Still here........just about the only thing that is!

The light wind started SSE before swinging round to SW, then WNW by early evening. Rain for much of the day.

South shore

I had a walk this morning (MD). Very little to see.

No Linnet seen, they were almost certainly feeding on the saltmarsh 

Skylark 1 on foreshore moved to saltmarsh 

Rock Pipits 2

Eider 1

And that was about it, not even any Mediterranean gulls feeding on the beach near jetty. It was raining steadily when I reached the harbour and couldn't see anything, but later......

Grey Phalarope several sighting reported in the harbour including Pete, Jean, Rosie and Marrio mid afternoon - watched it along inner edge north wall below the two rusty white silos with petersen written on the side. Up to 1435

This large jellyfish was just below the high water line on the saltmarsh 

Rhizostoma octopus - I've always known them as Medusa Jellyfish, but people seem to be calling them Barrel Jellyfish now. The one below was on the north side beach yesterday, its tentacles upwards, showing  its eight  serpent like stubby tentacles which lead to both its latin name and the medusa reference. I'm sure there will be a sting in the tentacles, but they are short and easily avoided. 

Rhizostoma octopus - Barrel Jellyfish 
(They will always be Medusa Jellyfish to me (MD))

Talking of barrels, I'm just about to scrape the bottom of one! Next up......Seaweed!

This shot is also from yesterday, I took it to remind me that the recent storms have stripped much of the sea lettuce and gut weed from the more exposed shore. The Brent Geese will be returning shortly, if return they do. This is the corner of the skear that they normally favour.

There are still small patches of sea lettuce, but not enough to sustain them for long. There is gutweed on the closer in rocks, but again nothing that looks overly enticing. Hopefully the Brent will return and be more easily pleased.

Is that it for the Grey Phalarope?

Light WNW to SW wind. A few light showers

Grey Phalarope - the only records today came from a report on bird info services at midday, plus one sighting late afternoon. Pete advises that tonight's conditions are ideal for it to move on.

South shore

Janet took these shots on Red Nab:

One of two Grey Wagtail 

Two Rock Pipits

Pete was back on the road today, he didn't manage to see the Phalarope, but did see:

Little gull 1 first winter on No.2 outflow

Shag 1 in harbour

I went to check the saltmarsh at high water (MD)

Linnet 66 feeding just above yesterday's high water line

Wigeon 7 

Jack Snipe 2  - I had one on the west side. David Talbot was checking the east side, he had at least one other, plus

Common Snipe 2

I meant to post this picture yesterday, but forgot. The wind was from the south, not wild, but enough to break the waves. Whenever waves break, spray is taken up into the air. It is often so fine that you can't feel it, as was the case yesterday. But the rainbow effect it produces here is proof that it is there (there was no rain)

Light sea spray creating a rainbow effect as it blows up the sloping wall

Heysham skear - low water 07:40 (MD)

Eider 4

Great Crested grebe 6

Red-breasted Merganser 9 on the water plus a flock of 6 south were probably these (couldn't rule out Goosander)

Little Egret 6

Knot 31 + 12 south

Skylark 5 together east 

Grey Wagtail 1 east

This was satisfying. A week or so ago Angela spotted a pair of "crows with white bibs" in Heysham Nature reserve, high in the trees. Too distant to see detail and she only had her phone to take a snap. But sure enough they looked like two identical crows with white bibs. The only plausible leucistic explanations seem implausibly coincidental to have two identical birds. Today I managed to relocate them near the car park at Middleton.

Carrion Crows with what appears to be white bibs

But it wasn't the outer feathers that were white, it was the under feathers on the throat, these become visible when the breeze lifts the outer feathers. Unusual enough, but at least it explains why the white area seemed identical. This clip of one of them shows the effect in action, if you look closely, you can see the extent of the pale under feathers making the whole breast look grey rather than black.

Finally, some unique millipede and centipede records. Located by Nicola Garnham - if you would like to learn more, visit ‘north west invertebrates’ facebook  site.

Couple of interesting (to me at least) myriapoda from Heysham head.

Macrosternodesmus palicola (I think it's the UKs smallest millipede, this one was 2.5mm) and Strigamia maritima found on the spring tide strand line. Common on the coast in UK but there are no records in Lancs on NBN (and it's the first time I've found one)

Phalarope still around but elusive

A fresh WNW wind with sunny spells and light showers 

Grey Phalarope 1 not seen till mid afternoon when Alan Physick scoped it deep in the inner harbour. This location is only visible from the lighthouse area on the south side.

