Well spread Meds

The west wind continues, a sunny start with a mainly cloudy afternoon.

South shore 

High water 11:15

Ringlet butterfly 5 along the path between the newt pond and Red Nab, by far the most common butterfly here at the moment.

Red Nab

Mediterranean gull 5 adult plus 1 x 2nd calendar year

Saltmarsh area

There were three roosting groups of gulls, mainly Black-Headed gulls. 50 on the marsh itself plus 40 and 230 on the mud out from the saltmarsh. The two smaller groups seemed to only BHG, but the large group included:

Mediterranean gull 4 adult plus 1 2nd calendar year.

c4 hours after high water

Rock Pipit  3 together on Red Nab, 1 near the lighthouse 

Mediterranean gulls - there is almost certainly some overlap with this morning's birds, but it does allow viewing options at different times in the tide.

Three and a half hours after high water the beach next to the wooden jetty starts to become exposed. There were no Meds there today at this time. But there were two adult plus a 2nd calendar year and a 3rd calendar year floating just out from the Harbour entrance. They were picking at something that at least appeared to be edible floating past them.

This is one of the adults plus the 3rd calendar year 

This is the 2nd calendar year bird

By this time the beach next to the wooden jetty was well exposed and there were 5 additional Mediterranean gulls along the water's edge when I left so at least 9 Meds on view.

It was nice to see, and hear, the Redshank are back. At least 8 near the wooden jetty.

Grey Seal 1

This is the newt pond near Red Nab. It was bath day for the Long-Tailed Tit family. I say bath, probably nearer a shower for this youngster.

Then a good drying.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Pete managed to attract this Lunar Hornet moth with a pheromone lure.

Lunar Hornet moth

And then there was one

Winds still from the west. A cloudy start but the sun soon broke through and it remained mainly sunny all day.

Red Nab and Ocean Edge - high water 10:30

Mediterranean gulls 9

5 adult, 1 x 3rd calendar year and 1 x 2nd calendar year on Red Nab

2 adult, including the German green ringed ANLT, on mud out from the saltmarsh 

Mediterranean gulls - 3 adult on this frame
Two directly below the one in flight.

2nd calendar year Mediterranean gull - mid frame

The 2cy Med decided it was time to move off, it flew towards Ocean Edge, but I didn't relocate it in the Black-Headed gull roost later.

Eider 1 female

This is the Eider drifting past the 3cy Mediterranean gull 

Whimbrel 1

This is the Whimbrel to the right of the adult Med
Two Curlew to the left

This is part of the gull roost out from the saltmarsh, it can be awkward viewing in the morning as the light is behind them, but better views from the other side of the marsh.

This is the green ringed German Mediterranean gull 

Heysham skear - low water 17:15

Great Crested Grebe 1 - this is what today's title refers to, viewing conditions were better this afternoon so I am confident that there were no more. The others must have finally moved on (MD)

Eider 1 female, possibly the one that visits the south side at high water

Curlew 150+ a lot more today than of late

Turnstone none seen today

Little Egret 3 none suggesting being ringed.

This Herring gull has just caught a crab. It is joined by a Lesser Black-Backed gull (both birds look pale in the bright light). This is not a opportunist, these two are regularly in association here, possibly the same two that were regularly together on the south side last year. Even so, the Herring gull wasn't for sharing.

But the Herring gull only eats half the crab, then nudges it over to the Lesser Black-Backed to finish off.

Manxies moving

An overcast start with a few light showers, but mainly sunny by mid afternoon. Winds still from the west.

Pete and Jean managed a morning visit - records from Pete:

Manx Shearwater 2 offshore (this isn't even the tip of the iceberg, there were 1,000 seen from Walney between 07:00 - 09:00)

Red Nab

Sandwich Tern 1 adult 

Mediterranean gulls 7. They were quite mobile. Initially just three 2nd calendar year birds seen, then joined by a 3rd calendar year- this one had a white darvic. The 3cy bird quickly disappeared, but three adult then appeared.

There were large numbers of large gulls feeding over the sea beyond the wooden jetty. Jean spotted small (c20cm) fish jumping out of the water. (It sounds like something was attacking a shoal of small Grey Mullet - Cormorant, Grey Seal, Harbour Porpoise or large Bass, probably a combination of some or all of these (MD))

By the time I got close enough to check the gulls on Red Nab, the ringed 3CY could not be located. The only ring I saw was an adult Med with a metal ring on the right leg. We had one like this last year.

Adult Mediterranean gull with metal only ring

This is the Sandwich Tern resting with Black-Headed gulls

Heysham skear - low water 16:30

Great Crested grebe 5 at least, it was quite choppy and some could have been missed.

Curlew c50

Turnstone c20

Little Egret 4

I thought this Little Egret had a white right leg ring and possibly a metal ring on the left. Unfortunately, it was unusually flighty, and flew off into the sun from here.

