Warmer weather stirring the insects

A warm largely sunny day with a light west(ish) breeze

Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet

Buzzard 1 - being mobbed by the gulls

Emperor 

Four-spotted Chaser

Ringlet

Large Skipper

Burnet Companion, front, back and side views

Heysham Nature Reserve - Kevin

Banded Demoiselle 1 female. It was at the northern end, near the road to the harbour.

South shore - Malcolm 13:30 - 14:30

Saltmarsh 

Meadow Pipit 2

This one was freshening up after a bath

Small Tortoiseshell 2, Small White 1

Small Tortoiseshell 

I'd gone to check Red Nab for gulls on the rising tide, there were just few large gulls to begin with, and no more arrived! Possibly the two Peregrines screaming around the Power Stations had been a nuisance. It doesn't bode well for checking for Mediterranean gulls!

Curlew 18

Some of the Curlew 

Little Egret 2

Rock Pipit 1 heard only on Red Nab.

Nature Park 

Ringlet 4

Speckled Wood 2

Imperial Rd - Malcolm 15:00 - 15:30

Buzzard 2 - one was arriving from the east with something in its talons, a second was calling from the copse, but it flew over to join the first bird when it landed in the tall trees by the bypass 

Buzzard with a smallish capture 

This is the other, presumably expecting to be fed

Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting and Dunnock were all feeding, calling and singing.. 

Sedge warbler

Common Whitethroat 

Reed Bunting

Dunnock

Painted Lady 1

Small Tortoiseshell 2

Silver Y 2

Not a lot today

 A dry day, but mainly overcast a south to SW wind.

Heysham skear - Malcolm 10:15 - 12:00

I started just after low water, but apart from the Gulls and Oystercatchers there were very few birds around.

Gulls c400 but thinly scattered over the extensive skear.

The dark line just below the horizon is the mussel covered eastern edge
of the outer skear. The rest of the outer skear behind it is currently covered
in mud. 

The rough and broken mussels in the foreground are the old mussel beds.
The browner mussels behind are this years.

Only one green ringed gull was seen and again, one seen previously this year. We don't seem to have numbers of gulls seen in recent years. There is plenty to eat here, but there are other mussel beds in the Bay, many on the west side, and they too will have seed musses aplenty.

Eider 2 males, one moulting to eclipse plumage.

Drake Eider

Great Crested Grebe 5. Initially there were two pairs and a single bird, but later in the tide they joined forces.

Four in this shot behind some of the north side Honeycomb worm reefs

Just managed to get all five in this shot

Oystercatcher c1500

Curlew 19 

Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet

Grasshopper warbler reeling on the south side of the reserve

First Meadow Brown this summer - it won't be the last!

Not so many Ringlets today, but there were a couple of Painted Lady

Just for a change, a Six-spot Burnet

A few more Meds

 An overcast morning, but it managed to remain dry. Heavy showers began early afternoon 

South shore - Malcolm 12:45 - 13:15

Just a check from Red Nab to the saltmarsh 

Mediterranean gulls 5 on Red Nab. One adult, two 2nd calendar year and two 3rd calendar year 

Even when there is no other detail showing the blackness of their heads,
compared to the chocolate colour of the Black-Headed gulls is obvious 

This is the same Med from a different angle. The dark markings on its
primaries showing it to be a 3cy

This is the other 3cy

These are the two 2cy and the adult 

Peregrine Falcon - at least two flying and calling around the Power Stations

Meadow Pipit 1 feeding and calling regularly on the saltmarsh 

Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet

Juvenile Blue Tit

Pheasant

Common Blue

Ringlets are showing well now on both sides of the reserve

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet

Bee Orchid - In the meadow on the South Side where the Ringlets are,
don't think I've ever seen one there before.

I got home just before the rain!!

Heysham skear - Malcolm 17:30 - 18:45

The rain had eased and it looked like it may fair up, so I risked a walk. The rain didn't really stop until I got back to my car, but it wasn't too bad.

Red-breasted Merganser 1

Red-breasted Merganser amongst the gulls

Great Crested grebe 2

Gulls not as many as yesterday and most were just resting. I saw a couple of green ringed birds, but both seen yesterday, and in pretty much the same areas.

They are seldom as obliging as this one, ringed at the Power Station last year

Apart from the Oystercatchers, the only other waders were 8 Curlew.

Might try a look in the morning on the flood tide.

Youngsters beginning to arrive

Early showers then dry and quite sunny after lunch. A SW wind

South sea wall - Malcolm 10:00 - 11:00

I was earlier in the tide this morning and much of the shore was still exposed. The Curlews didn't start arriving from the north side until I was back to Red Nab.

Many gulls were resting on the mud between the outfalls. Mainly Black-Headed
but the second bird from the right is a 2cy Mediterranean gull

2nd calendar year Mediterranean gull (centre)

The first juvenile Black-Headed gull was by No.2 outfall

Peregrine Falcon 3 flying and calling around the Power Stations. Presumably, at least one of them a juvenile

Unusually, no Rock Pipits seen or heard

Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet

Azure Blue Damselfly 

Amber snail

Celypha lacunana (apparently)

There were at least five Ringlet today

Painted Lady, seen on both sides of the reserve 

Heysham skear - Malcolm 16:45 - 18:30

Little Egret 8

Eider 1 female

Great Crested Grebe 2

Great Crested grebe, almost hidden by gulls

Gulls c450 on the skear, but more on the sea on both sides.

Herring gull next to a stranded Barrel Jellyfish 

Some of the gulls were feeding on seed mussels, but many were just resting. There is so much food available now they can soon fill their crops. This Herring gull has found a crab, but can barely bring itself to eat it. Even more unusual is that the other gulls totally ignore it. They normally fight over every scrap!

These are just some of the Oystercatcher and gulls

Then an Osprey arrived and cleared everything 

I say, an Osprey "arrived", but in reality it was very high to the north to begin with.

Osprey

This clip shows just how high over the sea it was fishing.

I saw it dive twice without success as it moved further south.

The gulls resettled on the water and waited for the ebbing tide to expose the skear below them. I eventually managed to see four green ringed birds, but all seen previously this summer.

I did see one new green ringed bird though. But not a gull.

This Oystercatcher is part of a Mid Wales scheme. It was ringed at Ynyslas National
Nature Reserve, Ceredigion last year, identified as a bird hatched in 2023

Oystercatcher c2000

Curlew 10

Another bird with a crab, but this one went down quickly!