Plenty of stuff around, but not much new

Mainly overcast with a couple of morning showers. Some sunny spells later.  A fresh NW wind

Heysham skear - Malcolm  09:15 - 10:30

Not much new today so I've included some terrain shots. A heavy shower was just ending as I was walking out.

The rain managed to hold off while I was out, but only just

Eider at least 21

Eider between Honeycomb worm reefs on the north side

Eider between a Mussel bank and a sandbar 

These are on the south side and I would call these large Honeycomb worm
beds rather than reefs. The south of the skear takes the brunt of the storms 
and reefs struggle to become fully established, but it does happen occasionally 

Great Crest Grebe 2

Little Egret 12

Little Egret. The stakes mid distance right are all that remain of the
old Battery skear fish traps

Grey Heron 1

Heron resting on the extensive Honeycomb worm beds in the SE corner,
perhaps these will become large enough to be called reefs this year.

Oystercatcher a lot more birds today probably 3500

The partially leucistic one was amongst them. These are on a sandbar
you can see the indents in the sand left by the recent shower 

Curlew 25

Bar-Tailed Godwit 1 juvenile - first one this autumn 

Juvenile Bar-Tailed Godwit 

Redshank just 25 and most of those were high up the shore

Turnstone 45

Turnstone, giving me a dirty look!

Two visits by a Peregrine might explain the low numbers of small waders

Middleton Nature Reserve - Rosemary and Peter Silvester

Insects seen at the Southern end were:

1 Ruddy Darter

Several Male Common Darters (no females)

2 Migrant Hawkers

1 Small Copper

3 Speckled Wood

2 Small White

2 Red Admiral

Ruddy Darter

Common Darter

Migrant Hawker

Common Blue Damselfly at the main pond

We didn't see any dragonflies when we were at the main pond but it was only a very brief visit today.

Southnshore - Malcolm 15:00 - 15:30.

I just did a circuit around Ocean Edge

Common Darter on the fence at the entrance to Ocean Edge
There are still lots of Harlequin Ladybirds here too

Linnet 10 flew out to the saltmarsh 

Wheatear 1 along the foreshore 

Rock Pipit 5 - 1 on the foreshore and at least 4 more on Red Nab

Pied Wagtail 1 on Ocean Edge grass

In the Nature Park 

Common Darter 4

Small White 1

Large White 1

Red Admiral 1

Speckled Wood 5

Small White

Large White

Male Speckled Wood

Female Speckled Wood

The female flew down to a lower leaf and the male joined her......
I made my excuses and left

What a difference a day makes

Mainly overcast with the odd light shower in the morning. More serious showers began mid afternoon.

South shore - Malcolm 09:45 - 11:15

I started by retracing my walk from yesterday morning when I saw so many passerines. Today there were hardly any!

No Linnet seen or heard

The only bird along the foreshore was a solitary Pied Wagtail 

Pied Wagtail 

Rock Pipit 2 between the foreshore and Red Nab

Rock Pipit. It has found something to eat, looks like an insect pupa.

Wheatear 1 on Red Nab

Wheatear

And that was it for passerines, other than a second Wheatear later along the eastern edge of the saltmarsh.

Mediterranean gull 1 adult and 2 1st calendar year on Red Nab.

Osprey 1 briefly on the post at the end of No.2 outfall

Distant Osprey

I didn't go along the sea wall today, but walked out onto the mud then back to the faux castle that defines the southern limit of the recording area and back along the shoreline. The only waders seen were Oystercatchers along the waterline and a single Redshank on the mud.

There are loads of small snails for the smaller waders. This is just 
a 10cm x 10cm section 

There were a few gulls

This is a young Great Black-Backed gull with Black-Headed gulls.
Showing just what a large gull they are

From left to right: Black-Headed, Lesser Black-Backed and Great Black-Backed gulls

Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet

Young pheasants seen scurrying along a track.

Painted Lady 4

I didn't manage to get any on MNR but this one was in my garden this morning.

