv from north side when flushed, from wherever they were feeding, by tide.

Not quite on the sea

a windy day was not quite good enough to produce much

Sandwich Tern - flock of four out
Little Gull - ad outfalls
Med gull - at least 10
Rock Pipit - at least two around

Great-crested Grebe - 10 around skeer at low water

Vine’s Rustic in Kevin's trap which is just in the eastern boundary of the recording area. Just one previous in the mid 1990s

Quick pre high tide check

Whimbrel - fairly late one red nab
Med Gull - 27
Little Gull - ad
Surprisingly no Sandwich Tern

Kingfisher photo near red nab 24/8 (Esther Harrison - thanks for this)

A bit of a mixture

South side - am
Little gull  - 1 adult on outflows
Mediterranean gulls - 3 x 1cy on outflows
Rock pipit - 2 Red Nab
Wheatear - 6 on Ocean Edge foreshore

North side - pm
Rock pipit - 4. 1 near cafe, 2 under high cliffs (one looking particularly bedraggled- see pic below) and one on Heysham Head. That's 6 seen today, without the 2 near lighthouse which wasn't checked.

Wheatear 3
Grey Wagtail 1
Common Sandpiper  - 1 on near Naze
Common snipe 3 - in front of heliport wall
Mediterranean gull 1. This adult blogging in front of north wall. Couldnt tell if it had metal ring.

Moth trap produced an Old Lady

Wednesday

Not much coverage today.
Heysham skeer - evening
Great-crested grebe 2
Eider 2
Knot c200 at least one with a ring, but out of reading range.

Curlew Sandpiper and a new Cricket

Lots of waders on sand out from Ocean Edge salt marsh at high water this morning, most in a mixture of summer plumage and winter plumage, and all stages in between. This will be the last neap tide not to cover the mud for a while.

Knot 1015
Bar-tailed Godwit 87
Grey plover 198
Dunlin 70
Curlew Sandpiper - one adult moulting
Sanderling  1

Sandwich tern - 3 adult
Little Egret 9
Rock pipit - 1 on salt marsh
Skylark 1 on Ocean Edge foreshore, later 1, possibly same bird, overhead south.

Linda Renshaw located a Speckled Bush Cricket on Heysham Nature Reserve. First for here.

Also at HNR
Goldcrest 2 - first of autumn
Grey wagtail  5 colour ringed.

Bank holiday tourists

South shore - 15:00 - 17:00
Wheatear - minimum 16
Rock Pipits 4 - 2 near lighthouse, 2 on Red Nab
Whinchat - 2 Red Nab

one of the Whinchat with a Wheatear

This bird was only seen briefly on PS razor wire near wooden jetty. Side in view was in shade, but is either a female or a juvenile Redstart (MD)

Skylark 1. This bird was resting on westen end of Ocean Edge foreshore

Mediterranean gulls 2 near wooden jetty.

Middleton Nature Reserve - mid morning
Cooler than last couple of days this morning, before sun broke through.
Mute - 1 pair with 5 young on main pond. 2 adult together on Tim Butler.
Coot - 1 on "no swimming" pond, plus 1 new arrival on main pond
Moorhen 6
Gadwall 10
Tufted 1 male
Little grebe 5 (2 x sp)

Bit cool for dragonflies, but still:
Emperor 1
Common darter 6
Migrant Hawker 3

Hopefully more later.

Sunday - insect action day

Middleton Nature Reserve - lunchtime
Tufted duck 1 male - on "no swimming" pond. First record this "autumn" but the liklihood is that it has been around a while and overlooked.

The hot sunny weather meant there was a lot of insect activity.
Butterflies:
Gatekeeper c10
Meadow Brown 2 (today's walk excluded most of the meadowlands)
Painted Lady c30 (half of them worn, half fresh)
Red Admiral 1
Peacock 1
Small White 3
Small Heath 3
Small Tortoiseshell 6
Common Blue c20
Wall Brown - a bright orange and black butterfly flew low straight and fast, till out of sight. It appeared to be a Wall, but couldn't be relocated and confirmed.
No Speckled Wood seen, despite checking likely habitats (too hot?)
Brimstone 1

Dragonflies:
Common Darter c30
Emperor 5
Brown Hawker 6
Migrant Hawker 2 + 3 other unidentified small hawkers
Broad-bodied Chaser - there was a freshly dead male on water surface of the new scrapes, plus this aging male on the seasonal pools to west of Tim Butler pond.