Off passage Sanderlings

A light NW wind to begin with, fresher and more to the west after lunch. Mainly sunny.

Red Nab

I didn't have much time today so just a very brief, but enjoyable, check an hour before high water (MD)

Whimbrel 1

Bar-Tailed Godwit 95

They were making a right racket, out doing the Oystercatcher! Fortunately I had my quiet camera with me. These are less than half of them.

They left in three groups, east at first then north over the caravan site. This is the largest group leaving.

Pictures from Janet:

Holly Blue on Middleton Nature Reserve. Just a mobile phone shot
but it clearly shows the different underwing pattern to a Common Blue

Chiffchaff on Heysham Nature Reserve 

One of two Rock Pipits near the lighthouse 

Rock Pipit nearer the waterfall 

One female plus six male Eider flying past the roundhead 

One of two Kittiwake on their pipe in the harbour

Heysham skear - low water 17:30 (MD)

Eider 25+

Great Crested Grebe 4

Curlew 2

Whimbrel 5

Sanderling 12 (flocks of 9 and 3) - unfortunately I was late in getting out and the outer skear was already exposed. The Sanderling were flying out to it, too distant for a shot. I'll try again tomorrow!

This picture tells two stories:

First you can see that the last tide has deposited some fresh mud, partly covering some and completely coving other seed mussels. The seed mussels will rise above the mud again, a process called layering. This can eventually lead to mussel beds sat over a metre or more of mud. Which leaves them vulnerable to storms.

The second more immediate story can be seen by the tracks leading to the Whelk Shell, it appears to have rolled down the slope, suggesting that this is a hermit crab, not a whelk in the shell. The second set of tracks are a gulls, that obviously fancied its chances, but not for long as there are only a few tracks. 

I didn't need to pick it up to see if it was a Hermit Crab, but I did anyway!

Quite a small hermit crab for a shell this size. It's good for two more shedding in this shell. At the moment, its small size allows it to move deep inside the shell for safety. But it also makes it cumbersome to move, probably why it became exposed. In two more sheddings they are at their largest stage, they can then block the opening with their large armoured claw.

Even though the gull obviously didn't stay for long it seems to have pecked off a piece of shell, it probably did this elsewhere then carried the crab here before giving up.

Grey Seal 1

Quite a variety of sightings

 A fresh NW wind, sunny spells, particularly in the morning. 

Report from Pete:

Three 1st summer Kittiwake still on pipe SW corner harbour, 

One 1st summer Mediterranean Gull on outfalls 

Quiet on sea with singles of 

Gannet

Manx Shearwater 

Sandwich Tern

Two Razorbill/Guillemot 

Also one swallow in and immature Mute swan on sea off Red nab 

I checked the south shore around High water (MD)

Swift 2 north over Moneyclose Lane

Linnet 1 male "standing guard" at saltmarsh 2 more males between Lighthouse and waterfall plus 4 feeding at Red Nab

At 8.7m the tide covers most of the Red Nab Rocks

Little Egret 2

Curlew 3

Curlew

Bar-Tailed Godwit 9

Bar-Tailed Godwit with Oystercatchers

It must have been quiet along the wall this morning, as many of the large gulls were roosting out of the NW wind on the sloping wall.

There was no sign of the Mediterranean gull at high water, but still a few Common Gulls feeding.

1st summer (2nd calendar year) Common Gull

Rock Pipits 5(ish) - one male was parachuting half way along the foreshore, but there was no sign of any females to be impressed. One was feeding on Red Nab before flying into the Power Station grounds. Two above the lighthouse nest, at least one taking food to the chicks. Three were flying around and bickering behind the waterfall.

This is one of the lighthouse birds. I thought it had a large sea slater to begin with, but it is quite a large and dead shrimp. The only possible source for this would be from the cooling water intake near the waterfall, possibly what the squabbling was about (not in their territory). This seems a large food item for a young bird to swallow, but shrimps, like crabs, regularly shed their hard exoskeleton leaving them soft and vulnerable for a few days. The dull colour of this shrimp does suggest that it is a soft one.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Janet had a quick look while dog exercising 

One of the two Shelduck on main pond

Mallard 2 females with chicks also on main pond. This one is likely the first brood seen, as her current 8 ducklings are now quite large.

big enough to see if a tennis ball is edible!

Coot with chick on main pond (not yesterday's birds)

Common Blue

Yellow Flag Iris

Heysham Skear - low water 16:40 (MD)

No encore from yesterday's Osprey

Little Egret 3

Eider 23 -  just 2 female

One female decided to fly off and was immediately followed by 13 males!

