A bit of summer sun, but not for long

A bright sunny start with a very light north wind. It started clouding over mid afternoon and the rain began at teatime.

South shore (Malcolm)

Osprey 1 arrived at 10:15. It did a bit of halfhearted fishing then settled on the post at the end of No.2 outflow to wait for the tide to ebb further. It was still resting on the post when I left the wall at 11:00.

Looks to be the same bird as recent visits, with blue ring on right leg

This is what "halfhearted" fishing looks like.

Eider 3 female type north

Eider

Mediterranean gulls 15 minimum. There was a first summer in the harbour, 2 adults flew into the inner harbour out of sight. 2 adult turned up to see if there were any sandmason worms on the beach near the wooden jetty, there weren't. 12 adult (possibly some were second summer) and a first summer were resting on the beach between the outflows, but possibly including the harbour birds, if they had moved.

This is the first summer Med in the harbour, with a juvenile Black-Headed gull behind.

This is one of the adult Meds looking for sandmason worms in the shallows.

Some of the Meds resting between the outflows

Grey Seal 2 at least. It wasn't immediately obvious that they were around, but this clip of fish scattering, some quite large, and gulls scavenging was a sure sign of a seal feeding below.

The seals are not so easy to see when they are actively feeding, they are under the surface for most of the time, although they do surface to eat what they catch. This is a compilation of the few glimpses I did manage.

Linnet 7 between the lighthouse and waterfall. 

Male Linnet

In the Nature Park:

Ringlet 1

Meadow Brown 3

Small White 1

Large White 2

Small Skipper 1

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Janet checked in the morning

Swallow

Black-Tailed Skimmer

Red Soldier Beetles

I checked in the afternoon (Malcolm). By that time it was very warm (21°C).

Wildfowl pretty much as of late, but no Gadwall or Tufted duck seen.

Immature, but independent, Little Grebe

I accidentally disturbed a female Pheasant with at least six, barely fledged, youngsters.

Two of the young Pheasants, they were doing a lot of flapping for little movement!

The only warblers heard singing were one each, Chiffchaff and Reed Warbler

Butterflies:

Large White 1

Meadow Brown 3

Gatekeeper 6

Ringlet 2

Moths:

Silver Y 1

Shaded Broad-bar 3

Dragonflies:

Emperor 4

Four -Spotted Chaser 2

Black-Tailed Skimmer 6

Common Darter 4

Brown Hawker 1

Pair of Common Darters

Female Brown Hawker ovipositoring 

Common Blue and Bluetailed Damselflies several

Just bits really

A very light north breeze, it managed to stay reasonably dry after an early shower, but remained overcast.

South shore (Malcolm)

Not a lot around this morning.

Mediterranean gull just 2 adult

The only Med on the beach by the jetty was the metal ringed bird

Eider  8 female type in one flock north.

Little Egret 2 on Red Nab

Grey Heron 1 on the wooden jetty

Cormorant 15 - some feeding, some on the wooden jetty.

Cormorant 

There have been no gulls or Cormorants feeding below the waterfalls for some time now, looks like this feeding area isn't providing anything to feed on, at least for the time being.

The waterfall in the harbour has not been attracting gulls etc, even when
there has been lots of food passing along the outflows.

This Herring gull was posing nicely on the outflow superstructure 

Grey Seal at least 3 probably 4

Grey Seal having a snooze

These two were between the outflows, where the Osprey was feeding yesterday.

On duty Osprey

Another overcast but just about dry day. A light wind from NE to NW.

South shore (Malcolm)

Osprey 1 was milling around some distance out from No.1 outflow at 09:30 this morning. Then it came in to rest on the same post, at the end of No.2 outflow, as yesterday.

No fish today, it was just waiting for the tide to ebb a little further. The gulls weren't so tolerant today.

At 09:50 it started fishing between the outflows. I filmed it dive four times without it catching anything, so I stopped filming and just watched. The very next dive it caught a Bass! So I've cheated a little bit and merged the last unsuccessful dive with the point when it does catch. A thing to bear in mind when watching this, is that Bass have long, strong and very sharp spines in their dorsal fin. The Osprey has to make sure that when it grabs one it misses this fin in the middle of the bass' back, possibly why some dives are aborted.

Unlike yesterday, after avoiding the gulls, the Osprey set off high and purposeful to the NW, where presumably young await.

The thought occurred, that if this is the same bird as yesterday, and it does appear to be, perhaps it had already taken one fish to its family then returned to catch another for itself to eat yesterday. It would explain why it just let what was still a sizeable fish drop into the sea. 

The blue ring on its right leg clearly visible, but illegible 

Although a sizeable fish, it is very thin for a Bass at this time of year.
By this time, the Osprey had pushed back the dorsal fin, flattening the spines.
It can now hold the bass safely in the middle of its back.

