Excellent selection - but hard come by!

The strong winds continued from the south, largely overcast with, some heavy, showers.

Wooden Jetty area (MD)
11:00 tide starting to cover the beach next to jetty.
Mediterranean Gulls 18 feeding including 2 juveniles.  In addition there were 46 med gulls visible from the vantage point on Ocean Edge grass, mostly on red nab - many of these drifted south very early in tide cycle as I was mix and matching a Zoom meeting with telescope checks (PM)

The only darvic ringed bird,
was the long staying green ringed German bird

Wheatear 2

South shore - high water Webs check (PM)
Included:
Mediterranean gulls - 7 feeding on outflows
Little Gull - 1 second calendar year
Sandwich  Tern 1 adult
Common Tern 1 adult
Turnstone - 65 heliport seawall amongst 400 Redshank

Common Tern with juvenile Med and BHG above.
The Med has a yellow Darvic ring

The following excellent trio were seen flying into the recording area from the Stone jetty during an epic session by Nick Godden (thanks):

Great Skua (Bonxie) 
Osprey 
Grey Phalarope 

Meds, but little else.....so far

The strong wind started SSE freshened slightly during day and sifted to SSW. Not quite gale force, and nothing reported so far as "storm driven". Perhaps tomorrow

Red Nab area c2.5 hours before high water (PM)
Mediterranean gulls - at least 53, most roosting on Red Nab, but some juveniles on both outflows.

One of the juvenile Meds (left) on No.1 outflow

The juvenile Black-Headed gulls are also quite striking now

Waiting for the winds to stir things up

Steady quite fresh SSE winds all day. Sunny spells and a few light showers

Red Nab towards high water (PW)
Mediterranean gulls - 12 including three juveniles. White and green darvic ringed birds seen, but well out of reading range. Yellow darvic 2nd calendar year bird not seen today.

South shore (MD)
Lapwing numbers quickly growing. Flock of 45 out from saltmarsh.
Linnet numbers also increasing - 19 on saltmarsh
Rock Pipits 2 Red Nab. 1 near lighthouse
Grey seal 1
Mediterranean gull - 19 roosting on rocks at the seaward end of beach near wooden jetty early evening. Two juvenile. Only a handful searching for sand mason worms.

Turnstone moulting to winter plumage.

A quiet day

Warm with east winds, a few light showers.

Middleton Nature Reserve early morning (AD. JM)

Ringing session this morning with nets set on both sides at Middleton produced a much reduced catch. The majority of warblers seemed to have left the site during the clear and cool night.

The catch included:

Common Whitethroat 4

Willow Warbler 5

Lesser Whitethroat 2

Chiffchaff 3

Garden Warbler 1

Blackcap 2

Few migrating birds were noted, although the sky was fairly clear and migrants may have been flying high.

The only noted birds were a party of 7 Swallows moving SE and two single Swallows flying low and fast due south.

South shore 
(MD).

Not much happening.

Wheatear 1

Rock Pipit 2 + 1

Lapwing a grounded flock of 13 with at least 3 juvenile birds

2 hours before high water (PM)

Mediterranean gull - 21 (14 2cy, 5 juvs, 2 ad) two hours pre HT.  this Darvic ringed bird definitely a new (Yellow) one but couldn’t read the four characters.  Undoubtedly a lot of adults had already moved south on the tide  

Whimbrel  1

Meds drift away early

Wind from SW.  Varying degrees of rain all morning then just a few showers in the afternoon and evening.

South Shore earlyish morning - c3.5hr before high water (PM. MD)
Mediterranean gull:
There was just a single adult feeding near wooden jetty.
It was sometimes hard seeing through the rain, but Pete initially managed 32 on Red Nab, but some were already drifting off, although at least two more juveniles came in.

Common Sandpiper at least three individual birds heading south.
Wheatear 2
Rock Pipit 1 near lighthouse, 2 on Red Nab.

There were warblers grounded both on Ocean Edge and near waterfall. The OE bird eluded identification, but the three near waterfall were Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler over the razor wire.
(One of  Vera's less well known songs?)

Stop press - just had report of a juvenile Yellow Wagtail roosting with Pied near wooden jetty 20:00.

More Meds and a belated Red Kite

Another strange weather day. Light breezes predominantly from south, but started from east and ended in west. Mainly overcast, but some showers and sunny spells.

Red Kite - Thursday 13th Aug 12.30pm. Per Brian Rafferty.
picked up flying over Red Nab, on over Sunderland Point and Cockersand, out of view south east. 

Red Nab/ Ocean Edge area 
Early morning (PM)
Mediterranean gull - at least 72 including one dark davic ringed juvenile.
Yesterday's white ringed bird read by Pete Crooks has been identified as being ringed in the Netherlands.

