Still some movement - birds and insects

Another warm sunny day with a predominantly east breeze.

Heysham skear (Malcolm) 08:45 - 10:15:

Eider 10

Eider

Little Egret 3

Sandwich Tern 1

A few more species of wader today

Oystercatcher 1,200

Curlew 2

Whimbrel 8

Knot just a solitary bird

Solitary Knot with Oystercatchers 

Turnstone 2

Summer plumage Turnstone 

Ringed Plover 6

All six in this shot

Gulls c1,200 again, but no ringed birds were seen today.

Swallow 3 in/off

Painted Lady 1 in/off

Middleton Nature Reserve - southern section - (Janet)

These shots with Janet's mobile, showing that you don't need expensive cameras, especially for insects.

Broad-bodied Chaser

Four-spotted Chaser

Common Toad, clearly not enjoying the dry weather

Main pond (these shots with a 65mm lens)

Female Broad-bodied Chaser ovipositoring, with the male watching over

Pete checked from the back of the harbour  1125-1225 

Red admiral 7 in

Painted Lady 2 together in

Small White 11 in

Common scoter flock of 19 

A single Sandwich Tern 

South shore (Malcolm)

From saltmarsh to lighthouse and back 15:15 - 16:30

Shelduck just 1 resting on the saltmarsh 

Linnet 2 each saltmarsh and lighthouse 

Meadow Pipit 2 - one on foreshore and 1 on Red Nab

Foreshore Meadow Pipit

Rock Pipit, just one seen standing above the waterfall

Curlew 1 on Red Nab

Eider 3 between the outfalls

Eider on the sea, and I just happen to have caught a passing dredger in the frame.

In some respects I couldn't have timed this walk any worse. By the time I reached the sea wall, the breeze had shifted to NNW for the only time in the day! East winds are required to draw the insects in here, and sure enough I didn't see a single insect come in/off anywhere along the wall. There were some butterflies remaining on the scrub near the lighthouse.

Common Blue 17

Common Blue

Painted Lady 2

Painted Lady

In another respect of course, I couldn't have timed the walk any better. No point in having an hypothesis of requiring an east wind to bring the insects in if you don't test it. When Pete checked earlier the breeze was almost due east. When I checked the NNW breeze would have drawn the insects in and across the bay.

This is another of Janet's shots of yesterday's Heysham Head Rock Pipits.
Even the shadow shows it to be carrying food.

The wrong sort of wryneck

Another warm sunny day, a little more north to the east wind than yesterday.

Heysham skear (Malcolm) 08:00 - 09:30

Canada goose 1 came in low from the south, settled briefly then continued north.

It has a condition known as wry neck. Probably since it was a gosling

Eider 10

Great Crested Grebe 1

Little Egret 2

Grey Heron 1

Oystercatcher 1,500

Curlew 1

Whimbrel 6

Bar-Tailed Godwit 2 north

Bar-Tailed Godwit

Ringed Plover 3

Ringed Plover

Gulls - at least as many as yesterday (1,200). I couldn't get close to most, but I managed to check c250 without seeing a single ringed bird. Then on my way back one was right in front of me! Unfortunately one that I saw a couple of days ago.

Janet had a good look around today:

Middleton Nature Reserve 

southern section:

Common Whitethroat 

Female Black-Tailed Skimmer

Green-Veined White with a white "petal"?

Red Admiral

northern section:

Mute cygnets all present and correct 

Grey Heron chilling out

Common Bluetail Damselfly

Common Blue Damselfly, with breakfast

Small Heath

Rock Pipit at Ocean Edge foreshore 

Two Rock Pipits taking food to the nest below Heysham Head

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Brown Silver-line

Broad-bodied Chaser

High flying Small Whites

South sea wall (Malcolm) 15:00 - 16:30

Shelduck 6 - 2 feeding plus 4 south

Swallow 1 north

Linnet 2 on the foreshore, 1 on Red Nab and 2 near the lighthouse.

