Still plenty of interest......as long as you have plentiful interests

Light early SWS breeze became quite blustery and SW  by evening. Mainly overcast but still warm.

A morning check by Pete:

Canada goose 29 south c09:00

Mediterranean gull 1 3rd calendar year in summer plumage - with Black-headed gulls, a long way out from Ocean Edge toward Potts Corner.

Black-headed gull 1 1st calendar year 

Also on south shore (MD)

c40 geese north low over the caravan park. Only seen from a distance, but suggested Greylag

c30 geese even further away landed on sea out from the estuary - not possible to identify with my optics.

The 1st calendar year Black-headed gull was with two adult, but it at least 
tried to feed itself 

It very kindly did a pirouette to show both profiles 

Rock pipits 2 - the ringed male was standing guard at the lighthouse and chased off a second bird.

Grey Seal 2 a male and a female, just out from Red Nab. The male is the larger of the two on the left.

Here are a couple of details:

This is the female yawning, she is much smaller and females have
dark spots on a pale background 

Males are much larger and have pale markings on a dark background 

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just a quick late afternoon check 

Cetti's Warbler - no swimming pond male singing

Summer plumage Little Grebe feeding on "no swimming" pond.

The Tim Butler pond Mute swans have, at last, at least two cygnets.
At one point they had up to 6 eggs, I thought they had all gone when I managed
a glimpse a few weeks ago, but she has either laid again or the eggs were obscured.
I hope they have the sense to remain on this pond, the aggressive male won't tolerate 
them if they move to the Main pond.

There were the remains of at least 7 Signal Crayfish on the peninsula of the main pond.
These are in addition to the few remains that were there a couple of days ago.
As far as I know, the only predator to leave remains like this are Otters, they were
active a moth or so ago, then went quiet, hopefully they will continue to rid the pond
of the introduced crayfish. A check first light might be productive, if we have any insomniacs.

This is a detail of the head - they do actually look like an alien species 

Slightly more "attractive",  Silver-ground Carpet moth.
Another common species, this is one of two seen this afternoon 

The only Dragonflies seen were Emperor 2, but just the three large ponds checked. 

The Spotted Orchids are starting to bloom
There are various varieties plus hybrids.
My knowledge limit only goes as as Spotted Orchid sp. (MD)

400 up, and still counting

Light SW to WSW breeze. Mainly sunny

A check of the Rock Pipits below Heysham Head found at least 3, probably 4 below the high cliffs, at least one young bird. Plus 1 male singing on the northern tip of the Head.

Canada Geese - this is what today's title refers to, there were a total of 110 today, bringing the count since the moult migration began on 29th May to 405, this is significantly higher than previous years.

Today:

Four flocks between 08:10 to 08:30

28 north

34 northeast, crossing overland at Heysham Head

17 north

31 north, then 10 minutes later, presumably the same 31 returned and landed on the sea and were still just out from Half Moon Bay at 09:30.

Some of the 31 Canada geese out from Half Moon Bay

Heysham Nature Reserve (Janet)

Painted Lady 1

Burnet Companion - lots

Burnet Companion 

Small moths, especially common ones like this rarely get a mention,
but seen close up they are nicely patterned - Crambus lathoniellus

Bee Orchids have started to bloom, they are much more abundant than
many think. But you need to get your "eye in" to find them both here
and on Middleton Nature Reserve.

Heysham Skeer - low water 17:45

Great Crested Grebe 6

No Eider or Red-breasted Merganser

The only waders were Oystercatcher and a handful of Curlew 

Still several hundred large gulls, mainly Herring.

Canada Geese still passing through

Almost breathless again first thing, what movement there was from SW. later a more obvious WSW breeze. Largely overcast but a few sunny spells.

South Shore (MD)

It's been a warm week since the tide was high enough to cover Red Nab. The shallow pool near the sea wall is normally c4x5m, but it has dried to a puddle.

This puddle is all that remains of the pool nearest the sea wall

The good news for the Little Egret is that the shrinking pool is concentrating the remaining fish and shrimps.

Curlew 34 on beach out from Ocean Edge

Canada Goose 7 - 09:35 - initially on the beach until flushed by a walker, then flew west then north.

Some of the Curlew are also on this clip.

Another small flock (line) of c20 flew north past the wooden jetty at 10:15

A line of Canada geese flying low to the north over the flat sea.

Grey Seal 1

Butterflies included

Painted Lady 1

Skipper sp 1

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Janet went to check out the Broad-bodied Chaser nymph cases with her Granddaughter.

They look more impressive in Phoebe's hands!