3745109 White 3LX9

Ringed:     nestling       20/6/19   San van Gent, Terneuzen, Zeeland, Netherlands 51 14N 3.49E

Seen:                            7/11/19   Nevern Estuary, Newport, Pembroke, Wales

Seen                            3/2/20      Gann Est, Dale, Pembroke       

Seen                            16/8/20    Heysham outfalls, Lancs

Mid morning - high water (MD)
Sandwich Terns seemed to be everywhere, but never saw more than 10 together.
Shelduck 4 - first for a while
Knot c1,000
Common Sandpiper 1
Rock Pipit 1
Wheatear 1

Middleton Nature Reserve mid afternoon (MD)
Just a brief check of the main pond to see how the mute are doing.
The two resident breeding birds are still holding territory on the south side of the pond. They still have two cygnets and seemed to have formed an alliance with another adult to keep the aggressive male at bay. 
The pair from the "no swimming" pond with three cygnets are, reluctantly, confined to the north side of the pond.

Dragonflies:
Emperor 3
Brown Hawker 2
Common Darter 6
Black-Tailed Skimmer 3

Black-Tailed Skimmer with a Common Blue Damselfly.

Lighthouse area (MD)

Checked at 14:45 as the beach was becoming exposed. Hoping for a chance to read any Darvic ringed Mediterranean Gull. 13 birds quickly turned up, unfortunately none ringed.
Whinchat 1
RockPipit 1
Wheatear 2

This male Wheatear was still looking quite smart.

There was a short but heavy shower at 18:00. I returned at 18:45.

Wheatear 5
Whinchat - at least 1, probably 2

Not great shots, it was very flighty

Mediterranean gulls- at least 28 including 2 juvenile. Again, unfortunately none with darvic rings.

This is a better shot of one catching a sand mason worm. 
First they grab it with the bill....

Then between tongue and, in this case, upper mandible.
I think it allows them a better "feel"
So as not to break the worm

.

Better coverage = better results

 It was a bit of a strange day weather wise. Breeze mainly NE, overcast with a few light showers, but nothing pronounced enough to ground migrants.

Ocean Edge and Red Nab area
Early morning  c3hr before high water (PM)
Mediterranean Gull, at least 68 including 12 juvenile 
Sandwich Tern 51 in quick sweep further out
Greenshank 1
Ringed Plover 8
Whimbrel 1
Grey seal 1

Mid morning - around high water (although these neap tides are not so high) (PC)

Mediterranean Gull 47 (38 adults, 7 x 3rd CY, 2 x 1st CY). One of the 3rd CY on Red Nab had a white darvic ring on its left leg. I didn't see the bottom letter sufficiently well so the options are being investigated 

Sandwich Tern 27

425 Dunlin, 

53 Bar-tailed Godwit, 

20 Grey Plover (all but one still in full summer plumage), 

c.1000 Knot, 

2 Common Sandpiper, 

1 juvenile Wheatear. 

Lighthouse area early evening (MD)

Mediterranean Gull - at 16:45 there were 15 easily catching sand mason worms. The numbers grew quickly and by 17:10 there were 33 including 2 juvenile. No darvic rings could be seen. There was still 2 hours before the tide would move them on, and I'm sure more birds would have arrived, but I had to leave.

Some of the feeding Meds

This male Kestrel appeared to come in off from the south. But it immediately perched then dropped onto and caught a rodent.

It seemed to know what it was doing, so perhaps It's a relatively local bird that knows where the easy pickings are.

Talking of easy pickings - The Jays that feed almost daily in my garden over winter and spring, have made a few summer visits. But have been much more regular over the last two weeks. This evening's visitor appeared to be a juvenile.

It is not obvious through plumage. But it looked like a juvenile bird.

It seemed to struggle removing the peanut from its shell

Then instead of swallowing it whole into its crop

It "daintily" ate it - not at all like the regular adults.

Just a final comment (MD)

The RNLI hovercraft I photographed yesterday was not called out in response to the young men lost at Lytham yesterday, but an earlier incident. But the tragedy, must serve to remind everyone of the dangers of walking out on the shore. It is perfectly safe if you know what you are doing, but potentially lethal if you do not. The simple guide is, only walk out when you know the tide is also going out. Don't just trust tide tables, pick a marker and keep checking that the water is getting lower.

Quite a lot going on - if you have varied interests.

Hot and largely sunny, gentle breeze predominantly from east, but it, perversely, briefly switched to west during a quick early afternoon check of lighthouse area.

Middleton Nature Reserve early - mid morning (JR. PM)
Visible migration during ringing session:
Tree Pipit 1
Grey Wagtail 1
Goldfinch flock of 12 purposely SE
Swallow 20

Ocean Edge shore 09:00 - high water (MD)
These neap tides do not cover the mud flats. A large flock of gulls roosted just out from the saltmarsh.  All the local gulls were represented: Great and Lesser Black-Backed, Herring, Common, Black-Headed and Mediterranean (at least 12, almost certainly many more. I only had x6 binoculars and didn't go too close)

There are least 850 gulls here

There was more activity at the water's edge, out from the foreshore.
Bar-tailed Godwit 19

Two of these in fading summer plumage the inner two probably immature

The godwits eventually flew south towards Potts corner

           If any of you are flat earthers, don't worry,
    the more distant wind turbines are not sinking into the sea.

There, really is, a simple explanation.......

