Decent sea passage and huge insect migration

A fresh NE wind, plenty of sunshine, temperatures peaking at 21°C by lunchtime.

First a couple of updates from yesterday 

Sparrowhawk high over Janet's house

Middleton Nature Reserve - ringing report by John

Nets set from 6.30am to 11.00am. Much warmer with light winds.

No significant overhead movement observed and catch comprised;

Lesser Redpoll            x 10

Chiffchaff                    x   3

Willow Warbler            x  2

Sedge Warbler             x  2

Garden Warbler            x  1 (1st of the year, plus a male was singing)

Wren                             x  1

Goldfinch                      x  1

Blackbird                      x  1

Heysham Nature Reserve - ringing report by Alan

three nets but the catch was rather poor:

Wren  1 retrap

Dunnock  1

Blackbird  1

Lesser Whitethroat  1

Whitethroat  2

Blackcap  3

Chiffchaff  1 retrap

Blue Tit  3 retraps

Great Tit  2 retraps

Seawatch today - Pete:

from back of harbour 0650-0850 in unless stated : 

3 ad summer little gull

38 kittiwake

7 gannet

15 sandwich tern

180 common scoter

female scaup

59 arctic tern (7 small flocks)

2 common tern

3 Teal

1 red throated diver (out) 

two pink feet (on)

2 dark morph Arctic skua

295 swallow/swallowish bombing through bottom of scope

flock 30 grey plover

120 Dunlin

8 bar tailed godwit seemingly migrating

3,500 Knot

Additional after Pete left - Mark Prestwood

1st S little gull

4 sand tern

1 red-throated diver

1 gannet

20 common scoter

34 arctic tern

This male Whinchat was spotted by Martin Jordon on Heysham Head early afternoon, with at least 6 Wheatear.

Male Whinchat

Also from Martin 17:00 fromOcean Edge

Wheatear 10 (so at least 16 today)

Whimbrel 4 

Whimbrel 

Rock Pipit

Heysham skear - low water 13:15 (Malcolm)

Eider 54 - quite a hotchpotch of plumages.

Red-breasted Merganser 1

Oystercatcher 1500

Knot 1500

Redshank only 2 seen

Turnstone 120 - more than of late

Dunlin 35

Curlew none seen or heard

Whimbrel 3

Bar-Tailed Godwit 128 resting till moved on by the tide. Not one showing any sign of breeding plumage.

These are just some of them, you might just be able to pick out one with a yellow flag, barely above the water

(Just a glimpse of the yellow flag 14 seconds into the clip)

Bar-Tailed Godwit

South shore

Kevin had a walk along the sea wall this afternoon. It was classic conditions here for insects coming in off the sea and resting along the wall. NE wind, warm and sunny and the tide out. Not all the insects have been identified yet. These are just a selection of what Kevin saw.

a smart ichneumon fly but it was distant and is heavily cropped.

10-spot Ladybird 

Just a few of several hundred Seven Spot Ladybirds 

"Ladybird" with a Groundhopper 

It was amazing! Quite overwhelming really.

Just out of the recording area - horse paddock behind Middleton Parish Hall. The Glossy Ibis was checked for several time today, starting at 07:30. No sightings.

Early morning skuas top the bill.

The morning SE wind switched to NW by lunchtime. Another warm sunny day, again topping 19°C mid afternoon.

Sea from back of harbour 0659-0850: slow but some stuff - Pete

3 - 2+1 dark morph arctic skua

flock 12 arctic tern

1 summer plumage red-throated diver

4 common scoter

150 plus 9 pink feet, 

15 whimbrel

 c20 sandwich tern 

4 Canada geese

Middleton Nature Reserve

I only checked the eastern side, not the marshes today (Malcolm)

Mute Swan pairs on main and "no swimming" pond. At least 1 adult on Tim Butler pond, but viewing is difficult there.

The "no swimming" pond female back on her wooden nest

Coot 8

Moorhen 4

Mallard 5

Gadwall 4

Tufted Duck male and female

Tufted duck, despite the female having no discernible tuft

Buzzard 1 being harassed by crows on the eastern boundary 

Jay 1

Pheasant 1 male calling (unlikely to be the same bird seen yesterday)

Singing warblers.

Cetti's warbler 3

Grasshopper warbler 1

Common Whitethroat 2

Lesser Whitethroat 3

Willow warbler 3

Chiffchaff 2

Blackcap 1

Janet checked the same area a little later and heard the same birds, but also managed a couple of shots.

Male Common Whitethroat 

Male Reed Bunting 

South shore

I walked out to the waterline out from Ocean Edge towards evening high water (Malcolm)

Whimbrel 8 - 2 on saltmarsh, 2 high from SE and 3 north along waterline. All different to Pete's earlier birds, so 23 in total today.