I had managed a couple of earlier shots, also up to its ankles in water. But on this shot it just looks like a pale section of leg above the ankle.

The "bottom line" is that I just don't know! But I will be looking out for it again (MD)

Green Woodpecker wanders in.

West fresh breeze. Overcast in the morning but increasing sunshine during the afternoon and evening.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Mute 2 pair plus 2 and 9 cygnets

Coot 6 adult 2 immature 

Moorhen 6 adult plus 2 and 3 chicks

Gadwall 1 female plus 4 chicks

Mallard 6 

Little grebe 3 adult 2 immature 

Warblers singing:

Lesser Whitethroat 1

Common Whitethroat 3

Blackcap 3

Chiffchaff 4

Willow Warbler 4

Reed Warbler 1

Dragonflies:

Emperor 5 male 2 female

Brown Hawker 1

Black-Tailed Skimmer 5 male 2 female

Broad-bodied Chaser 1 male

Butterflies:

Still not great numbers of butterflies but a reasonable variety 

Small and Large Skipper - several each

Small Tortoiseshell 2

Speckled Wood 1

Small Heath 2

Red Admiral 1 - think this is the first record since the, presumably overwintering, early one seen by Janet 31/03/21.

Quite a worn Red Admiral, presumably has travelled some distance 

Ringlet 1 - this species never seems to settle and I rarely get a shot of one, I haven't got Janet's patience, but today this one obliged.

Ringlet

South shore

Small gull roost too far out for me to check (MD)

Rock pipits 4

The ringed male was feeding on the roundhead sloping wall. Another adult, with two immature birds were feeding together on sloping wall and rocks near No.1 outflow. It isn't possible to tell if these are the birds from the lighthouse nest. The young birds are at least trying to feed themselves.

Green Woodpecker 1. There was only one brief sighting last year, and this is the first so far this year. Not seen but a burst of unmistakable "yaffling" from the copse behind Red Nab at 18:30. A wandering post breeding season bird, hopefully it will hang around.

Early morning Meds

Overcast all day with some very heavy showers. Light wind from SW.

Pete Crooks did a thorough check of Red Nab on the early morning high water:

14 Mediterranean Gull – 10 adults (including green darvic ANLT), 2 x 3rd CY and 2 x 2nd CY)

(ANLT has been an annual visitor since 2017 - originally ringed in Germany as a nestling 16/06/2012)

1 Black-tailed Godwit

1 Common Sandpiper

1 female Eider

Also:

Heysham Nature Park – 4 Ringlet butterfly 

Kevin checked the beach near the wooded jetty towards low water. There were only 4 Mediterranean gulls there. They were not feeding, but just waiting near the water line. Still he managed a nice shot.

Adult Mediterranean gull in summer plumage

The sand mason worms cannot be available just yet.

This is the full history of the Belgium Mediterranean gull seen yesterday:

White ring 3VEP. Metal ring number 36890

Ringed as pullus 09/06/2016 marais d'Harchies; Bernissart; Hainaut; Wallonia; BELGIUM

I went down, between showers, to check Red Nab at high water 20:30. There were 150 Black-headed gulls on Red Nab, but I couldn't find a Mediterranean gull. There were a further 125 BHG out from the saltmarsh, but quite a long way out and I couldn't see any Meds amongst them either, but there could easily have been some. Either way, it looks like morning tides are favourite for the time being. (MD)

Rock Pipit 1 male displaying on Red Nab

Grey Seal 2 out from Red Nab

Med numbers increasing

Steady rain for most of the morning, dry spells in the afternoon, but heavy showers. Wind from south.

Heysham Skear - low water 13:45

Great Crested Grebe 8

Little Egret 4

Curlew c30

Turnstone 33

Dunlin 1 

Nice to se the Dunlin back

Red Nab high water 17:25

Mediterranean gull 4. Three adult, including this Belgium ringed bird.

Ringed as a pullus 09/06/2016
At marais d'Harchies; Bernissart; Hainaut; Wallonia; BELGIUM 

This clip shows all three adults. It starts with one partially behind a rock, one preening in the middle and ends on a resting bird.

There was also a second calendar year bird

2cy Med top centre

Gull roosts swelling, including Meds.

Light wind from west, mainly overcast.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

We had a full ringing crew operating this morning. Report from Alan:

The conditions were ideal for ringing this morning and nets were set on both the West and East sides of the road. 50 birds were caught which was a respectable total although given the conditions it might well have been more. Surprisingly, Wrens topped the totals with six caught separately at different times.