Sandwich Tern - small group of 10 with three juveniles starting to moult into winter plumage.

This shot includes the three juvenile 

The second bird from the left is ringed.

Lighthouse area (MD)
A quick check at 14:00 saw the breeze briefly switch to westerly. No insects coming in, but a lot of Small Tortoiseshell around.
A second check at 17:30. Lots of Small Tortoiseshell coming in off, but no dragonfly seen.
Mediterranean gull 15 feeding on sand mason worms on the beach near wooden jetty

This one has just got one.
They hold them between tongue and mandible.

All the birds were flushed from the beach and the surrounding area by the RNLI  Hovercraft. It was responding to a callout, but I don't know for what or or what the outcome was.

Let's hope it ended well - I've not seen any missing persons alerts.

This is a Lion's Mane jellyfish in the harbour. Quite a small one, the bell diameter about the size of a large dinner plate. The stinging tentacles reach up to 3m. The official description is that they have a "powerful sting".........I've been stung - it hurts!

Don't touch!

This is something you don't see every day. This is the pond on the path to Red Nab. The water snails were "crawling" upside down on the water surface.
I'm not sure what the white particles that they were feeding on were, but you could see them going into the snails mouth.

They don't just drift with the water, but activity "crawl" under the water film. Science is only now starting to understand how.

I still don't know how they do it! 

The Mute war begins

Very warm and sunny again with the light breeze varying between NE to N

Ocean Edge around high water in morning (PM)
Mediterranean Gull 16
Sandwich Tern 19 resting on mudflats

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Two nets set from 05:45 to 10:00 (AD)

Resulted in only 14 captures.  However, these did include 6 different Warbler species.

The catch was:

Lesser Whitethroat  2

Reed Bunting  1

Common Whitethroat  5

Willow Warbler  2

Robin  1

Garden Warbler  1

Sedge Warbler  1

Reed Warbler  1 re trapped

Overhead were seen:

One Stock Dove flying high SE

Seven Swallows singly SE

Approx 25 Swallows roaming the reserve between the model boat pond and area towards the golf course.

Three Corvids (Carrion Crow/Rook) high SE 

Water Rail heard at northern end of reserve and in the central marsh.

Mid morning (MD)  - I was hoping that the aggressive male Mute family on the "no swimming" pond would be deterred from claiming the, better feeding opportunities, main pond, by the presence on the additional 4 adult/immature birds with the resident pair. But presumably the increased water level on the "no swimming" was the final straw, and they have now made their move.

The situation on the main pond this morning was:

The resident pair with two remaining cygnets were defending the south side of the pond, where the main visitor feeding area is.

The aggressive male with his mate and three cygnets were occupying the north end.

There was one dead adult/2cy on the peninsula, the other three were nowhere to be seen.

I doubt the aggressive male will be satisfied with this situation, but the resident male is bigger this year and has spent the summer warding off the visiting adults. Whatever the outcome, I very much doubt that it will be amicable!

The rest of the wildfowl and insects as yesterday.

Lighthouse area (MD)

Only a few Small White and Small Tortoiseshell coming in off the sea. There was more north in the breeze than east for most of the day.

Rock Pipit 1

Mediterranean Gull - 4 adult and 2 juvenile all almost in winter plumage.

Visitors from the east

Again hot and sunny with breeze varying between NNE and NE.

Red Nab area early - mid morning (PM)
Mediterranean gull - at least 27
Sandwich Terns 37 - one flock
Grey Plover 320
Knot 1100  
Yellow Wagtail 1 juvenile on OE grass then flew on to saltmarsh

South shore (MD. KE)
Four checks to see in there were any insects coming in against the NE breeze - just a few Small White and Small Tortoiseshell. Plus this Migrant Hawker seen resting on the sea wall by Kevin.

Migrant Hawker resting on sea wall
after coming in against the quite brisk NE breeze.

Wheatear 4
Rock Pipit 3
There were at least 8 juvenile Oystercatchers with adults, waiting for the tide to expose the mud.

Three juvenile Oystercatcher in foreground 

Grey Wagtail recovery - see scheme details on right side bar.
Ringed: Heysham Nr 8/9/19 as 1st calendar year 
Seen Fife (female) 12/8/20.   250km NNE 

Photo: Ceres Burn, Thanks to Jonathan Dean and Chris Batty 

Today's title refers to a remarkable capture in Kevin's moth trap this morning SD46A

When I got to the trap this morning, I could see a large Hawk moth flying around inside. I got it into the greenhouse just in time, as it escaped from the trap. I managed to pot it and realised to my joy that it was a Bedstraw Hawk-moth. My joy turned to astonishment when I discovered another one lurking inside the trap.

The moth is a fairly regular migrant to the east coast
but is scarce in Lancashire.

so to have two is quite exceptional. 

Correction- on Tuesday I identified some purple flower spikes showing above the flood water, as "Spotted Orchid". A quick look today, now that the water has retreated revealed the leaves, clearly not spotted orchid (I did think they were late for here). Probably Purple Loosestrife - I've added today's picture to Tuesday's post - I should know better........always check! (MD)