Curlew 6 - 3 on the saltmarsh plus 3 on the waterline 

Oystercatcher 37 only along waterline.

The other waders were just south of me, still well within the recording area, but it made viewing difficult as the light was behind them.

Grey Plover 55 most in at least partial summer plumage.

Bar-Tailed Godwit 90

Knot 1,000

Dunlin 400

I had to wade out a little to get a half decent angle.

There was a small group of Bar-Tailed Godwits nearer the sea wall, but this clip isn't about them. The young Great Black-backed gull was in a playful mood. It had a waterlogged stick that it kept dropping, it eventually taunted a second gull to chase it. Unfortunately I only managed to capture the taunter.

Just out of the recording area - horse paddock behind Middleton Parish Hall

Glossy Ibis - as yesterday, it was seen early morning (last seen 08:25). But not present at 10:00 or 11:45.

A bit of movement in the air

A fresh SSE wind. Dry and largely sunny, the temperature rising all day peaking at 19°C by 16:00.

Seawatch report by Pete -  0720-0850 from back of harbour: 

just 6 Arctic tern 

20 common scoter

57 swallow

4 sand Martin

3 gadwall (!)

12 Bar-tailed Godwit

5 whimbrel

1 sandwich tern

tree pipit 5 plus lesser redpoll

Two female Whinchat on road from passenger terminal down to back of harbour sat on razor wire fence

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Tree Pipit over. 

Sedge Warbler in the reedbed. 

2 Lesser Whitethroat and a Common Whitethroat singing - Jean

Janet had a walk around later in the morning when the sun had warmed things up.

Large Red Damselfly - first of the year

Female Orange Tip

Male Orange Tip

Red-Tailed Bumblebee, covered in pollen

Heysham skear, low water 10:40 (Malcolm)

Eider 25 - no mergansers or grebes seen

Sandwich Tern 4 - this one settled on conger rock while its mate settled on the smaller rock to the south. Then the first one joined its mate.

Knot 350 no ringed birds seen

Whimbrel 5

Bar-Tailed Godwit 6

Bar-Tailed Godwit

Bar-Tailed Godwit with Oystercatchers

Swallow 3 - there are two in this clip, not much to see of the birds, but does provide a panorama of the shore to the south of the skear.

Peregrine Falcon 1 at least

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

The water level on the "no swimming" pond has returned to normal, and, somewhat surprisingly, the mute pair were repairing the lost wooden nest. To be fair even if they had nested amongst the reeds as they normally do, their nest would have been swamped. Another pair were eyeing up nest sites on the main pond.

Mallard 7 (1 female)

Gadwall 4 (1 female)

Moorhen 2

Coot 7 - these two look aggressive but they are probably a pair.

Herring gull collecting nest material

This male Pheasant was displaying to a female. Not sure what's going on with his tail.

A quick check of the central and western marshes saw/heard:

Cetti's warbler 6 (plus 1 at main pond)

Lesser Whitethroat 4

Common Whitethroat 2

Reed Warbler 3

Sedge Warbler 1

Willow Warbler 5

Chiffchaff 4

Blackcap 1

Reed Bunting 1

5 male and 1 female Orange Tip

This teneral damselfly was by the main pond

I struggle a bit with teneral damsels (Malcolm), but it looks to be a female Azure Blue

South shore (Malcolm)

Pale-bellied Brent Geese 5 - initially seen by David Kaye out from Knowlys Rd. Later they were on Red Nab.

Pale-bellied Brent geese out from Red Nab

Wheatear 13 between the saltmarsh and Red Nab

Common Sandpiper 1 flew along foreshore towards Red Nab

Lesser Whitethroat still singing from the scrub behind Red Nab.

This Apple blossom is also in the scrub behind Red Nab - it smells even nicer than it looks!

2 possibly 3 Brimstone butterflies in the Nature Park.

Just out of the recording area - horse paddock behind Middleton Parish Hall

Glossy Ibis - feeding at 0900 but not seen since, apart from a report from along the Snatchems road this pm.

All quiet on the Heysham front!

A strong south wind all day became even stronger in the afternoon. A dry morning but a showery afternoon.

Pete managed to stick out a seawatch for 45 minutes on the incoming tide.

Just 4 Sandwich Terns out

Porpoise 1 out from the harbour mouth

Wheatear 1 male near the lighthouse 

Howard took this fine shot of a Knot a couple of weeks ago.
At that time there was just a hint of their red summer plumage developing.

Heysham skear - low water 09:50 (Malcolm)

Didn't count the Eider, Mergansers or Grebes, but similar number to recent visits.

