One down, three(ish) to go

Heysham Obs
Outfalls area
A 'one-species day' with about 10 Med Gulls on offer. Of the 4+ juvs, three were ringed and the white darvic was read on one of these. Two had metal-only rings and there was no sign of the red darvic bird from the other day. The others comprised 3 adult and 3 2nd winter, presumably including the usual north harbour wall birds. Thanks to Mark for this information.

Elsewhere
At least 23 Little Egret on the EM Pools along with Great White Egret and three Spoonbill. Juv Garganey Griesdale hide at L Moss yesterday

Surreal seawatch

Heysham Obs
A 30 minute early afternoon Heysham seawatch produced:

Storm Petrel - 1 'blogging'
Med Gull - 2 juveniles out close inshore
Cormorant - 1 out

......and nothing else (apart from a possible coconut floating in), despite a fresh onshore wind! As oft-repeated, the location of the windfarm appears to be inhibiting 'routine' seabirds from entering the Bay, such as the half-dozen Fulmar which might have been expected.

Harbour/north wall pre-incoming tide
Med Gull - 5+ juvenile (BEWARE three juv Common Gull as well, affording excellent comparison), one (Czech-ringed) adult and 2 2nd W
Little Gull - one adult on seaward end of Heysham One outfall, visible through the gap in the wooden jetty

Red Nab/Heysham 2 outfall pre-tide
Additional adult Med Gull on Heysham 2 then Red Nab.

Heliport at high tide
All three of the 'north wall Meds' were roosting (Ad & 2 x 2nd W) plus two Sandwich Terns dropped in briefly.

Elsewhere
Pine Lake produced juvenile Little Gull and adult Common Tern late afternoon but the Little Gull appeared to leave high to the west during a clear slot. Great White Egret, 3 Spoonbill, 20+ Little Egret and adult and at least one juv Curlew Sandpiper on the Allen/EM Pools.
A Slavonian or Black-necked Grebe reported at the reed edge between the L Moss Public and Lower hides yesterday

What is being missed on the EM Pool/flood?

Heysham Obs
The usual Thursday problem with coverage! Whistle stop visit produced Ad (Czech-ringed) and 2nd W Med on the north wall.

Moths
A veritable Copper Underwing bonanza in the trap by Heysham standards....three! One of these was Svensson's CU, therefore a new species for the year

Elsewhere
Great White Egret and 3 Spoonbill still on EM Pool but former 'distant'. GWE present all day, therefore obviously different from Marshside bird. Also 24 Little Egret, adult and juvenile Curlew Sandpiper and an Osprey nearby at the Island Mere trees at lunchtime. However, many waders are too distant for EM Pool observations and an experienced birder in the flood hide could pay dividends. Ad Med. Gull by the Stone Jetty.

Grey Wagtail passage....and one flava

Heysham Obs
No time to do the outfalls and, disappointingly, no reports of the darvic ring numbers on Med Gulls, assuming they are still around

Middleton IE
The last forecasted "calm" morning for a bit saw a ringing session quickly negated by a combination of a breeze and sunshine and terminated by two very noisy motorbikes which spooked most of the Reed Buntings and the large Goldfinch flock. Highlights included two further Lesser Whitethroat. Interesting to compare the above-par Lesser Whitethroat 2007 ringing totals so far (27) with the below par Common Whitethroat (54). This certainly reflects the (at least) local breeding populations with Lesser 'in' a good week before Common this spring and in really good numbers. Common Whitethroat ringing totals usually about 4 x that of Lesser.

Vis mig (Middleton) (0630-1015)
Comprised: a flava wagtail, 6 Grey Wagtail c15 House Martin, 2 Meadow Pipit and about 5 Swallow. This is the first obvious wagtail passage this autumn

Half-moon Bay
4 Wheatear

'Dog-walk' pond
Kingfisher this afternoon (no fish? c/f good Emerald Damselfly population)

Insects
NO sign of any Clouded Yellow. Two late Southern Wainscot highlighted a meagre night with the portable moth trap in the reedbed. Two Ruddy darter reported on the Nature reserve along with several Migrant Hawker. Two male Emperor still flying at Middleton.