Mediterranean gull just 4 adults seen today.

This is yesterday's white ringed Med. Ringed as an adult 17/05/23
at Groningen Netherlands. It was in Germany by June then here in August
Since then it was seen in Dublin in March this year then later in March
Lagoon island, RSPB Hodbarrow, Millom, Cumbria.

Rock Pipit on Red Nab

Peregrine Falcon 2

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

A quick evening check of the two main pond, found the wildfowl unchanged other that the Tufted duck wasn't seen.

This is the female Gadwall with her two young having a dabble.

There were two lots of two Little Grebe chicks, and at least two adults bringing them food, despite the fact the chicks are capable of feeding themselves now. Whatever it was they were being given was tiny, perhaps it was just a lesson in alternative food items (Song Thrush and the other grebes in the background).

Off duty Osprey

Overcast and dry after early morning showers. A light variable breeze.

South Shore

I walked along the sea wall mid morning on the ebbing tide (Malcolm)

Osprey 1 - it was on the post at the end of No.2 outflow eating a decent sized Bass, and it must have been there a good while already, as there were no gulls bothering it. They usually hound them for the duration of their stay, but not seen one stay for over 30 minutes before. Also a good proportion of the bass had already been eaten.

You can see it firmly gripping the bass with its left foot. There was a blue ring on the right leg

It remained on the post for 45 minutes while I walked out and back along the wall. It wasn't bothered by the gulls once. At first it was eating the bass, but after a while its feeding became less regular. This, somewhat wobbly, clip shows it eating, but only after making a little more room.

Eventually, it just let what was left of the bass drop into the sea. There was plenty left over, so clearly the Osprey didn't have any partner or young relying on it for food. This is at least the fourth occasion this year that an Osprey has been seen on this post. This clip shows the location.

The now fishless Osprey. A few minutes later it flew off, heading north.

To be fair there weren't a lot of gulls around, eventually I located 

Mediterranean gull 12 - 10 adult 2 second summer. One adult had a white darvic ring, details awaited.

Adult Mediterranean gull with just a metal ring

Adult Med

Second summer Med

Adult Med (top) and adult Black-Headed gull

Kittiwake 1 - the long staying first summer bird flew from the wooden jetty towards the outflows.

Janet had another look at her Peregrine shots from yesterday to try and see what it is on its leg. It still isn't easy (you'll have to open the shots to see anything) but you can make out a claw at the end of it, so it must be either a broken or malformed talon.

Mystery solved - thanks Janet

Kevin spotted this Large Horse Fly resting on the sea wall.
As he says, it is well named.

Middleton Nature Reserve (Janet)

Coot 

Common Whitethroat 

Ringlet

Meadow Brown

Peregrines becoming a nuisance!

Overcast all day, it just about stayed dry with just a few spots of rain. A light NE wind.

Heysham skear - low water 10:15 (Malcolm)

Little Egret 9

Grey Heron 1

No Eider seen.

Red-breasted Merganser 2 female type

Red-breasted Merganser in the channel that separates the middle and outer skear

Great Crested grebe 5

Great Crested grebe with a Merganser

Herring gull 150 on middle skear and a similar number on outer skear

Lesser Black-Backed gull 17

Great Black-Backed gull 1

Black-Headed gull 14

Waders, only the middle skear checked:

Oystercatcher 300

Curlew 7

Redshank 12

Nice to see Redshank back. The front Oystercatcher is about to fly off with a mussel it has "caught".
They like to open them with no competition around

Red Nab

I went down on the rising tide to check the gull roost on Red Nab (Malcolm).

But the gulls are all very flighty after regular sorties by Peregrine falcons. There are two young and at least one adult, it's the young ones that keep practicing their hunting skills on the gulls. Many of the gulls didn't bother with Red Nab at all and flew directly towards the Lune estuary. Those that did settle on Red Nab were soon spooked and flew to the mud out from the foreshore.

Mediterranean gull 18, including 3 first summer and 2 second summer, this includes 5 that flew straight to the estuary. Red and yellow ringed birds seen but too distant to read.

Janet was on the sea wall.

Adult Peregrine Falcon. We have seen this bird before. If you open this shot
and have a close look, there is a thong of some sort fastened to its right leg.
It looks a bit flimsy to be jesses, but it has been there a while

Janet also took this shot of the gulls on the beach

Mainly Black-Headed gulls, but at least six Meds

They quickly moved on again to the mud out from the saltmarsh, then almost immediately they all flew off towards the estuary 

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

Just a quick check of the two main ponds 

Wildfowl as yesterday except

Tufted duck 1 male on the main pond.

Tufted duck (drake)

Unusually, the bottom car park was empty, this Heron and a couple of Mallard were under the feeders.
The Mallard  would be after fallen seeds, but presumably, the Heron was after small rodents also
tempted by the seeds.