Shelduck pair (male on right)

By now, many of the Knot and Bar-Tailed Godwits are in partial to full summer plumage.

Knot in the foreground, Bar-tailed Godwits behind.

Bar-tailed Godwit

Knot 500

Bar-tailed Godwit 12

Whimbrel 5

Whimbrel

Other waders included: Oystercatcher, Curlew (just 3), Redshank, Turnstone and Dunlin .

The Dunlin were again after small shrimps.

Peregrine Falcon, two attacks while I was out, probably why there were less Knot than of late.

South shore (Malcolm)

Just a quick lunchtime check from Red Nab to the saltmarsh saw almost nothing.

Whimbrel 1

Linnet 3

Lesser Whitethroat singing from the scrub behind Red Nab. One held territory here last year.

Just out of the recording area - horse paddock behind Middleton Parish Hall

Glossy Ibis - feeding mid morning

Stork passes through!

A cold but light NW wind became fresher mid afternoon. A dry day with afternoon sun.

White Stork spotted by Janet - flying east over Middleton Nature Reserve just after lunch. She managed to get her camera ready just in time.

White Stork heading east

Seawatch from north seawall- Pete Crooks

A very uneventful sea-watch (8.20 – 9. 30 am):
c.45 Pink-footed Geese – a distant single group, presumably this species, flying north low over the sea in the offshore ‘heat haze’
6 Sandwich Tern
3 Whimbrel
1 Grey Seal

Heysham skear low water 09:10 (Malcolm)

There wasn't lot going on this morning.

Eider 60

Red-breasted Merganser 12 - there was a bit of squabbling going on

Great Crested Grebe 4 (2 pair)

Sandwich Tern 5 - initially resting on the sand bars but began feeding when the tide started making.

Whimbrel 8 most already on the skear

Bar-Tailed Godwit 80 - some already on the skear, others came in.

Other waders similar to recent

This Dunlin was trying to catch small shrimps, but came up empty billed this time.

Just out of the recording area - horse paddock behind Middleton Parish Hall

Glossy Ibis - feeding at 09:00, but was seen flying west at 09:16. No sign of it at 15:15. Let's see what tomorrow brings.......

Worse than expected seawatch!

An early NE breeze drifted to east by late morning....... A sunny start.......

combined seawatching/vis 0700-0900 - Jean

Sand Martin 4

Swallow 2

Whimbrel 3

Sandwich Tern 7

Grey Seal 1

Worst ever!!

Heysham skear - low water 08:30 (Malcolm)

Little Egret 6

Eider 92

Red-breasted Merganser 8

Great Crested Grebe 4

Sandwich Tern 9 resting and feeding. These are 6 resting on a honeycomb worm reef with Eider drifting past.

For some reason this one decided to rest on the sea, it was there for a few minutes before resuming feeding.

Sandwich Tern

Peregrine Falcon 1 marauding the small waders

Knot 2,500 altogether flock of 1,500 on the middle skear

Dunlin 80

Turnstone 60

Redshank 30

Curlew 3

Whimbrel just 2 this morning

Ringed Plover 1 - it was resting along the waterline. Presumably it had just come in and needed a rest, it allowed the water to rise up around it before reluctantly flying further up the shore.

Ringed Plover

Sand Martin 1 north

Sand Martin 

I returned in the evening as the ebbing tide was leaving the rocks out from the play area (Malcolm)

At first the only waders on the waterline were a small group of Bar-Tailed Godwit, including a male in his red summer plumage.

Then, reinforcements arrived!

Bar-Tailed Godwit 120

Knot 2,000

Dunlin 300

One of the godwits had a yellow flag and red ring, identifying it as ringed in Norway. Unfortunately I didn't manage to read it.

Just after this clip the Knot took flight again, they are very flighty at the moment, so I didn't get a chance to check them for rings and they took the Godwits with them.

Whimbrel 8 , possibly including this morning's 2.

Whimbrel 

Sandwich Tern 4 - two fishing and two had been resting/preening. I had to get past them, as I came closer one eventually took flight, but the other stubbornly refused to move. This clip seems to be the flying bird seeing me as a threat and calling for its mate to join it. While the other was just saying "whatever"!

I managed to get past without spooking it.

Goldeneye 1 male - I was lucky to catch it preening to begin with, as after that it was constantly feeding and only brief glimpses of it diving. 

Male Goldeneye - it was still feeding when I left, by this time in the SE corner of the skear.

Female Red-breasted Merganser, also resting on a rock as I passed.

These Great Crested Grebes were reaffirming their bonds.

Just out of the recording area - horse paddock behind Middleton Parish Hall

Glossy Ibis there at 08:45, but not seen when checked mid afternoon.