Shelducks suddenly appear

It remained reasonably dry after a morning shower, until steady rain started in the early evening. A SW wind

South shore - Malcolm 10:45 - 12:15

Linnet 40+ flew onto the saltmarsh 

Wheatear 1 on Ocean Edge grass

Wheatear

Pied Wagtail 3

Rock Pipit 4 (1 on foreshore 2 + 1 on Red Nab)

Rock Pipit

Little Egret 5 along the sea wall

Grey Heron 1 by No.2 outfall

It had clearly seen something between the rocks and remained stock still.
If I had taken a video, the only difference to this shot would be a couple of
loose feathers moving in the wind. Both the Heron and its prospective prey
 had more patience than me and I left them to it

Mediterranean gulls 12 - there were 10 feeding on the beach by the wooden jetty, 1 resting between the outfalls and a 1st calendar year on No.2 outfall 

1cy Mediterranean gull

There were two white ringed Mediterranean gulls on the feeding beach, both ringed in Holland and both regular visitors and already seen this year.

This one is a veteran, ringed in 2010

This one ringed in 2019

There were a lot more Sandmason worm tubes showing today and reaching close to the sea wall. The gulls clearly anticipate their availability. The worms have to partially leave their tube to mate, the gulls work their own patch and watch for one showing and try and grab it before it retreats to safety. No luck in this clip, but I did see some being caught. The white ringed bird in this clip is the one ringed in 2019.

A little Egret also fancied its chances. Unfortunately I am busy at low water
tomorrow, so I won't be able to check if numbers continue to increase 

From bottom to top: Lesser Black-Backed, Herring and Great Black-Backed gulls

1cy Herring gull

Cormorant doing its best Usain Bolt impersonation. Piel Castle in the background 

One of four young Redshank on Red Nab. They haven't learned to be wary of
humans yet. They will! But not today.

Whimbrel 2 at least, probably 4. 2 likely candidates flew off without calling.

Whimbrel 

Shelduck 30 - when I walked out there were none, but when I got back to Red Nab there were 26 drinking and freshening up in a freshwater runoff just beyond Red Nab and at least another 4 feeding further out.

Some of the Shelduck, first records this autumn.

In the Nature Park

Hummingbird Hawkmoth 1 zipped past me.

Red Admiral 1

Small White 6

Wood Pigeons, the one on the right with no white collar is a juvenile 

A wet day!

Light rain in the morning turned heavy by lunchtime, before easing again in the afternoon, but basically wet all day. A SE wind

South shore - Malcolm 09:30 - 11:00

Light rain for the bulk of the walk.

Linnet 45 around the saltmarsh plus 3 on Red Nab

Wet Linnets

I took this clip yesterday of one feeding on Sea Lavender seeds on Red Nab

Rock Pipit 2 on the foreshore and 2 on Red Nab

This is another clip I took yesterday (anticipating a washout today). This Rock Pipit is feeding on the strandline between Red Nab and the foreshore. A more foraging approach compared to the clip of a Wheatear here the other day, that was more of a dash and grab.

Pied Wagtail 1 on the foreshore 

By the time I reached the end of the sea wall, the rain had eased briefly.

There were very few gulls on the feeding beach by the wooden jetty.
Most of those close in were Black-Headed gulls

Mediterranean gulls 4. 3 were feeding on sandmason worms close to the waterline plus 1 resting higher up the shore

Mediterranean gull

Mediterranean gull near the waterline, you can just make out the spikes
of the Sandmason worm tubes

All three feeding Meds show in this clip, all in the same frame for about a second 

Eider 6 out from the north sea wall

Eider

Sandwich tern offshore  - no meds and hardly anything on outfalls on drop tide - Pete

Home grown RVD

Mainly overcast with the odd sunny spell. A west wind

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Janet's injuries have improved enough to allow her to use one of her old cameras. Can't use the large lens yet but the small ones are fine for insects.

These were on the spit of the main pond

Teneral Red-Veined Darter

Common Darter

Black-Tailed Skimmer

Common Blue Damselfly 

Meadow Brown

Alder Leaf Beetle

These were on the southern section of the reserve 

No sign of a Ruddy Darter today 

Male Common Darter

Female Common Darter

Speckled Wood

Small White

Painted Lady

Alder Leaf Beetles here too

Common Drone Fly 

Garden Cross Spider - or as they are commonly called, A Big Spider!

I just did a wildfowl check of the two largest ponds - Malcolm

Main Pond

Mute Swan 2

Mallard 23

Coot 7

Moorhen 2

"No swimming" pond

Mute Swan 1

Mallard 4

Tufted Duck 2 females

Little Grebe 1

Moorhen 5

Coot 5

Grey Heron 1

Heron

Little Grebe

Both the Tufted Duck had some white around the bill

Tufted Duck with adult and immature Moorhen 

This Fox was patrolling Janet's garden last night.

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