South Shore high water 12:25 (MD)

Mixed flock of c60 finches (Linnet, Goldfinch and Greenfinch) feeding around the saltmarsh. These are mainly Linnet

Common snipe 9 flushed from saltmarsh by the rising tide

Little gull 1 first winter (with a few vestiges of juvenile plumage) on No.2 outflow again. I didn't bother trying to get a decent shot today as Janet had already sent me her pictures of it from yesterday. I knew I couldn't improve on this excellent sequence of it feeding on what looks to be a decent size shrimp. You'll need to open images if you want to detail.

What has proven to be an exceedingly photogenic
 first winter Little Gull feeding on outflow - pictures by Janet

Nature Park

Speckled Wood 5

Comma 1

Comma

Common Darter 2

Aged female Common Darter blending in nicely with grey bark

Middleton Nature Reserve 

A quick check of the two main ponds

Mute Swan pair plus 7 cygnet 

Mallard 9

Gadwall just 1

Little grebe 2 (main pond)

Jackdaw 37 milling around in a loose flock before heading south

Tawny Owl 1 heard calling from my house at twilight, from the direction of the cricket club. They used to be heard regularly here, but this is the first one for about 5 years.

Phalarope lingers

A cool SSE to SE wind all day. Dry with a few sunny spells till 18:00 when steady rain started.

Pete Crooks relocated the Grey Phalarope along the far side of the harbour early morning, looking from the lighthouse on the south wall. 

I checked the location identified by Pete from the end of the single track road past the ferry terminal (MD). It was showing well but distant. No chance of a decent photograph so I just took this clip of it feeding then panned out to show location.

The above clip was just after low water. I checked again towards high water, hoping it may have moved closer, but it was feeding in the same area, just further up the wall.

The last reported sighting today was 17:30

There were lots of gulls on the waterfall plus a Shag when I arrived this morning.

Shag, with the feeding gulls at the waterfall 

I didn't pay it much heed as I was checking for the Phalarope. When I checked the waterfall again, the Shag had moved on, but the Cormorants were catching lots of fish. Every time they surfaced they had a Whitebait. These will have been in the waterfall return from the cooling water intake. This volume of fish is also reflected in the number of gulls feeding on the outflows.

Mediterranean gulls 11 (9 adults, 1 2nd W, 1 1st W) between the outfalls and Red Nab (Pete Crooks)

Just after lunch I had a walk along the sea wall

This adult Mediterranean gull was patrolling the sea wall

Kingfisher 1 - again flew out from the culvert on Red Nab

Little Gull 1 first winter on No.2 outflow. This had also been reported by other birders going to see the Phalarope. I took the best shots that I've ever managed of a Little Gull

Only to be pipped by this wonderful shot by David Kaye

First winter Little Gull - this shot by David 10:00

Grey Phalarope makes it a top treble!

It was definitely post storm today with much lighter winds varying from WNW to WSW. Sunshine for much of the day

Pete is still housebound with car problems, yesterday he suggested Leach's Petrel and Grey Phalarope were likely. We managed the Leach's with a Sabine's bonus, today......

Grey Phalarope 1 located by Kevin Eaves in the Harbour towards low water in the afternoon.

Grey Phalarope - picture by Kevin

I didn't see it when I checked the harbour this morning (MD) but it was still around the NW side of the harbour early evening when Shaun checked. It was prone to short flights. Pete advises that if it manages to remain overnight the weather should hold it around a while.

Other stuff on the south shore on my morning check

Linnet/Goldfinch 66 in mixed feeding flock around saltmarsh slipway

Rock Pipit 3

Skylark 1 on slipway side of foreshore. They are very confiding here - this clip begins with it cowering as a dog passed by, but as soon as the dog had passed it continued its normal business even though I was only 3m away.

Jackdaw 5 east

Mediterranean gull 3 adult 1 on Red Nab, 1 patrolling the sea wall and at least 1 out from the harbour mouth.

The rising tide and still quite fresh wind had focused the detritus from the storm along a line against the current. There were about 30 gulls feeding along this line, these are a few.

