5 Meds but not easy, plus insect movement

A hot sunny day with a pleasant NE wind.

First a couple of nice shots from Kevin Singleton yesterday.

Dunlin on Red Nab

Lapwing near Half-Moon Bay Cafe

South shore

Pete managed 5 Mediterranean gulls on a lunchtime visit - 2cy red nab, 2x 1cy behind ferry along with 2cy and ad - soon flew out again 

East in the wind and hot and sunny can mean good insect passage in off the sea, but it is best when they are concentrated when the tide is out. Unfortunately low water today was 08:30. Too early for any insect to have traveled far. Still there was some movement mid morning. (Malcolm).

Red Admiral 1

Large White 1

Small White 6

White sp 3

Not my best ever insect shot, but this is what you see.
There is a white butterfly coming in/off just above the skyline on the left.

Common Darter 4 (all males)

Male Common Darter resting on the sea wall

Migrant Hawker 2

Kevin Eaves checked just after lunch.

Red Admiral 8 in/off

Migrant Hawker 1 along the sea wall and this one in the Nature Park

Migrant Hawker

I went back this evening as the ebbing tide was again leaving the sea wall (Malcolm). But the bulk of the insect passage was high up. The gulls, including large gulls were all feeding high.

Gulls feeding high above the sea wall. Kevin advises that they were also 
feeding high over is house, including a fine adult Mediterranean gull.

Still there was some movement on the wall.

Red Admiral 2

Silver Y 1 seen coming in/off

Darter sp 1

Common Bluetail 1 

Common Bluetail on the sea wall

There were several Common Field Grasshoppers along the sea wall, they can fly, but presumably this is only local movement.

Common Field Grasshopper 

Plenty of butterflies in the Nature Park

These shots by Janet

Red Admiral 3

Red Admiral 

Peacock 4

Large White 3

Small White 2

Small White

Janet also saw several Brimstone on Heysham Nature Reserve.

There were some birds as well

Shelduck 33 this morning and arriving all the time. 24 out from the foreshore were joined by 4, 2 and 3 as I walked past.

No gulls were on the beach by the wooden jetty, but a couple of Bar-Tailed Godwit had a go at the sandmason worms.

Bar-Tailed Godwit

This Lesser Black-Backed and a Herring gull were on the shore together,
then drifted into the bay on the rising tide together.

Meadow Pipit 3 in/off this morning.

Rock Pipit 2 on Red Nab this morning - Janet saw this one on Red Nab this afternoon. 

It flew off along the sea wall with this grub. presumably feeding a
young one somewhere 

Another of Janet's shots - a Little Egret doing the old walking on water routine.

Kingfisher 1 at least - Janet saw one fly across the dipping pond at Heysham Nature Reserve. I saw one zip across Red Nab this morning. I couldn't find it when I walked out this evening, but this is where it was on the return.

This freshwater runoff through the culvert along Red Nab is the runoff
from the dipping pond at Heysham Nature Reserve, although there is no
way a Kingfisher could follow it underground.

Female Kingfisher 

This fresh looking Green Carpet was flitting around the Nature Park this evening

Chiffchaff 1 singing (first heard singing for a while).

Lesser Whitethroat 1 seen

No Meds seen today

A dry and largely sunny day. A fresh NE wind.

South shore (Malcolm)

A quick late morning check of Red Nab

No Mediterranean gulls were resting on Red Nab

Meadow Pipit 2 SE

Sand Martin 3 (2 + 1) SE

Shelduck 3

Shelduck taking a drink from the freshwater run off at Red Nab

Osprey 1 fishing between the outfalls, after about 10 minutes it disappeared, presumably caught something and left.

The sea wall was closed for maintenance, so only a distant shot.
No sign of a ring on the right leg

I did have a walk along the sea wall after it reopened for the evening.

Not a single gull turned up to feed on the beach by the wooden jetty, and no Mediterranean gulls seen anywhere 

Wheatear 1 near lighthouse 

Rock Pipit 2 on Red Nab

Shelduck 10

Shelduck on and around one of the freshwater runoffs at Red Nab

In the Nature Park.

Migrant Hawker 1

Common Darter 7

Large White 1

Speckled Wood 4

Peacock 3

Peacock showing all its eyes as it soaked up as much as possible 
of the evening sun.

Treble-bar moth 1

Treble-bar - perfectly camouflaged on the stony path

Heysham Head 

Janet took this shot of a very young Wood Pigeon near the
path. Hopefully it soon moved to a safer area.

