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

Logic would have saved some legwork!

Just light showers after early morning rain. Overcast all day but the temperature rose significantly during the afternoon peaking at 16.5° C. A light south wind switched to SW mid morning.

Heysham skear - Malcolm 10:30 - 12:00

As I was walking out the tide was soon going to cover the outermost skear. Any waders there would be likely to move to the middle skear. Sanderlings favour the margins so would either head for the southern or northern edge of the skear. I reasoned that logically they should head for the southern edge as with the south wind that side would be more productive for feeding. But I decided to opt for the north side, as historically the Sanderlings have favoured the north side. Wrong decision!

As the outer skear was covered 2 Sanderling flew to the north side and disappeared behind a honeycomb worm reef. Then a flock of 50+ "small waders" flew along the southern side. So I had to cross over to try and locate them. It's only 400m across here, but rough terrain.

Looking from the northern to the southern edge of the skear

When I got there I found 10 Sanderling feeding along the waterline

You can see some of the Sanderling along the waterline with Oystercatcher 
Plus 3 Little Egret. That's the promenade just north of the play area

So, enough Sanderling to suggest that the flock seen were Sanderling, but not enough to account for the whole flock. So I went back to the north side and managed to locate another 50+. Making 60+ Sanderling in total. If I had started on the south side, as logic dictated, I would have seen the flock arrive and then presumably split. I would still have crossed to check the north side, but at least I would have only had to cross over once! There must be a moral in there somewhere.....

Very difficult spotting them when they are still. At least 12 Sanderling in this shot.

Fortunately they are rarely still

Sanderling 

Oystercatcher not counted 

Curlew 1

Bar-Tailed Godwit 1

Eider 5 (2 female)

Little Egret 6

Gulls, mainly Herring Gulls c150

South shore - Malcolm 14:15 - 16:00

Whimbrel 1 calling around the saltmarsh 

Common Sandpiper 1 along the foreshore, but very flighty.

Common Sandpiper 

Curlew 1 on Red Nab.

Little Egret 2 on the saltmarsh and 3 on Red Nab

Curlew,  Little Egret and a Lesser Black-Backed gull

Wheatear 2 along the foreshore 

Male Wheatear, the other only seen heading off, but looked to be female.

Rock Pipit 4 minimum. One each, foreshore, Red Nab, Lighthouse and waterfall.

I filmed the lighthouse Rock Pipit taking food to its nest again. This time from the opposite side and a wider angle to watch where the hole is. But I failed again, the nest hole must be directly below where I was standing.

It returned from the nest, stood next to me, and gave me a right ticking off!

Linnet 3 between the lighthouse and waterfall 

There was nothing feeding on the outfalls.

The Carrion Crow was not sitting on the nest and no adult visited it in the 15 minutes that it was in view. Abandoned?

Plenty of young rabbits between the lighthouse and waterfall 

When I (Malcolm) went to replenish my feeders last night, this Sparrowhawk had a male Blackbird pinned down. My distraction allowed the Blackbird to free itself and after a chase around several gardens eventually escape. I know feeding the small birds ultimately leads to feeding the predators. But it is usually the weak and sick who perish. My Blackbird was probably just off guard, as he has a young family in the nest to support.

Presumably, this male Sparrowhawk also has a young family to feed.