Elsewhere
Two unringed adult Med Gull by the Stone Jetty this lunchtime. Great White Egret, 3 Spoonbill, adult Curlew Sandpiper, c25 Little Egret on the Allen/EM Pools & juvenile Curlew Sandpiper reported in the evening

Good numbers of birds ringed

Heysham Obs
Outfalls area
Ringing apart, just the one set of observations has been forwarded (thanks Shaun) comprising:

Med Gull: minimum of 4 juvs but all at long range on the seaward end of Hey One outfall, 2 adult and 2 2nd W (presumably, but not necessarily including the north harbour wall birds)
Little Gull: adult
Kittiwake: 2 adults

Middleton IE
A ringing session this morning was 'autumnally productive' with warblers a little thin on the ground in the 68 new birds caught and 10 unringed Reed Bunting and 21 Goldfinch had a very 'September' feel about them. Warblers ringed comprised: 5 Willow warbler, 3 Lesser and 3 Common Whitethroat, 3 Blackcap and single Sedge Warbler and Chiffchaff. This is our main ringing site, other than the CES, during the 'summer months' - perhaps we ought to carry on a little longer! No obvious visible passage with just 2 Swallow caught

Insects
A disappointing moth catch did include the belated first Gold Spot of the year. A single Clouded Yellow was again seen on the 'dog track' between the reserve and Ocean Edge on 26th. No news either way (=NNEW of previous postings c/f request for clarification!) today

Elsewhere
Great White Egret, at least 25 Little Egret and 3 Spoonbill targeting the small flatfish bonanza on the Allen/EM Pools. Also Curlew Sandpiper (age??) and Green Sandpiper there. 3 Spotted Redshank Conder Pool and a 2nd W Med Gull on the Lune estuary. Unringed adult Med Gull at the Stone Jetty and Begian-ringed adult Med at Morecambe Broadway. No Yellow Wagtail at the Melling maize field this evening but 4 were seen there on 26th (at least three of which were juvs)

Lots of Meds but darvic rings not read

Heysham Observatory
Outfalls area
FIVE juvenile Mediterranean Gulls on Heysham Two outfall this lunchtime/early afternoon including two unread darvic rings (one red and one white). Anyone able to help read these tomorrow, please? (I wont have time). One of the juvs was metal-only ringed which will probably be impossible to decipher (unless digipic taken?). Also one adult Med Gull and the adult Little Gull

North harbour wall
The 'usual' two 2nd W and Czech-ringed adult Med Gull along the north harbour wall = 9 Meds in total in the area today

Elsewhere
By far the main event of the day was a Great White Egret which joined 26 Little Egret and 3 Spoonbill on the Allen/EM Pools. It was discovered early morning and remained all day. A single Curlew Sandpiper was in the same area late afternoon. The adult Yellow-legged Gull was on the Lune Estuary by Glasson. The Belgian-ringed adult Med Gull was again by Morecambe Broadway along with two Little Egret

Clouded Yellow surprise

Heysham Obs
Now two Clouded Yellow along the path between the reserve and Ocean Edge, colloquially known as the 'dog track'

Outfalls
2-3 juv/1st W Med Gulls were new in. No sign of any Black Guillemot

General birds
Pretty quite other than a trickle of southbound Swallows e.g. a search of the coastal sites saw no Wheatear. A mist netting session around the office area saw two Whitethroat and a Black cap but little else caught other than a flock of 10 Blue Tit

Moths
The second Mouse Moth of the year was in the trap

Elsewhere
Wood Sandpiper overflew Conder Green calling and flying east. 2 Curlew Sandpiper and a Little Stint Allen/EM Pool along with a record Lancs count of 24 Little Egret and the three long-staying Spoonbill. Two further Little Egret along Morecambe foreshore. Juv Garganey still at Leighton Moss Griesdale hide and Ad Yellow-legged Gull still at Glasson. Ring Ouzel Whitendale but no sign of yesterdays Marsh Harrier

Black Guillemot return....but which one if either...

Heysham Obs
A Black Guillemot was fishing between Red Nab and the wooden jetty this morning and was last seen 'near the jetty'. This was a bit alarming as there are large numbers of monofilament nets in this area, all apparently legal. It is also a habit that, as far as I know, was never recorded during the tenancy of the pair. These invariably fed for a short period in the harbour mouth but otherwise flew offshore. We'll see what happens in the next day or so.

