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
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| Male Red-veined Darter |
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| Male Black-Tailed Skimmer |
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| Pair of Black-Tailed Skimmers |
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| House Martin |
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
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| 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
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| Painted Lady |
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| 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
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| Osprey with a blue ring on the right leg |
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| It caught this fish quite close to the waterline. I think it is a Grey Mullet. |
Shag 1 2nd calendar year on the wooden jetty
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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! |
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| These are the gulls just after the above shot |
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| 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
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| Six-spot Burnet |
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| Satin Grass-moth |
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| Spotted Orchid in the Nature Park |
