Insects starting to move in the hot weather

Hot and sunny (temperature peaked at 28.5°C this afternoon). A light breeze mainly from NW.

Heysham skear - Malcolm 10:30 - 12:00

Eider 11 (8 males)

Red-breasted Merganser 1 male

Great Crested Grebe 2 together 

Great Crested Grebe 

Gulls - there were c350 large gulls, mainly Herring on and around the skear, plus 30+ Black-Headed gulls to the south and north (many more further north)

Some of the large gulls waiting for the seed mussels to become exposed

Sandwich Tern, constantly calling but just 2 seen.

Sandwich Tern

Little Egret 4

Oystercatcher c1000

Curlew 6

Knot 46

Sanderling 90

Dunlin 1 

The Knot arrived from the south, fed for a while then continued north

The Sanderling also arrived from the south. Four flocks, 30, 11, 33 and 16.
Some fed for a while before continuing north, others didn't stop to feed at all.

Knot and Sanderling 

There's a lot going on in this clip. Herring and Lesser Black-Backed gulls, Oystercatcher, Knot and Sanderling all looking for food.

 

Knot and Sanderling heading north. This is 11:45 and it left the skear empty 
of small waders.

There was still quite a bit of algal bloom, but not as much as yesterday. No idea why!

Painted Lady 3 (2 north and 1 south)

White butterfly sp 2 south

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Jean briefly saw an immature Darter sp fly out over the main pond.

These shots by Janet

Chiffchaff 

Painted Lady

Common Blue

Silver Y

A Red-Veined Darter and Lesser Emperor were seen at Crosby marina today. Hairy dragonfly Leighton moss yesterday. Hopefully we will have something interesting here in this warm spell. 

As the insects move in, so too do the insect eaters. A possibility, albeit an outside possibility, of a Bee-Eater over the next few days. Worth watching out for!

A little bit of bloom goes a long way.....take care

A warm sunny day with a light west breeze

Heysham skear - Malcolm 09:00 - 11:00

Eider 3

Red-breasted Merganser 1

Male Red-breasted Merganser

Little Egret 5

Gulls c250. Two green ringed birds were seen, one not seen before, so details awaited. But this one N:05S was here last summer.

Ringed at Bowland as a chick in 2023.
It was also seen at Darwen in September last year

Oystercatcher not counted 

Curlew 9

Curlew

Sanderling 250 arrived in three groups. Later they were attacked by a raptor and left to the NW. Either some returned or more arrived (or both) as there were 200 around the skear when I left.

200 in this shot

A later flock arriving 

Dunlin 1

Dunlin

Apart from its dark belly, its plumage is similar to some of the Sanderling now.

There was an algal bloom and most of the uppermost pools were full of algae. This is a natural phenomenon and just the result of longer warmer days and calm seas.

The pink "fog" is red algae

It is easier to see in this clip, where the pool is still subjected to light wave action 

This pool is still draining 

And this is open water

As far as I know this type of bloom is harmless, but some blooms can be toxic to animals. So, to be on the safe side, best to keep pets away from the pools and any that may be on the mud. 

Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet

Coot, but not cute, chicks!

Male Kestrel 

Small Heath

Drinker moth caterpillar 

South shore - Malcolm 14:30 -16:30

I went to see if there were many insects, but it is much better here with an east breeze. 

Painted Lady 3 around saltmarsh and foreshore and 3 more along the sea wall

Large White 4 around saltmarsh and foreshore and 1 more along the sea wall

Cinnabar moth 3 in the scrub near the lighthouse 

A faded looking Cinnabar 

Rock Pipit 1 on sea wall and at least 5 in the harbour. I suspect that there are three breeding pairs in the harbour.

Rock Pipit with food in the harbour 

Linnet 2 and Pied Wagtail 1 on the perimeter wire between the lighthouse and waterfall.

The Carrion Crows nest still looked deserted 

These were working hard trying to free the car from the mud. It got stuck 
just out from the slipway on the foreshore at 10:00 and this was 14:30.
Only a few more hours till the tide returned......

I couldn't resist taking this shot, but I wouldn't have made light of things if
they had lost their car. They somehow managed to get it free by 16:00

Aukfest and impressive Sanderling numbers

A dry day with patchy sunshine. A sea mist rolled in with the tide and the light east breeze.

Seawatch report Pete 0515-0645.  Busy!  

Aukfests are not a regular feature away from the open coast

Razorbill/Guillemot - min of 390 out, all distant with other gangs even further away prob these
Guillemot - 40 in close, 8 out
Razorbill - 2 out
Gannet - 13 in
Kittiwake - 22,1,1 in
Sandwich Tern - 8 out
Common Scoter - min of 120 out, 8 in mostly early on 
Sanderling - 63 out

Heysham skear - Malcolm 09:45 -11:15

Pete timed his early morning seawatch well, by 08:30 the mist had rolled in. By the time I went out is was quite thick.

What little of Heysham Head showing, with no sign of the harbour and
Power Stations behind

Eider 5

Gulls c200

Oystercatcher 1500

Knot 8

Sanderling at least 500

This is the largest of three groups, plus many others feeding in small groups

Wherever you looked near the water's edge there were Sanderling, and the longer you looked, the more arrived. You can just make out their soft calls in this clip.

Different stages of moult to breeding plumage

This one only has one leg, but was still finding plenty to eat.

We are moving back to neap tides but it still drains quite quickly at this stage of the tide. This Whitebait left it too late and is trying to find the best spot to hide and wait out the tide. It is c5cm long and too big for the Sanderlings, but would make a welcome change to seed mussels for one of the gulls. It is in the middle of the frame at the start of the clip, but not obvious until it moves.

It made a good choice, that's the deepest area of the pool and should remain deep enough to cover it. Whether it will remain undetected for four hours will now determine its fate.

Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet

Common Whitethroat 

Long-Tailed Tit

Pheasant

Small Heath

Common Blue

Eight wader species, not bad for mid May

A warm, dry sunny day with a light variable breeze. It topped 20°C just before lunch.

Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet

Adult Coot with chick

Since the aggressive male Swan has gone all the chicks are doing well.

There are five in this younger brood.

Broad-bodied Chaser

Four-Spotted Chaser

Common Bluetail Damselflies 

Green Veined White

Small Heath one of four - first records this year. 

Burnet Companion - also first record this year

Heysham Skear - Malcolm 13:30 - 14:00

The incoming tide was close to covering the skear. This concentrates whatever birds have hung on, but you don't get long to check them. 

A passing Osprey at 13:35 lifted all the Oystercatchers and Gulls

But there were other waders:

Curlew 4

Whimbrel 2

A constantly calling Whimbrel 

Redshank 3 

Redshank

Knot 1

Dunlin 4

Ringed Plover 8 (7 + 1 came in/off, possibly just returning after the Osprey lifted everything)

Sanderling 68 - initially on the north side then left to the south

Some of the Sanderling on what little was left on the northern skear edge

Then leaving to the south

Little Egret 3 

Eider 3 (1 female)

Great Crested Grebe 3

Great Crested Grebe

Not bad for a 30 minutes stroll

My garden gate had attracted another moth - Light Brown Apple Moth