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

Just a very brief check of the two main ponds

Tufted Duck now 7 on the main pond (5 males)

Managed to get all seven in this shot

Male and female/immature 

This winter plumage Little Grebe was preening on the "no swimming" pond.

Brown Hawker 1

Common Darter several

Speckled Wood 3

Red Admiral 1

Red Admiral, also displaying a full spread of its wings

Little Gull, but awkward with the sea wall closed

A few light showers in the morning otherwise dry and mainly sunny. A light west(ish) breeze.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Ringing report by Alan:

Just two nets set this morning owing to intermittent short showers. Four Grey Wagtails caught with a further six attracted but not caught.  One Swallow flew fast northwards over the reserve around 09.30, also ten Meadow Pipits attracted but again not caught.

Grey Wagtail  4

Wren  1

Robin  3

Reed Warbler  1

Lesser Whitethroat  2

Blackcap  5

Chiffchaff   3

Willow Warbler  1

Blue Tit  1

Great Tit  1

Janet had a look after lunch

Cetti's warbler 1 singing from reed bed on the main pond.

Tufted Duck, still 5 on the main pond.

Female/immature Tufted Duck

Tufted Duck drake

Migrant Hawker

Male Emperor 

South shore

Pete checked from Ocean Edge:

Little Gull 1 adult on the inner end of No.1 outfall

Mediterranean gull  7 including 1 1cy on No.1 outfall.

I had a short walk out onto the shore late morning (Malcolm)

Some of the gulls on Red Nab. Great Black-Backed on the left
Herring gull top right, Mediterranean gull top centre.
The rest Black-Headed gulls

Wheatear 2 (foreshore and Ocean Edge grass)

Pied Wagtail 12 and Linnet 8 also on Ocean Edge grass

Little Egret 5 on saltmarsh 

Little Egret 

Grey Plover 2 high up the shore

Male Grey Plover still in summer plumage

There were two main groups of Ringed Plover and Dunlin feeding high up the shore. 294 in total, at least 100 Ringed Plovers.

This is what they are feeding on, countless thousands of tiny snails.
If you zoom in on this shot you can see the tracks the snails leave as they feed.

Although there are other molluscs on the menu. Janet took these shots of a Ringed Plover close to the foreshore.

Each of the specks on the mud surface is a tiny snail

But this one found a larger mollusc just below the surface.

In the Nature Park

Peacock 3

Red Admiral 2

4 singing Robins

More Ospreys, albeit distant ones.

Sunny for much of the day, but it clouded over early evening and rained for a while. A light NW breeze.

South shore (Malcolm)

Just a check of the shore out from the saltmarsh late morning on the rising tide.

A mixed feeding group of 83 Ringed Plover and Dunlin high up the beach. These are a few of them.

They are feeding on tiny molluscs, every "pimple" on the mud either is one or is mud covering one.

Dunlin and Ringed Plover

Grey Plover 3, also high up the beach, but just resting and bathing.

Grey Plover

Osprey 2 - the bird(s) were south of the recording area fishing close to the waterline out from Potts Corner. So just  a "seen from" record. 

This one caught a fish, likely a Mullet, quite close to the waterline, lifting
all the waders. It then flew south with its catch.

I thought that was it, but just a couple of minutes later "another" was fishing in the same area. It was either a second Osprey, or possibly the same bird, having left its first catch with another bird. Either way two Osprey involved. It makes an unsuccessful dive in this clip.

When I looked back again a minute or so later, there was no sign of it.

Little Egret 5 on saltmarsh 

Linnet 4 on saltmarsh 

Wheatear 1 on Ocean Edge grass

Pied Wagtail 8 on Ocean Edge grass

Mediterranean Gulls 8 around Red Nab - Pete

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Some nice shots from Janet this afternoon.

Common Darters deemed to be everywhere today

Migrant Hawker

Female Emperor ovipositoring, again with a following of Damselflies 

An unusual configuration of a Bullrush (Reedmace)

I called in briefly this evening (Malcolm)

Wildfowl unchanged except

Tufted Duck 5 on the main pond, 4 males and a female/immature. These are 3 of the males.

The female/immature, looks happy enough

Mediterranean gull 2 adults on the main pond.

Mediterranean gull (left) with Black-Headed gulls

Swallow 3, House Martin 3 south