At first the only butterflies seen along the sea wall were 2 Common Blue

Common Blue on the sea wall

But by the time I reached No.1 outfall I began seeing, first Red Admirals then other species. They were coming in off the sea, but as there was more north in the wind today they only remained along the wall until they found a way through, or over, the perimeter fence to continue into the wind. By the time I got back I had seen

Red Admiral 31.

Painted Lady 4

Again, the Painted Ladies were stopping off to fuel up before continuing

Common Blue 38

Small White 11

Large White 2

There were more Craneflies today, some more identifiable than others

Nephrotona submaculosa

Herring Gull nesting on one of the platforms in the harbour

Insects in the Nature Park:

Small White several

Large White 4

Speckled Wood 2

Common Blue 10+

Brimstone 2 males

Large Skipper 1 - first of the year

Large Skipper

There were two other Skippers flitting about, but never settled. They looked to be smaller.

Female Black-Tailed Skimmer.
Not a regular here

Migrant Butterflies

Another dry day, although clouds did gather and looked like rain this morning. A freshening east wind.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Report by Alan:

I set a couple of nets this morning while I carried out some maintenance on other ringing rides.  Expectations were low as many birds are now on territory and use of Mp3 lures is very restricted during the breeding season to avoid disruption to birds on territory. There was plenty of bird song from the usual warbler species here.

Seven birds only caught :

Great Tit - retrap from this year

Willow Warbler - also from April this year

Reed Warbler - ringed here April 2024

Cetti's Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Reed Warbler and Blackbird - one each ringed as new birds.

Janet had a quick look this evening 

Female Black-Tailed Skimmer - first of the year

Common Blue Damselfly 

The Mute Swans were on the "no swimming" pond

Heysham skear (Malcolm) 07:15 - 08:45

Low water was 06:30 so the tide was covering the skear during my walk.

Canada goose 1 low to the north

Canada Goose

Eider 9

Sandwich Tern 1

Sandwich Tern

Great Crested Grebe 5 (2, 2 and 1)

Great Crested Grebes

Little Egret 4

Grey Heron 1

Grey Heron

The presence of gulls is obvious in the above shots, there were 1,200+, mainly Herring gulls. But as the tide covers the skear, most of the gulls just drift off with the tide. I did spot two green ringed birds, but it was only possible to read one.

One of North West UK gull project birds - details awaited 

Oystercatcher 1,200

Curlew 1 

Whimbrel 3 - this one finds a crab and a gull immediately tries to pinch it. The whimbrel takes it some distance before preparing it for swallowing.

Even suitably "prepared", it took some swallowing!

But it looks pleased with itself when completed 

South sea wall

Kevin checked first:

There were quite a few insects on the sea wall today, as expected with the warm weather and Easterly wind. Here are a couple of them.

White-pinion Spotted

Turnip Sawfly

I checked this evening when the tide was out (Malcolm). The tide being out helps to bring migrating insects along the wall, and butterflies were coming in off in reasonable numbers.

Red Admiral 49 - they were coming in at a steady rate I saw 21 as I walked out along the wall and 20 on the return leg. The other 8 seen coming in/off near the lighthouse and between lighthouse and the waterfall. The Red Admiral were on a mission! I didn't see one stop to feed or rest, they just ploughed through into the wind.

This is about as good a view of them as you get

Painted Lady 7 - first of the year - in contrast only two were seen heading along the sea wall, the others feeding on the bird's-foot trefoil in the scrub near the lighthouse.

Painted Lady

Small White 3 seen coming in/off

Common Blue - none were seen along the sea wall, but there were 20+ in the scrub near the lighthouse. So I thought them residents. But checking from the lighthouse I saw two fly up the sloping sea wall, suggesting they may have come in off.

Common Blue flying up the sloping sea wall

Another resting on the sloping sea wall

Apart from the butterflies there wasn't many other insects moving through, 4 bees sp a Ladybird sp and a Crane fly. 

This is a large Caddisfly, Kevin also it or another earlier.
Easily 2cm long without the antennae, pretty sure its Phryganea grandis

Rock Pipit 2 - one on Red Nab and this one above the sloping sea wall near the lighthouse.

Rock Pipit, also watching for insects coming in off the sea.

The weather looks promising for insect migration here for the next couple of days at least.