Mediterranean gull 1 adult west

Peregrine Falcon one west - towards the Power Stations 

Blue-Tail Damselfly 3

Ringlet 3

Small Skipper 1

Restricted time today, meant a poorly timed walk.

Overcast with a few showers. A light south wind.

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

Just a passing check of the two main ponds.

Mute Swan 2 adult 2 cygnet

Mallard 16 - 1 male rest female/immature

Gadwall 1 female with 2 well developed young

Female Gadwall at the back then her two young.
Three Mallard in front

Coot 5 adult 3 young I very young

Moorhen 2 adults

Little Grebe - none seen on the main pond, but probably just missed. 4 adult and 4 young on the "no swimming" pond. All the young are now feeding themselves, not beyond a bit of begging though.

The only warbler singing was a Chiffchaff, but there were lots of contact calls.

No Damsel or Dragonflies and the only butterfly was a single Gatekeeper, but it was only 09:30, a bit early on the best of days.

South shore (Malcolm)

A mid morning walk with the tide out and the beach next to the wooden jetty not providing, never looked promising, and it didn't disappoint!

Mediterranean gull 13, 1 adult feeding on No.2 outflow, an adult and a second summer resting on mud, 8 adult (possibly one or more were second summer) feeding at the seaward end of No.1 outflow, and 2 adult out from the harbour mouth. Didn't see any first summer.

These are some of the Meds feeding at the end of No.1 outflow.

Kittiwake 1 mobile first summer

First two juvenile Cormorants were on the wooden jetty.
This is one of them (centre)

Peregrine Falcon 2 chasing gulls.....

......and occasionally resting 

It's all about food.......finding it, or not being it!

 Showers all day particularly in the morning. A light east wind.

South shore

Report from Shaun Coyle:

Red Nab to Heysham Harbour 11:00 to 13:00. 

Mediterranean Gull 22 (adult 13, 2nd summer 6 and 3 1st summer). 

First summer Kittiwake harbour entrance area. 

Common Tern adult followed the Steam Packet ferry in, then headed off towards the outfalls.

Peregrine Falcon 2 spooking the gulls

I had a stroll in the rain (Malcolm)

One of the adult Meds had a darvic ring, but not easy to spot as it was the
same shade of red as its legs. It is from a Czech Republic scheme, details 
awaited. It is the first Czech ringed bird since the metal ringed bird was last
seen in December 2019 after overwintering every year from 2003!

When I reached the beach by the wooden jetty there were only six resting Meds, then the beach was cleared by the Peregrines. I took these shots on the skear yesterday, but they are pertinent to the beach by the jetty.

Honeycomb worms do not have a monopoly on the skear, there are several 
samdmason worm tubes in this shallow pool. Because they are still underwater 
the worm's feeding tentacles extend beyond the end of the tubes. You can see where
a gull has walked through the pool, the worms would have quickly retracted deep
into their tubes and would have been slow to return.

This is a detail of the tubes and feeding tentacles, the tentacles extend from
the worms head. The worm itself is very thin but can be as long as 30cm, so
plenty of protein. These are what the Mediterranean gulls feed on when they 
feed on the beach by the wooden jetty. You can see how when they are feeding 
in shallow water with their tentacles showing, the gulls can trap the worm by 
grabbing the tube behind the worm's head. I suspect the occasions when they 
catch them on the dry beach relates to the worm's breeding cycle 

This beach by the wooden jetty is ideal for Sannmason worms, protected from
disruptive waves on all sides. Plus the wakes of ships entering and leaving the
harbour will regularly wash in nutrients, and there will be lots of nutrients in
the outflows. I can't imagine that there will be a denser population of
sandmason worms anywhere else in Morecambe Bay. (Malcolm)

The gulls were finding plenty to eat on the outflows, no need to fly they were just swimming around picking tiny fish as they rose to the surface

This is what they were feeding on. Tiny fry (this year's hatchings)

Grey Seal 1 - This is interesting and I can't pretend to completely understand it. The seal was dozing and happily drifting along, but close by small fish kept leaping out of the water. There are six in this short compilation.

Fish will only leap like this if they are chasing food or being chased for food. I suspect the latter. The seal is likely attracting small creatures, perhaps the tiny fry. These will attract larger fish, the size jumping out of the water, and of course these attract big fish that then cause them to leap clear. The details are just speculation of course, but it will be a scenario similar to this. The sleeping seal is basically the centre of a temporary ecosystem.

Redshank 23 (8 and 15)

Rock Pipit 1 along the sea wall

This young Blue Tit seemed to be finding plenty to eat on the newt pond in the Nature Park

Some nice shots from Janet yesterday 

Juvenile Black-Headed gull

Oystercatchers

Pied Wagtail on Red Nab

Common Darter in the Nature Park

Six-spot Burnet near the lighthouse 

House Sparrows at the heliport