There were two Buzzards pestering crows on Clay Lane near the Moss

Lots of passerines

 Overcast but still warm, some light rain in the afternoon becoming heavier by evening. A light variable breeze.

South shore - Malcolm 09:45 - 11:30

Linnet an absolute minimum of 130 but they were very mobile and difficult to count accurately. There were at least 60 that had been near the slipway then flew to saltmarsh and 70+ all along the foreshore.

Linnet heading for the saltmarsh 

Just a few of the Linnet along the foreshore, there is a Wheatear in this shot too

Linnet

Pied/White Wagtail 25 - 7 Pied feeding plus 8 and 10 that came in off the sea and continued inland

Wheatear 8 - 6 along the foreshore, 1 along the sea wall and 1 in the lighthouse scrub

Rock Pipit 6 - 1 on foreshore, 4 on Red Nab and 1 along the sea wall

There were at least three warblers flitting around the bushes between Red Nab and the foreshore. One was a Chiffchaff another a Chiffchaff or Willow Warbler and at least one Sedge Warbler.

Sedge Warbler 

Mediterranean gull 4 - 1 adult flew east. 2 adults on Red Nab and a 1st calendar year on No.2 outfall.

Adult Mediterranean gull (centre) on Red Nab

1cy Mediterranean gull (right) with a 1cy Black-Headed gull

These are the gulls roosting on Red Nab with Oystercatchers on the mud beyond 

Curlew at least 70 flew south

Whimbrel one was feeding out from the foreshore 

There are lots of tiny snails here, but they are not what it was feeding on

On this occasion it found a tiny crab

Only 8 Redshank seen

Turnstone 21

Turnstone on No.1 outfall

One had a metal ring. I was hoping that it might have a colour ring too.
But, infuriatingly, it hopped whenever it moved

Evenly it showed both legs, but only one ring

Plenty of Cormorants on the wooden jetty

Also a Grey Heron. 3 Little Egret seen along the sea wall

Great Black-Backed gull

Dodging the showers.....with some success

Heavy overnight rain followed by some lighter showers during the day. The sun actually appeared briefly later this afternoon. A fresh NW breeze.

Saltmarsh to No.2 outfall - Malcolm 09:00 - 09:30

Linnet 35 feeding on the saltmarsh 

Pied Wagtail 7 feeding on Ocean Edge grass

Pied Wagtails. The adult (left) has a "leather jacket" (Cranefly larvae)
Look how green the grass is now. It was brown last week!

Wheatear 2

This Wheatear was feeding along the strandline between Red Nab
and the foreshore 

Unlike the Rock Pipits that forage amongst the wrack etc. the Wheatear watches out for movement then dashes over to grab whatever it sees. It was very hard to keep up with. I never managed to see what it was finding, and eventually lost it completely!

Rock Pipit just one on Red Nab

Little Egret 5

Mediterranean gull 1 first calendar year on No.2 outfall

1cy Mediterranean gull (left) with Black-Headed gulls

And that was as far as I got before rain stopped play!

Pete checked Red Nab towards high water

Mediterranean gulls 4 (2 adult and 2 juvenile)

Middleton Nature Reserve 

I did a passing check of the main pond from the car park - Malcolm

Mute Swan 2

Mallard 20+

Tufted Duck 3 males and a female

Coot 10

Moorhen 3

Tufted Duck

Mallard and Black Headed gulls

Janet reported that there were still quite a few Painted Lady around 

Imperial Rd - Malcolm

I had a look around in the brief afternoon sunshine. I have been checking regularly, but there has been little to see. I haven't seen or heard a Buzzard for a few weeks. But 2 arrived today. Not sure if they were the local birds or just passing by. They arrived from the east and proceeded to gain height until I couldn't see them any more. Neither called while they were within earshot.

Common Buzzards

Swallow 7 feeding

Goldfinch and Linnet heard

Stock Dove 1 north

Wood Pigeon at least 7

Common Darter 1 male and 1 female

Male Common Darter

Red Admiral 2

Small White 8

Silver Y

Straw Dot

Two hoppers here.
Meadow Grasshopper (left) and Green Leafhopper (right)