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Kevin's shot of a Burnet Companion nectaring on Clover 

The sea reluctant to provide

Very light west breeze again. Some cloud but mainly sunny.

Seawatch report from Pete:

Poor over the sea with no ‘meat’ just random odds and ends 0630-0830

c4 distant Gannet together

very distant gang of presumed Kittiwake (30 ish)

one distant Fulmar, 

one late 2cy Red throated diver

10 Sandwich Tern

238 Black-Headed gull Ocean Edge 0835 

Other stuff from the south shore (MD)

Quite a few insects around the saltmarsh at 09:15

Emperor dragonfly 1 male

Butterflies:

Small Tortoiseshell 3

Small White 5

Common Blue 5

Also c8 Common Blue on scrub near lighthouse but no other butterflies (none expected to be coming in, with a west wind).

Canada Goose 14 north 10:15

Canada Geese on moult migration

Rock Pipits 2. The ringed lighthouse male was feeding, but I didn't see it take food to the nest. The waterfall male was resting on the upstands singing regularly (the background noise is the Power Stations)

On the way back a check of the small pond between the end of the dog walk path and Red Nab found .

Broad-bodied Chaser 1 male.

Plus this female Chaffinch searching for food on the dense weed cover. I suspect that the thin thread hanging from her bill is the breathing tube of a "rat tailed maggot", the larvae of some hoverflies.

The only other thing I have so far is this Cinnabar from Janet

Cinnabar moth just beyond the northern boundary of 
Heysham Nature Reserve 

The one (or ones) that got away!

Very little air movement early on, later developing into a west breeze. Some cloud cover, but mainly warm and sunny.

Seawatch report from  Pete:

Just 30 minutes seawatch 06:15-06:45  then switched to search of Heysham Head area, because:

Calls - thought golden plover initially until the penny dropped (it sounded like a Bee-eater) but right over the car and couldn’t get out in time to see it/them as flying straight into sun 0635 - so, unfortunately, that's it as far as any record goes.

Canada goose - flock of 30 floating in

Gannet - 3 in

Guillemot  - 2 in

Grey seal - 2

Lots of small 4-6 inch fish leaping out like they were being chased - at or just beyond yellow buoy range (sounds like small mullet being chased by large bass or Harbour Porpoise (MD))

C1600 gulls on skeer late afternoon mainly 2cy Herring.  

Heysham Head 

I went down to see how the Rock Pipits were doing (MD)

Below the high cliffs there were two adult with at least two newly fledged young.

Presumably this is the male, I don't know if he helps with the feeding when there is 
no threat, but judging by the amount of guano on this rock, he spends some time there

This is the other adult, walking on water. She's hunting for flies on the wrack.

She caught a couple of flies, then managed to find a Harbour Ragworm

Meanwhile, the young were spread out and waited on the rocks to be fed. Two were the most I saw at one time, but it was difficult to keep track as they were mobile and House Sparrows and Starlings were also feeding their young in the same area.

This one would have been quite happy to have been fed by a sparrow!

Before the female fed the chick she spent some time making sure the food was correctly arranged.

Finally! The feed.

There could have been two additional adults, one either side of this territory. Or perhaps the male regards the whole length of the cliffs his territory and met me early and followed me off. There was another adult below the northernmost outcrop. So the very minimum number 3 adult plus 2 young.

I like this shot - Little Egret fishing by the near rocks
Anglers fishing on the far rocks

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Myself, Kevin and Janet all had a look at different times today.

Wildfowl as recent except 

Little grebe 2 adult feeding together on "no swimming" pond.

Water Rail 1 calling from western scrape 

Cetti's warbler 3 singing males, possibly 4 ("no swimming" pond, western marsh, plus the Fence pond and one from the opposite side of central marsh near the path - possibly just one bird)

Butterflies again not many species:

Painted Lady 1

Common Blue

Small White

Speckled Wood ( now looking vey faded)

Small Heath

Burnet Companion moth

Broad-bodied Chaser by far the most common dragonfly, at least 20, followed by

Four-spotter Chaser 

Black-tailed Skimmer 1 male on the main pond

Emperor 1 male on the main pond

A couple of shots from Kevin:

Broad-bodied Chaser male

Four-spotted Chaser

Puffin best of interesting early morning variety

Light WSW wind moving to WNW by evening. Some cloud early on but quickly breaking up to leave a largely warm and sunny day.

Early morning report from Pete:

Sea 0630-0745, 0810-0825 north wall SSW 2: 

Gannet 33 - mostly immatures 3-4cy

Raz/Guill 30

Guillemot 12

Greylag goose 4 south

Canada goose 12 + 18 north

Puffin - one out c0710

Raven - one in-off then south. 