Red Nab/Ocean Edge/ Harbour/ north wall
Different adult Med Gulls along the north wall (Czech-ringed bird) and on the sandflats off Ocean Edge south shore. 2nd W Med Gulls in the harbour and on Red Nab. Adult Little Gull on the sea off Red Nab at high tide but rather surprsingly no Sandwich Tern

Offshore
A Gannet followed the dredger in and records from Rossall suggest a bit of systematic seawatching may have been productive

Insects
Not very good weather for searching for the Clouded Yellow and there were no reports. Some 'in-off' reports from the SE of England today (along with scattered Camberwell Beauty) but this does not explain why one was seen here yesterday. Rather late records the main theme in the moth trap with single Marbled Beauty and two Straw Underwing.

Elsewhere
Juvenile Garganey seen at Leighton Moss probably the best unless the numbers game = 21 Little Egret at Leighton Moss interests you. Black Tern (elusively or just few reports?) on the public mere at Leighton yesterday and at least 1245ish today. 3 Spoonbill still present on the Allen/EM Pool [why did I write 'spring and early summer visitor' in the revised fairly imminent WTWB in LCC - this is the first time they've done this!]. Adult Yellow-legged Gull visible rather distantly from Sunderland-Overton tidal road

Clouded Yellow a major surprise

Heysham Obs
Another insect day with the only bird of note being a Garden Warbler trapped during an otherwise quiet final CES visit early morning.

Butterflies
A male Clouded Yellow was nectaring on ragwort by the NR office at 1120. In the context of this year, a very significant record and, as such, the origin is by no means obvious. It remained for about 10 mins before flying south but was seen in mid-afternoon just north of the dog-walk pond by other observers. Unfortunately no cameras available

Moths
A Mouse Moth was a reasonably significant new record for the year as they have become rather scarce in recent years. Similarly the second record of the year of Olive.

Dragonflies
2+ Black Darter in the NE corner of the reserve with another near the dog-walk pond. 10+ Brown Hawker and 10 or so Migrant/Common Hawker around the reserve - certainly including both species. Male & female Emperor on the dog-walk pond. 10+ Emerald Damselfly on the dog pond. No Ruddy darter.

Elsewhere
At least two juvenile Yellow Wagtail around the northern end of the large maize field at Melling (Lune valley) this evening. 3 Spoonbill and further Osprey report from Leighton Moss.

a nice sunny day

Heysham Obs
The top sighting today, a reflection of the catastrophic decline in the last two years, was a Wall Brown butterfly on Middleton IE along the road between the western and central marshes

Heysham NR
Sprinkling of Chiffchaff (5-10), one or two Whitethroat and a scattering of ticking, presumed migrant Robin. At least one Jay. Kingfisher in the NR marsh mid-afternoon (thanks Doreen).

No report of any sightings of note from one birder known to have checked the outfalls etc.

Insects
Heysham NR
Two Holly Blue, male Brimstone & at least two Small Copper but no Gatekeeper were seen during a quick walk round. Dragonflies comprised two Migrant Hawker and a single Brown Hawker - perhaps fractionally too early in the day for this group. Butterfly transect results from the reserve: Common Blue 12, Small White 10, Large White 1, Speckled Wood (just) 5, Meadow Brown 25, Small Copper 3, Peacock 8, Red Admiral 1, Brimstone 7, Painted Lady 1, Small Tortoiseshell 1 (the Holly Blues did not behave for the census)

Middleton IE
See intro. Dragonflies were thin on the ground in good conditions. 6 Migrant hawker, one male Ruddy Darter, 2 Brown Hawker, 2 geriatric male Emperor and a similarly old and tired male Black-tailed Skimmer. c30 Common Darter and c10 Emerald Damselfly were casually recorded

Moths
The last few mornings have seen the top species as Treble Bar as we have managed to check the catch before they all shoot out of the window! Dark fruit-tree Tortrix (Pandemis heparana) appeared to be new for the year

Elsewhere
Nothing new at Leighton Moss other than an increase to 5 Ruff (i.e. 3 Spoonbill, 18 Little Egret). 7 Painted Lady seen along the Cockersands seawall.