This is the Med

Shag 1 immature - this was the only bird of note seen in the harbour this morning 

 Shag displaying its proto crest

Kingfisher 1 seen again by Janet at the dog walk pond

Heysham skear - low water 18:00

I had a walk around an hour before low water

Eider just 2, 1 each male and female

Great Crested Grebe 6

Red-breasted Merganser 9. This is a slightly different take off view.

Little Egret 13

Waders: Oystercatcher, Curlew, Redshank, Turnstone plus

Ringed Plover 17

Knot 7

Heysham Nature Reserve (MD)

I popped in this morning to see how the Fly Agaric was doing - not a sign of it! Assuming no one has picked it, something must have eaten it, stem and all.

These wasps had taken to one of the many guide notices around the reserve. There are c9,000 species of wasp in the UK, not just the one or two species that people normally think of. Most of them not even yellow and black, but these were, I'm pretty sure these are Potter Wasps (they build individual mud pots that are sealed with one egg and a paralysed prey inside). But with 8,999 others to choose from, I could be wrong! If I am, hopefully someone will correct me.

I don't think the second wasp sees the first as a potential mate.

Potter Wasp - I think (MD)

Leach's and Sabine's double!

The strong overnight winds continued from SW till late morning, then it started to ease slightly.

Yesterday Pete said that we needed some squalls to bring in the Leach's Petrels, none yesterday but several heavy squalls today. Unfortunately Pete was stuck at home with car problems, and missed the "most promising" seawatch day for a while.

Report by Dave Hawkins (many thanks)

Heysham north wall seawatch.  7/10/22 1200-1500 hrs

1 Leach’s Petrel flew in NNE direction into bay at 1302hrs

1 Sabine’s Gull juv came out of bay at mid distance 1402 heading SSW.  It was in no hurry often dipping down on water, occasionally landing. I would guess it was probably viewable distantly from outfalls.

1 RTDiver winter landed on sea then lost in the troughs.

1 Gannet adult into bay.

1 Guillemot out of bay

c 30 Eider majority males after tide turned

3 Tufties out

10 Shelduck

South shore 

I checked on the rising tide from about 09:00 (MD) The wind was strong and the skies black but the heavy rains held off till I reached the lighthouse, although whether there was light rain or just sea spray along the sea wall was arbitrary. Then a heavy squall forced me to shelter for 15 minutes behind the lighthouse. 

Linnet 13 on Saltmarsh 

Skylark 2 originally on saltmarsh but moved to foreshore 

Rock Pipit 9 - 2 arguing on Red Nab, 6 arguing near slipway, 5 flew to the east side and 2 returned. 1 near lighthouse.

Guillemot 1 struggling along the foreshore. Its little outboard motors working overtime.

It might look to be struggling, but it was making headway and the sheltered water of the saltmarsh bay was only 100m away. I fully expected to see it resting there on my return, but there was no sign, so it must have rested and moved on.

Loads of gulls sheltering in the lee of the foreshore including at least one adult Mediterranean gull

Lapwing 37

Redshank c150

Common Snipe 1

All on saltmarsh 

Wigeon 4 south plus 2 on Red Nab then saltmarsh 

This shot of Oystercatcher moving to high water roost was taken from the shelter of lighthouse at the height of the squall, it gives an impression of the lack of visibility due to the heavy rain.

Oystercatcher battling through a squall

I had another walk along the wall later in the afternoon, this time a squall had just ended and the winds started to ease. In addition to this morning's records:

Kingfisher 1 on Red Nab

Once again it had flown out from the freshwater culvert in the sea wall. This shot is looking down at the culvert from the top of the wall. You are not likely to get here without it have already flown out, if it was there. But it's worth keeping an eye on it as you approach.

Freshwater culvert at Red Nab

Mediterranean gulls 11 adult feeding on beach near wooden jetty 

Eider 2 in harbour mouth - looks like this youngster is a male.

Jackdaw 26 in one noisy flock flew low overhead east along the sea wall

Peregrine Falcon 1 adult

Report from Janet:

Kingfisher 1 at the small pond along the dog walk, probably the same as the one seen at Red Nab. This pond is full of Rudd/goldfish hybrids 

Speckled Wood and Common Darters also along dog walk

Finally this excellent shot from yesterday. Lesser Black-Backed gull with a crab by Kevin Singleton. 