Wren	6
Robin	4
Song Thrush	1
Cetti's Warbler	2
Sedge Warbler	3 +2 retraps
Reed Warbler	1 +1 retrap
Lesser Whitethroat	3 +1 retrap
Whitethroat	4
Blackcap	3 +1 retrap
Chiffchaff	1 +1 retrap
Willow Warbler	3 +2 retraps
Long-tailed Tit	3 +1 retrap
Blue Tit	4 +2 retraps
Bullfinch

A short stroll around heard 9 warbler species, only a Grasshopper missing preventing a 10 out of 10 (MD)

Cetti's, Garden, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Sedge, Reed, Willow and Chiffchaff.

First generation Comma butterflies are emerging 

This striking butterfly is named after the diminutive white "comma" mark on the underwing

Other butterflies included Ringlet, Speckled Wood, Small Tortoiseshell and Meadow Brown.

There were three Little Grebe showing well on the main pond. One immature plus two adult, these are additional to the pair on Tim Butler pond.

The immature bird wasn't welcome and was chased off:

In contrast, the two adults were very friendly, or at least one was hoping to be.

South shore - high water 18:20

As mentioned yesterday, these neap tides do not cover the mud out from the saltmarsh. An hour before high water there were 52 Black-headed Gulls out from the saltmarsh plus 326 on Red Nab, just after high water, disturbance on Red Nab had flushed most of the gulls on to the mud, some out from saltmarsh others out from the foreshore.

Mediterranean gull - there were at least two adults with the 326 BHG on Red Nab, both on this clip, but one not really identifiable and the other just a glimpse. That said, sharper eyes than mine could easily spot more. (MD)

This shot is a still from the above clip, it is from the last few seconds. The Med near the bottom only reveals its red beak for a fraction of a second. The other Med is the black head on the left hand edge.

They are both more obvious on this clip, although I have to be honest and say that I hadn't noticed the bird in the bottom right corner, and was just lucky to get it in frame too, albeit only just. The other Med is centre stage.

I didn't attempt to count the Curlew, but there were lots.

Rock Pipits. 4 - Two feeding together on the sloping sea wall, the lighthouse male still displaying. One juvenile bird on the scrub near the lighthouse.

Kingfisher surprise

A similar weather pattern, almost no air movement early on then breeze from the west freshening during the day. Some cloud but mainly sunny.

Heysham skear - low water 12:00 (MD)

Great Crested Grebe 5

Sandwich Tern at leat one heard, probably fishing in the far channel

Little Egret 3

Little Egret 

Curlew c50

Turnstone 4 - 3 in summer plumage, the fourth only seen head on but possibly a first summer bird.

All four were in association, but this one was separate from the other three.

Turnstone 

In these conditions Turnstone trust their camouflage. I only spotted them as the one above was directly in line with where I was walking and it moved a couple of metres, before it, and the three in the clip below, just froze. I took this clip just to show that they were perfectly still. If you took your eye off them they were surprisingly difficult to relocate, even though I knew where they were, and I was only 3m away. They didn't move at all and I walked off without disturbing them.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Kingfisher 1 - just a glimpse of one on the "no swimming" pond, this is a species that doesn't normally show till autumn.

The singing warblers were much less vocal than of late but I eventually heard:

Centi's (1), Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat (2), Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blackcap and Sedge Warbler (1). Reed warbler seen only.

The Moorhen pair on the main pond have at least two chicks in a second brood. A remaining juvenile from the first brood can be seen in the foreground.

This is just an update on the condition of the skear. The picture below was what I posted on 15/06/21 to show that the mussel cover was complete, albeit sat upon previous Honeycomb worm beds.

On 22/06/21 I advised people to keep away from the middle of the mid skear as it was like walking on very thick "Rhubarb crumble" as the supporting structure of the old Honeycomb worm reefs degraded.

The picture below is of the same area today.

The power of the ebbing spring tides we've just had has cut channels through the beds, sweeping away much of the soft mud below the mussels. You can see my Rhubarb crumble analogy in section now. But this is good for the mussels, although ebbing spring tide currents are formidable, they were during calm conditions. So, fortunately, although a lot of mussels will have been swept away with the mud many ended up on the skear bottom between the remaining beds. This shot demonstrates that.

These mussels will now anchor to the skear and themselves, and although they will raise higher, through a process called layering, that is normal and should withstand all but the severest of storms.

This is the western section of the mid skear where the effects of the ebbing tides are most powerful. The eastern side, the mussels still sit on the old honeycomb beds and are still difficult to walk over.

We are now moving to a week of neap tides, so the above area will not be exposed again for a while. Another thing to note for the following week is that the height of high water will be insufficient to cover the mud in front of Ocean Edge saltmarsh. So if anyone is planning to check the high water gull roosts, there could be one there as wall as one on Red Nab.

