More RVD and more coming in

Hot and sunny (it was already 28°C at 09:45 peaking at 31.6°C by 15:00). A light but freshening east breeze.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Pete scanned from his car in the bottom car park 09:15. This method of checking only allows views of the eastern half of the pond, nevertheless:

Two male lesser emperor and at least 12 red veined darter (three in tandem) in quick check from car park 

The Lesser Emperors not allowed to settle by patrolling Emperors

I did a circuit at 10:30 (Malcolm). By that time there were dragonflies everywhere, with Emperors covering all the sections around the banks. I didn't try to count any as everything was so mobile. But I managed one glimpse of a male Lesser Emperor and there were at least 12 male Red-veined Darters.

Male Red-veined Darters

Male Broad Bodied Chaser

Also: Four-spotted Chaser, Black-Tailed Skimmer, Blue Emperor, Common Darter

South shore - Malcolm 13:30 - 15:45

It was hot, very hot! The tide was out and the breeze from the east. These are ideal conditions to attract insects in off the sea here. But things didn't look promising, there were just a handful of butterflies in the Nature Park and walking out along the sea wall saw only the following come in off the sea:

Red Admiral 3

Painted Lady 3

Small Tortoiseshell 3

Small White 2

But when I reached the end of the wall the reason was obvious. The breeze was coming from the other side of the Power Stations and the bulk of the insects were heading to the north side of the Power Stations. Including Dragonflies.

A two minute check from the lighthouse saw 7 Small White and 3 Painted Lady come in off.

There were at least 30 each Small White and Painted Lady plus 5 Red Admirals in the brambles between the lighthouse and waterfall.

Four species of Dragonfly!

Blue Emperor 1 male resting on the inner wall surrounding the roundhead scrub.

Location of Emperor circled

Black-Tailed Skimmer 1 male in the scrub

Male Black-Tailed Skimmer

Red-veined Darter 2 males and 3 females - all but 1 male in the scrub

Male Red-veined Darter between the lighthouse and waterfall

This male is in the scrub. This stance is called the obelisk pose to 
minimise the amount of sun hitting the dragonfly to prevent overheating 

Two of the females

Also cooling down with the obelisk pose 

But the breeze was picking up, thankfully, and maintaining the pose wasn't easy!

Red-veined Darter catching the sea breeze

Norfolk Hawker (probably). This one by elimination only. A larger duller dragonfly came in off but didn't settle and continued east. The size, shape, colour and lack of obvious marking were right for a Norfolk Hawker and there isn't really anything else it could have been.

Other stuff

One of two Ruby Tiger caterpillars along the sea wall

Adult and juvenile Black-Headed gull on No.2 outfall

Adult Mediterranean gull on the beach by the wooden jetty 

Brunswick Road Heysham today - escaped Chukar?

Dragonflies continue to top the bill

 A misty start, the sun not breaking through till 11:15. After that sunny and increasingly hot!

Middleton Nature Reserve

I started at 09:50 (Malcolm) it felt more like dawn than mid morning with the mist rising off the main pond.

This was the main pond at 09:50. It was already warm (21°C) but there
were no dragonflies over the water

Red-Veined Darters at least 8 males with 2 females in tandem. I had seen three as I walked around the edges, but it was 10:30 before the first one was seen over the water, but by 11:00 they seemed to be everywhere.

Not a great shot, but it gives a sense of the action. There are a couple
of RVD in tandem here plus 2 males

The grey sky made some areas of the pond into a mirror 
Their reflection actually in better focus!

Common Darter several

Common Darter

Black-Tailed Skimmer 12 males and 4 females 

Male Black-Tailed Skimmer and his shadow 

Emperor at least 8 males and 2 females

I got back to the bottom car park at 11:30,  just as Pete and Janet arrived. 

Pete only had time for a quick scan through his scope, but managed several of the Red-Veined Darters, plus a male Lesser Emperor flying across the pond

Janet had a walk around 

Emperor 

Male Red-veined Darter

Four-spotted Chaser

I returned to the main pond at 13:45 (Malcolm)

Red-Veined Darters 11 males minimum

Lesser Emperor 1 male

Lesser Emperor being chased off by a Blue Emperor 

There were lots of Emperors, not just on the main pond but on the "no swimming" and the waterways in the central marshes. No other different dragonflies were seen.

Other stuff

Kingfisher 1 - it had been on one of the bushes by the feeding area at 13:45. The bread thrown out for the ducks and swans here will also feed the fish. But it needs to be quiet for a Kingfisher to be there. The artificial feeding perch erected in the NE corner c5 years ago chose this year to fall down! (It was made of natural materials and only designed to last for 2 years)

Kingfisher flying across the main pond, we don't normally see them here 
until later in the year

Cetti's warblers were all singing, at least 8

Chiffchaff, Sedge, Reed, Willow warblers all heard.

Earlier Janet had seen and heard a Grasshopper warbler. Care needs to be taken with this species now as there are also actual grasshoppers chirruping

Juvenile Song Thrush

Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Large White and Meadow Brown all seen, but far the most numerous butterfly today were Small Skipper at least 12.

There is a possibility that some of the "small" skippers around are actually 
Essex Skippers. If you see any it's always worth taking a shot, ideally with
wings spread out. Even then it isn't easy!

A Roe Deer was on the track from the waterworks. It froze when it saw me. Note its front leg frozen in mid air. Note also the Pheasant emerge behind it towards the end of the clip

The Roe Deer eventually turned back into the grass

Why did the Pheasant cross the road........