Great Crested Grebe 4

Curlew 1

In many areas, the seed mussels are now too compacted for the gulls to prise them loose.

A bed of seed mussels

The gulls are restricted to prising off the mussels at the edges of the beds - this clip is actually from yesterday.

Where the mussels are forming over honeycomb worm beds, the worms are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain their tube between the tightly packed mussels.

You can see the pale tips of a few honeycomb worm tubes squeezed between the seed mussels.
But soon there will be no room for them. The worms will not die, but they will not be able 
to continue living here and have to find another patch of skear.

Osprey and first Dragonflies

Quite a fresh NW wind, particularly in the afternoon. Sunshine for most of the day.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Both Janet and myself (MD) had a late morning walk around. These first shots are Janet's 

The Orchids are just starting to emerge
Not sure exactly what this one is, but likely a Marsh Orchid (MD)

Drinker moth caterpillar 

Common Bluetail Damselfly

Orange Tip 

I managed to cover most of the north section of the reserve. As with Kevin a couple of days ago I managed to hear eight warblers singing, and failed to hear a Grasshopper warbler!

In order of abundance:

Willow Warbler

Chiffchaff 

Cetti's Warbler 5

Lesser Whitethroat 5

Common Whitethroat 4

Blackcap 4

Sedge Warbler 2

Reed Warbler 1

I didn't cover the central marshes, where I expect there would have been more Reed and Sedge there.

Mute pair with 9 young cygnets. Originally on the "no swimming" pond, later at the feeding area of the main pond

Mallard 2 male on the main pond. Janet saw two females with chicks on the main pond, plus there was one with several very small chicks on Tim Butler pond

Coot 2 adult - this one is feeding a chick (I've left the sound on, despite the annoying camera clicks, as there is a short burst from a Cetti's Warbler towards the end).

Grey Heron 1

Pheasant at least three males calling.

Male Pheasant

Butterflies:

Large White 1

Small White 2

Green-veined White 2

Common Blue 2

Small Tortoiseshell 1

Brimstone 3

Speckled Wood 6+

Orange Tip 2 each male and female

Male Small White

Male Large White

Male Common Blue

Damselflies:

Azure Blue 4

Common Bluetail 4

Large Red 5

Large Red Damselfly

Dragonflies:

Broad-bodied Chaser 3 - 2 males plus an female/immature

Female/immature Broad-bodied Chaser

Male Broad-bodied Chaser

Heysham skear - low water 15:45 (MD)

Little Egret 5

Eider 6

Great Crested Grebe 2

Oystercatchers plus Whimbrel 1 and Curlew 1.

There may have been more of the above, but I was distracted! On the way out all the gulls were in the air, so either a raptor or skua must have flushed them. But although they had obviously been spooked they were not screaming and were starting to settle.

So whatever spooked them had moved on. I scanned the skies and horizons but couldn't see anything. Then 15 minutes later both the gulls and Oystercatcher lifted again, and then quickly settled. Scanning the horizon eventually located a distant dark speck which proved to be an....

Osprey 1 - eating a flatfish on a sandbar. Unfortunately, by this time the tide was coming in quickly and I couldn't get much closer. The gulls sort of tolerate it when it isn't flying, although these were starting to edge closer to it.

Although the gulls were still very wary, this one scarpered after only half a wing flap from the Osprey.

It took this lone, and you have to say plucky, Carrion Crow to finally move the Osprey on.

The Osprey flew off north, but I couldn't see if it landed again to continue feeding.

Puffin passing and first Flycatcher

 A light SE wind freshening slightly as it moved to SW. mainly overcast, but the rain held off till early evening.

Report from Pete:

Puffin 1 heading out

otherwise just three Guillemot on and two Sandwich tern in.

Spotted Flycatcher by heliport

54 Grey plover

52 Bar-Tailed Godwit 

c50 Dunlin

just south of Ocean Edge

Grasshopper Warbler 1 singing near the small anemometer in the Nature Park - Angela Gillon

Sleepy sort of Saturday

A light east wind till mid morning when it switched to the west and freshened slightly. Sunshine for most of the day but hazy at times.

South shore (MD)

A morning walk on the ebbing tide and very little was moving. Even the gulls on the outflows were resting.

Kittiwake 1 x 2nd calendar year on the pipe in the harbour

Cormorant - only the immature birds remain on the wooden jetty.

Shelduck 2

Little Egret 6

Greenfinch 2

Linnet 8

Rock Pipit 3 - there were two adults above the next hole near the lighthouse.