Ocean Edge

Mediterranean gull 1 2cy

Plus 125 Black-Headed gull and 19 Common gull

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Mute and Mallard status unchanged.

Gadwall 1 male

Little grebe 1 immature 

Between myself and Kevin, we managed to hear all nine of the regular warblers singing (although we both only managed eight apiece).

Including :

Cetti's warbler 2 (central marsh and "no swimming" pond males)

Grasshopper warbler 1, possibly 2 either side of the dividing road between central and western marsh.

Insects

Not many butterfly species:

Small White, Speckled Wood, Small Heath.

Lots of Damselflies everywhere 

Female Large Red Damselfly (one of several variants)

Male Large Red Damselfly 

Dragonflies:

Broad-bodied Chaser 6+

Broad-bodied Chasers are very distinctive, even when resting in the tree tops.

Four-Spotted Chaser 7+

Emperor 1 female plus possibly a male (or large Hawker)

Black-tailed Skimmer 1 female

Female Black-tailed Skimmer

I bumped into David Poole by the small scrape on the SW corner of the western marsh. He had already found several empty nymph cases on the rushes in the SE corner of the pond. After only a few minutes we had found at least 9!

This is the area in question 

The width of the abdomen make Broad-bodied Chaser favourite.
I thought at first that the white strands on all of the cases suggested some sort 
of parasite. But I've looked into it and they are the tubes the nymph needs to
transport oxygen from the gills around its body. Not required in the air breathing adult form (MD)

 This is an indicator of size - I have long fingers

There was one on almost every path out of the water

This one had fallen from where it had emerged, but hadn't moved far or taken on
much water. I suspect that most, if not all,  the cases are from a very recent emergence.

Lots more Canada geese moving through

WNW breeze was surprisingly cold after the recent hot spell. Low cloud and occasional drizzle.

Seawatch report from Pete:

06:00-07:00

Mediterranean gull 1 second calendar year bird on Ocean Edge  shore

2 Gannet out

15 Common Scoter out plus another 5 close in later.

1 Razorbill out

2 Raz/guill out.  

No terns or small waders in an hour's watch

Canada goose - 117 in 6 flocks - all north low over sea at varying ranges 

Heysham skeer low water 13:40

I only managed a very brief check to see if the Sanderling were gone. They were. The only waders apart from Oystercatchers were 19 Turnstone

There are still hundreds of large gulls on the skear,
but no longer feeding on the seed mussels

The seed mussels are now too large and too well anchored 

A thorough check of Middleton

Quite a brisk east breeze all day. Mainly warm and sunny but hazy at times.

Heysham skear low water 12:30

Eider 2

Great Crested grebe 3

Curlew 13

Sanderling 6 - these were on the middle of the skear then flew west and were not relocated when the western edge was checked.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Report and pictures by Dan Haywood the images are best appreciated when opened.

1030-1230

Singing males:

Whitethroat  15

Blackcap 7

Reed Warbler  6

Willow Warbler  6

Chiffchaff  4

Sedge Warbler  4

Lesser Whitethroat  3

Cetti's Warbler  2

Chaffinch   3

Greenfinch  3

Reed Bunting  3

Family parties:

Bullfinch  3

Long-tailed Tit  3

Meadow Pipit carrying food - usual area 

Linnets  5-6 pairs (2 nests found)

Linnet chicks in the nest

Water Rail  sharming heard in 2 spots (heard from 414/560 and 415/590)

Model Boat Pond:  up to 8 swallows and 2 swifts feeding overhead

Broad-bodied Chaser:  3 males, 1 female ovipositing and 1 teneral.

Broad-bodied Chasers

Few other dragonflies in stiff breeze.

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Pictures by Janet

Burnet Companion moth
Two of at least five in five separate locations 

Small Heath butterfly 

Azure damselflies 

Lighthouse area (MD)

A check while tide was still out, weather warm and an east breeze.

Walking along the south wall there was a steady precession of "white tailed" bees, at first I thought they were coming in off, but later decided that there was probably a beeline to feed on the significant bloom of Bird's-foot Trefoil near the lighthouse.

Flowering vegetation is normally sparse here, but this year the rain and recent
warmth has obviously suited the Bird's-foot Trefoil, and many bees were feeding on it

Common Blue butterfly numbers were similar to yesterday and I'd decided that they were probably resident. Later, Kevin pointed out that Bird's-foot Trefoil is one of the favoured food plants for their caterpillars.

Small White - just 2

Painted Lady one quickly in off then straight through.

Cinnabar moth 1

There were plenty of flies and ladybirds coming in off, but I had expected more butterflies.