Still top dragonflies around

 Another hot sunny day with a light variable breeze

Middleton Nature Reserve - main pond

Just Pete's report from a short visit mid morning, so far.

Male Norfolk hawker 
9 male and two ovipositing female Red-veined darter 

South shore - Malcolm

I had a walk along the sea wall this morning. The breeze was from SE and there were butterflies coming in off all the time. Most continued on their way but others lingered along the brambles between the lighthouse and waterfall before moving on. This is the count of those that either passed me or I passed on the way out. 10:45 - 11:30, allowing a reasonable estimate of the rate that they were coming in off.

Painted Lady 32 = 43 per hr

Red Admiral 2 = 3 per hr (although there were more than that on the walk back)

Small White 23 = 31 per hr

Small Tortoiseshell 8 = 11 per hr

Large White just 1

At least two Rock Pipits. One feeding on the wooden jetty, possibly the same bird as one by the lighthouse. Another by the waterfall.

Lighthouse Rock Pipit

Mediterranean gull a 2cy was on the sea beyond the wooden jetty and an adult flew south past the jetty

Adult Mediterranean gull

I went again this evening to check Red Nab as the tide reached it. By this time the breeze was from the SW and there was no butterfly movement. At least there was no Peregrine disturbance today and a number of small gulls settled on Red Nab, but I could only see 1 3rd calendar year Mediterranean gull amongst them.

Mediterranean gull (top centre) with Black Headed gulls. 
The black markings on its primaries not obvious in this shot

Curlew 120+ resting on Red Nab

Most of the Curlew 

Grey Heron, still desperately seeking Mullet

Juvenile Black-Headed gull on No.2 outfall

A very good Dragonfly day!

Another hot sunny day with a light SE breeze

Middleton Nature Reserve - main pond

Several observers today ended up with a minimum total of

Red-veined Darter 9 male 1 female

Norfolk Hawker 1 probable

Lesser Emperor 1 male

Pete and Jean started first with up to 8 male and a female (briefly in tandem) Red-Veined Darters flying over the eastern half of the pond. As seen from the bottom car park

Jean saw the Norfolk hawker and it was unlikely to be anything else, but she couldn't see eye colour in flight at that range. (There were at least 20 Norfolk Hawkers at Marton mere yesterday and at least four at Barrow lodge Clitheroe today)

Later Stan Parrot saw the Lesser Emperor and a probable Norfolk Hawker. Other observers reported a probable Norfolk Hawker and male Red-Veined Darters up to 9 

Janet managed some shots

Male Red-veined Darter

Male Black-Tailed Skimmer

Pair of Black-Tailed Skimmers

House Martin

Two Painted Lady were on the spit

South shore

Pete checked from Ocean Edge at 12:15.

Five 2cy, two 3cy Mediterranean gulls plus common tern seaward end heysham outfalls 

I had a couple of walks along the sea wall (Malcolm). I was hoping to see some of the migratory Dragonflies coming in. But although there were plenty of butterflies, I didn't see any dragonflies.

09:15 - 10:30 quite early for any insects to be arriving, but there were hundreds of small orange flies coming in at a rate of 3 per minute 

They turned out to be Turnip Sawflies

Red Admiral 3

Painted Lady 8

Small White 1

14:30 - 16:00

The Turnip Sawfly invasion had stopped, but there were plenty of butterflies

Red Admiral 4

Painted Lady 32

Small White 21

Large White 2

Small Tortoiseshell 19

Painted Lady

Small White

Also this morning 

Osprey 1 was on the post at the end of No.2 outfall as I set off. Later it caught a fish and flew off with it towards the Lune Estuary 

Osprey with a blue ring on the right leg

It caught this fish quite close to the waterline. I think it is a Grey Mullet.
More on this later

Shag 1 2nd calendar year on the wooden jetty

2cy Shag (right) with 2cy Cormorant 

Rock Pipit 1 near waterfall

Linnet 5 between lighthouse and waterfall 

Other stuff this afternoon 

The tide was coming in by this time. This Heron can see Grey Mullet in the shallows. They come in close on hot summer days. As the tide covers the mud they graze on the algae that has formed on the mud between tides. This is one of the reasons that I suspect the fish the Osprey caught close in earlier was probably a Mullet (the other reason being its body shape was more like that of a Mullet than a Bass).

The Heron fails on this occasion and resorts to catching passing flies! You can't see the fish but you can see the disturbance they cause as they swim.

Look how flat the sea was!

On the way back I caught the only shower of the day, heavy, but not unpleasant in the heat. But I had to stash my camera. When I got to No.2 outfall there were 100+ gulls resting. Most were Black-Headed gulls, but I saw three Mediterranean gulls together and one had a red ring. By the time I got my camera out I just managed one shot, before two Peregrines dived down screaming and lifted all the gulls! They are being a nuisance, I didn't see any small gulls this morning, but a couple of other walkers reported that the Peregrines had been chasing the gulls.

Two 3cy and a 2cy Mediterranean gulls. The 2cy has a red ring but unfortunately 
on the back leg. Normally, I would just have moved to one side to provide a better
angle. But no time today, so the red ring remained unread!

These are the gulls just after the above shot

They settled on the shore, much further out and didn't move to Red Nab 
as the tide came in

Common Sandpiper 1 flew west from the shingles on the saltmarsh 

 A couple of moths on the sea wall

Six-spot Burnet

Satin Grass-moth

Spotted Orchid in the Nature Park