The bigger boys (and girls) move in

Steady west light wind all day. Occasional cloud but mainly sunny.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Wildfowl - as yesterday, except two additional adult mute were on the main pond

Warblers - no Cetti's heard today, but there were singing: Garden (just 1), Willow, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Reed, Common Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat (just 1).

Butterflies - Ringlet, Small Tortoiseshell, Small Heath, Small White, Large and Small Skipper, Meadow Brown, Common Blue.

Meadow Brown

Small Skipper drinking nectar

Dragonflies - Emperor, Brown Hawker, Four-Spotted Chaser, Broad-Bodied Chaser, Black-Tailed Skimmer (now the dominant species on the main pond), Common Darter.

Male Broad-Bodied Chaser - this is one of Kevin's pictures from the other day,
I've added it today for comparison to Black-Tailed Skimmer below

Male Black-Tailed Skimmer, at least 7 on the main pond today, plus two females ovipositoring 
but there are also Broad-Bodied Chasers vying for territory with them.

South sea wall

Mute Swan 2 adult on the sea out from Red Nab, possibly the two birds that were on Middleton earlier.

Mute on the sea out from Red Nab

Lighthouse Rock Pipits - only two seen, the male displaying and the female carrying food. She didn't go to the nesting hole while I was there, but appeared to be calling for a young one (not another spider Mum!). She reminded me of a barrow boy selling vedge on a street market.

The Mullet were feeding again, but today they were generally larger and most feeding just below the surface. Even so they are not very big, the biggest here is about 35cm so likely to be similar  numbers of male and female. Female fish tend to grow to be the largest specimens, as there is a big evolutionary advantage of producing huge numbers of eggs, but even a small mature male can produce more than enough milt to fertilise them all.

Mullet there for the taking

Almost still again first thing but again the breeze freshened from the west, by evening it was quite brisk. Some cloud, but plenty of sunshine.

Heysham skear - low water 10:15

Great Crested Grebe 7

Curlew c40

Little Egret 11

Grey Heron 2

Quite a striking shot of a Grey Heron

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Ringing report from Alan:

John's ringing session yesterday morning produced 21 birds of various species featuring the first real catch of a few juvenile warblers.

This morning was on another level with 63 captures from my three nets. Juvenile Blue Tits, Common Whitethroats and Long tailed Tits made up the bulk of the catch. The conditions were fairly similar on both mornings, perhaps with less clear sun today.

Dunnock 2

Song Thrush 1

Cetti's Warbler 1

Grasshopper Warbler 3

Sedge Warbler 1+1 Retrap

Reed Warbler 1 Retrap

Lesser Whitethroat 3

Common Whitethroat 14

Blackcap 1

Chiffchaff 4

Willow Warbler 2

Long-tailed Tit 7 + 5 Retrap

Blue Tit 15

Great Tit 1

Chaffinch 1

I tried to do a full check of wildfowl (MD)

Mute Swan two pairs with 9 and 2 cygnets 

Coot 6 adult 1 immature - this is the immature bird just starting to develop adult features.

Moorhen 5 adult 1 immature 

Mallard just two adult seen but I expect the 10 young birds plus the female with 10 small chicks are still around.

Gadwall 1 female 4 chicks

Gadwall with chicks

Little grebe, two immature birds on the "no swimming" pond, plus two adult with at least two small chicks (second brood) on Tim Butler pond.

This is one of the immature Little Grebe 

This clip shows the pair on Tim Butler pond taking food to at least two chicks hiding in the margins. 

Grey Heron 1

Cetti's warbler 2 - again the "no swimming" pond and central marsh males singing, but not as frequently as recently.

Dragonflies included:

Emperor 

Four-Spotted Chaser

Broad-Bodied Chaser

Black Tailed Skimmer

Brown Hawker

Hawker sp - likely Southern

Butterflies:

Peacock 

Small Heath

Common Blue

Small White

Speckled Wood

Large Skipper

Moths:

Mother Shipton

Cinnabar 

While we are on moths, Kevin had this nice one in his light trap yesterday 

Blackneck moth. 

These are very local and not very common in Lancashire.

South wall -early evening 

Rock Pipits

1 feeding near the waterfall, not seen one here for a while.

3 near the lighthouse (male, female and juvenile). The female is still taking food to the nest hole.

Can't say I'd fancy this snack!

Grey Seal 1 between the outflows

These are Grey Mullet, this is just below the sea wall between Red Nab and No.2 outflow. They are only young fish c25cm long. There must have been over a 1000 in several shoals. They are not gasping for air, they are feeding on algae dislodged from the sea wall. They normally do this when the tide heights are increasing, each tide dislodging algae from further up the wall. The tide heights at the moment are decreasing, but it was a lot choppier than of late today, so presumably more algae was being stripped from the wall. A few were jumping out of the water, probably under threat from a large bass, but they had not been spotted by the cormorants (MD).