Damselflies 2 - probably Azure. I didn't think these had come in off, more likely to have come from the small reed lined pool within the Power Station confines

Rock Pipits both the lighthouse bird and waterfall birds heard calling but not seen - hopefully they were busy collecting food.

I found this on the skear this morning, obviously a jellyfish, or part of a jellyfish,
but not sure what sort

It looked a bit clearer when I placed it in a pool, probably a very small Barrel jellyfish
But suspect it's jellyfishing days are over! 

So long, and thanks for all the shrimps

The gentle breeze started NNW before drifting to east and ending up SE. Occasional cloud cover but mainly sunny and warm.

Heysham skear - low water 11:25

I went down early before the outer skear was exposed, we are moving to neap tides now and it won't be exposed at all again for a week, I wanted to see just how many Sanderling there were, and I just got there in time to see them moving off - this is what today's title refers to (MD).

Sanderling c40 - a large reduction from recent days. They were on the last exposed island of the middle skear. I took this scan shot to show the Sanderling in the foreground, plus the gulls further out waiting for the outer skear to become exposed.

This was 10:00, just after this clip, most of the Sanderling flew off north, just leaving 6, which probably soon followed.

No sign of any Canada goose this morning.

Grey Seal 1

Josh Hedley scanned the skear and low water channels from Heysham Head around low water (11:00-12:00)

Eider- 5 (two drakes)

Red-breasted Merganser- 3

Great Crested Grebe- 3 (including one displaying pair)

(Unfortunately missing the Sanderling by an hour!)

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just a quick check of the two main ponds. 

Cetti's warbler - male singing from central marsh.

Wildfowl status unchanged, although the Mute and Mallard families are alternating ponds. When the Mute move in the Mallard move out.

Only dragonflies seen were Four-spotted chaser.

The Coot pair on the "no swimming " pond have three chicks, I think the dragonfly on this clip is also a Four-Spotted chaser (MD)

South shore

I went down to the lighthouse area while the tide was still low and the wind was in the east. These conditions in warm weather brings insects in off the sea.

Grasshopper warbler - one singing from the non operational land next to the Power Station, several bursts heard from the track along the eastern boundary of the Power Staion that takes you to Red Nab.

Insects:

The only ones actually seen coming in off were various small "flies" a seven spot Ladybird and a couple of "Bees".

But there were a lot of butterflies around which weren't there on Sunday:

Small White 11

Common Blue 9

Mother Shipton moth 1

The ringed male Rock Pipit was having more luck catching flies today,
but the good news is that they weren't for him, unfortunately I failed to see where he took them.

Grey seal 2

Finally, I mentioned the other day that the willow fluff was falling in a blizzard. With several calm dry days, in some places it is laying on the ground like snow.

These shots from the small anemometer area

Canada Goose moult migration gathers pace

Very light SE breeze early on freshened slightly during the day. Hot and sunny.

Cetti's warbler - central marsh bird singing on Middleton Nature Reserve 

A shot from Kevin. Male Linnet, treading carefully near the lighthouse.

Heysham skeer - low water 10:25 (MD)

Greylag goose 5 south

Canada goose 95 - as mentioned yesterday Canada goose movement has been increasing at this time of year, as non breeding birds fly north to moult sites.

Some have already started moulting 

09:40 a flock of 23 must have been resting on the outer skear, then flew low past me and carried on overland to the east.

Scanning the distant sand bars two more groups could be seen, at least 51 and 15

This is the larger of the two groups

At 11:15, five more flew in from the south and landed where the above birds would have been, but now behind the sand bar.

Great Crested grebe 4

Red-breasted Merganser 3

Curlew 16

Sanderling c200 only two individual birds on the middle skear, but flock of c200 seen flying to the outer skear.

This is the same species of jellyfish photographed by Steph the other day. That one had settled dome up, but this one had been rolled over, revealing why it is called a Medusa (postscript - I've always known these as Medusa, but the correct name is Barrel jellyfish, I will call them such in future MD)

The tentacles resemble a head of snakes

The one Steph saw high and dry at the top of the beach would have had no chance of survival, but this one has. As with all jellyfish the dome is safe to touch, and the Medusa's tentacles are only short.....

....so it is safe to handle them like this - this is only a small specimen.
Sometimes you need both hands, and some strength!

I placed it dome side up in a pool that would remain till the tide returned.

Jellyfish go with the flow, they can propel themselves, but mainly it is just to alter their depth. The direction of travel is at the mercy of the tides and currents. Some years you hardly see any, other years you see them every visit. I'll see if I can find a big one!