A bit better

Strong overnight winds eased slightly by daylight but still strong and from west early on then SW. Plenty of sunshine with a few light showers.

Report from Pete this morning:

Gannet 1 adult

Kittiwake flock of 6

Sandwich tern flock of 3

and distant auk spp 

all above flying out off Heysham head.  

Mediterranean gull 5 on OE/RN

Shag 1 x 2cy flew off jetty north 

South shore (MD)

I checked in the morning around high water and another stroll along the wall on the afternoon ebbing tide.

Rock Pipit 2

Skylark 1 on Red Nab end of foreshore 

Eider flock of 4 in plus 1 in harbour mouth

Eider flying into the bay 

Guillemot 1 first winter in harbour 

First winter Guillemot 

It's high set legs reminded me of a couple of outboard motors. The pillar at the end of this clip is one of the platforms near the waterfall, although the Guillemot made no attempt to feed while I was watching it.

All the above were seen on this morning's walk. There was no sign of the Guillemot in the afternoon. The only thing different in the afternoon were 

Mediterranean gulls 5 adult feeding on the beach near the wooden jetty, almost certainly some if not all of Pete's morning birds. The tide was just leaving the wall so the gulls were quite close together. None were ringed.

Mediterranean gulls 

The insects in the Nature Park are just holding on

Speckled Wood 3

Small White 1 - the Buddleia is almost finished now

Dragonflies:

Migrant Hawker 1

Common Darter 3 - this one is eating a fly, perhaps not a clip for the more sensitive.

Nothing new, but some bits of interest

The very strong winds didn't arrive till after dark this evening. Even so it was strong enough southeasterly to drive the "light rain" horizontal along the sea wall. Rain for most of the day. With only the occasional gaps later in the afternoon.

Just my stuff again so far (MD)

South Shore low water

It was raining when I started and I was only going to check the foreshore, but it eased for a while so I checked the sea wall too.

Curlew in front of foreshore 

Rock Pipit 2  - one at both ends of the foreshore 

Skylark 1 at the Red Nab end of foreshore. The Rock Pipit here wasn't happy! 

The above clip was during a brief dry spell, but it soon started raining again. So the Skylark flew onto the beach to shelter behind a clump of cord grass, don't suppose there are many shots of a Skylark on the beach. The Rock Pipit still wasn't happy.

It rained all along the sea wall and the only thing of interest was a negative, there were no Mediterranean gulls feeding on the beach near the wooden jetty.

Unbelievably, and slightly annoyingly, by the time I'd got back to my car the sun came out! So I called in at Middleton on my way home to check the two main ponds:

Main Pond

Mute Swan - the full complement of 2 adult and 7 cygnets back

Mallard 7

Female and male Mallard looking fine in breeding plumage 

Moorhen 2

Grey Heron 1

Little grebe 1 fishing

It catches a small Roach or Rudd (probably the latter), but has to dive again before it can swallow it. The Black-Headed gulls were closing in. It will not be able to swallow it underwater, but must have resurfaced in the reed margins as I didn't see it again. I've put two clips together, first the grebe with fish followed by the gulls arriving a couple of seconds after it dived.

No swimming pond 

No Gadwall was a surprise 

Moorhen 2

Kingfisher 1  - I didn't see it on the pond, but one flew south as I was leaving and presumably it had come from this pond.

Hopefully better fare tomorrow 

Mmmmm....."showers"

The forecast said light showers, and sure enough that's what we got this morning. But after lunch, although we did have some showers of light rain, they were interspersed with showers of very heavy rain!

A lightish south wind early on freshened as it moved to the west.

Strong SW - W winds with "light showers" forecast for tomorrow. Bet the showers won't feel light!

Just my stuff so far (MD)

Heysham Nature Reserve 

I had a walk around this morning while the showers genuinely were light.

Plenty of tits around, mainly along the north side near the road to the harbour.

Chiffchaff at least 2 with a mixed tit flock plus another calling near the office.

Not much else located.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just a very brief check of the two main ponds in passing, but still managed a soaking!

Mute, no sign of the adults (they won't be far away) a single cygnet on main pond plus 3 more on "no swimming" pond.

Mallard 11

Gadwall 10

Moorhen 3

South shore 

Just a quick check from saltmarsh to Red Nab in the evening downpour (another soaking!)

And saw virtually nothing.......