Rock Pipit taking food to lighthouse area nest.....

........and this one, presumably the male, standing guard

A third bird near the waterfall was also carrying food and flew out past the platforms to an unknown nest site. Presumably a hole in the harbour wall, but the location not seen, if indeed it is visible from this vantage point.

There were no waders at all apart from the Oystercatchers.

There was a male and female Bullfinch feeding on the dandelion seeds in the Nature Park. This is the female.

Heysham skear - low water 13:10 (MD)

Another pleasant but uneventful stroll.

Eider 13 males plus 1 pair

Great Crested Grebe 3

Little Egret 3

Oystercatcher c400

Turnstone 2 (quickly flew off north)

Curlew 7 together flew onto the skear from SE

Curlew 

There were plenty of Herring Gulls, they were feeding on what seed mussels were exposed on this neap tide. This focuses them on the higher beds, which are the ones on top of the honeycomb worm reefs, once again, favouring the worms. Even though much of the feeding activity of the gulls does favour the preservation of the honeycomb worm beds and reefs, there does seem to be a lot of seed mussels this year, and they do grow quickly.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Janet managed some even better shots of the swallows collecting mud for nest building near Tradebe.

Heysham Head (Janet)

This male Linnet looks tempted by a passing fly, but they tend to stick to seeds

A slightly unusual angle of a Wren

Wren and Linnet

Common Whitethroat 1 male

It's mainly the little beasties today

A light NE wind, mainly sunny and quite warm.

Heysham Nature Reserve (Janet)

Burnet Companion moth

Common Carpet moth

Holly Blue butterfly - Moneyclose Lane

Reed Warbler - Moneyclose Lane

South Shore (MD)

I went along the sea wall in the afternoon sun and NE breeze, hoping some interesting insects might be coming in, but it is a bit early in the year and I only managed a few butterflies 

Small White 3

Small Tortoiseshell 1

Brimstone 3 all males

A terrible shot! But it does show a Brimstone coming in over the roundhead wall.
This is a regular insect flight line in these conditions, but not many around today.

Shelduck 8

Swallow 14

Linnet 6

Wheatear 2

Rock Pipit  - there was a male display calling within the Power Station grounds behind Red Nab. Plus at least one adult taking large food items to the nest hole below the lighthouse. I only ever saw one adult at a time, but four visits in five minutes suggests they are feeding young rather than just a sitting female.

Not sure what this large grub is.......but it looks tasty!

They will not go down to the nest hole when they are aware that they are being watched. This shot shows the location of the nest hole.

This short clip shows an adult returning to the top of the wall after taking some food to the nest.

The Carrion Crow is still sitting on the nest on the wooden jetty. It's a risky site with all the large gulls around, I doubt they will be able to leave the chicks unattended.

One 2nd calendar year Kittiwake is still resting on the pipe in the harbour

The only waders seen apart from Oystercatcher were these resting on No.1 outflow

Three Turnstone, three Dunlin and two Ringed Plover

Grey seal 1 - this clip begins with the seal then pans across the gulls (mainly 2nd calendar year Common) feeding on the seaward end of No.1 outflow.

The same blanket of mud that covered the seed mussels on the north side has also covered the Sand Mason worm tubes on the beach between the wooden jetty and No.1 outflow. This doesn't affect the worms, but a soft mud surface seems to make it difficult for the Mediterranean Gulls to catch them. A couple of weeks ago this beach was looking promising, but at the moment looks even worse than last year, which wasn't good! We need a storm to clear the soft mud before the Meds return.

The currently featureless beach next to the wooden jetty.
Not a sand mason worm tube in sight!

These are small Grey Mullet swimming up the channel alongside the outflows to feed on the algae that has formed on the mud between tides. You can't see the fish in this clip, just their shadows and their bustling to get the best algae first! I've seen them reach onto the mud to feed in their fervour.

As I was coming off the wall Kevin Eaves was just beginning and he is much more diligent at little beasties than I am!

A few beetles (and other invertebrates) along the wall today

11 spot Ladybird

Poecilus cuprous/versicolour

Sun Beetle

Almost certainly a Water Lily Leaf Beetle

Six-spot Burnet caterpillar

Teneral damselfly

Finally this nice record also from Kevin Eaves:

I was sitting on my doorstep, putting on my shoes, when this delightful Wasp Beetle came to join me. One of several wasp-mimicking invertebrates, they're not particularly uncommon, though this was the first one I remember seeing.