Lapwing 14 on Ocean Edge field

Rock Pipit 1 on Red Nab

Grey Wagtail 1 on the newt pond, but it took flight before I could check for rings. I assumed it wasn't the ringed bird as it gained height and set off east. But when I reached the small anemometer it, or another, was feeding. This bird was definitely ringed. Clearly saw the metal over Red and a yellow on the other leg. Almost certainly the same bird seen here last Friday and Saturday.

There was no chance of a picture today, even if there had been an opportunity the rain was bucketing down!

But John took these shots of the retrapped bird on Middleton yesterday.

Grey Wagtail ringed on passage here last September 
Unfortunately no sightings in between

I did manage to find Jean's Fly Agaric (see yesterday's post), but it had been got at!

No sign of any teeth marks so I assumed a slug was the culprit.

But it's a sizeable hole to eat in one session, presumably a big slug.
No doubt it will return for seconds.

Fly Agaric are toxic to humans and others, they are named thus as they were once used as poison to kill flies. Don't be tempted!

Back to my roots (actually my celium)

South to SE light wind, some light showers with occasional sunny spells

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Report from Jean:

Vis 0700-1000

Pink-footed Goose 1868 north

Canada Goose 4 south

Raven 3 arrived from NE and flew S

Bullfinch 3 south

Goldfinch 40 SW

Meadow Pipit 18 south

Grey Wagtail 3 south

Mistle Thrush 1 SW

Chaffinch 31 south

Pied Wagtail 15 SE

Skylark 1 south

Linnet 2 south

Tree Sparrow 3 south

Ringing

Sadly no Yellow-browed Warbler 😢

New birds:

Wren 5

Robin 3

Chiffchaff 7

Song Thrush 1

Dunnock 3

Greenfinch 11

Goldfinch 9

Chaffinch 4

Goldcrest 1

Long-tailed Tit 1

Retraps:

Great Tit 1

Wren 1

Robin 1

Dunnock 2

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Report from John:

Three nets set this morning, a little breezy and this increased during the morning. Although some birds were attracted by mp3 players to the nets, there was no other obvious overhead movement apart from groups of Pinkfeet travelling north.

Birds caught included a Grey Wagtail, which was originally colour ringed here last September, two new Cettis Warblers and a Tree Sparrow. Just 22 birds were caught and they comprised :

Goldcrest            x 4

Grey Wagtail       x 4

Meadow Pipit      x 4

Cettis Warblers  x 2

Blue Tit             x 2

and singles of ; Reed Bunting, Wren, Pied Wagtail, Long-tailed Tit, Tree Sparrow and Robin

I had a walk around early afternoon and I don't think I've ever seen/heard so little in a walk around the reserve (MD)

Mute pair plus 7 cygnet 

Gadwall 6

Moorhen 4

Heron 1

No warblers seen or heard

And not much else really. This is quite a nice clip of a Long-Tailed Tit

South shore - high water 17:30 (MD)

I went to see if there were any interesting waders on the shore, but the wind had dried the mud, so just a small group of Knot and Dunlin along the waterline 

Shelduck 47

No Linnet on or around the saltmarsh again, but there was a flock of 32 Goldfinch on the foreshore, they set off south once, but circled back again.

Rock Pipit 1 on saltmarsh 

Skylark 1 on the foreshore, close to previous sightings. Not so windy today so it was happy to rest on the rubble. I don't normally post clips when nothing happens, but thought this one was quite engaging. It clearly knew I was there, but wasn't overly fussed.

Just out of the recording area - Potts Corner

Report from Mark Jones (although these birds were seen from just south of the recording area, most, if not all will have passed through/over it)

Big passage of pied wagtails and meadow pipits heading south, lots of pink footed geese heading north this morning too. 

Also had a stonechat passing through this morning.

Finally, Jean spotted this Fly Agaric on Heysham Nature Reserve (alongside the top path just past the kissing gate)

Fly Agaric

This is what today's title refers to. My first memory of being interested in nature, is me (Malcolm) as a young boy, walking through the bluebell woods in Lancaster (every wood seemed to be called "the bluebell wood"), with my i-spy Fungi book in hand, searching for one of these. They have to be the archetypical "Toadstool". I never did find one, so I'll check out this one tomorrow, it should be opened further.

A blast from the past!
For those of you from post decimalisation 1/- is one shilling, 5 pence now.