Good birds, poor dragonflies

Heysham Obs
Harbour/outfalls/wooden jetty
Fingers crossed as the female Black Guillemot has been spending time in a hole with male in attendance. They can commence breeding as late as July week 3.

At least one juvenile Shag still around the harbour

Adult summer Med Gull on the outfalls was new in - it was unringed, therefore not the Czech-ringed 'winter' resident. First summer Med Gull also seen along with the heavily-moulting 1st summer Kittiwake

Ringing
A reasonable catch below the Obs Tower included 7 juvenile Dunnock from at least two broods (now a 'high priority' species!) and a couple of juvenile Lesser Whitethroat

Insects
A full dragonfly census of Middleton in decent conditions - the first one possible since 10th June was even worse than expected. Havent the exact figures but can be certain about one count - NO Red-veined Darter were seen in ideal conditions for mature males to be flying about. Lets hope they managed to pair up and oviposit during the occasional June 'windows'. 5 male Common Darter was seen and 23 tenerals, presumably this species. Numbers of the early emerging dragonflies were predictably low with just 9 male and 2 female Emperor, 7 male and 2 female Black-tailed Skimmer and 20-25 4-spotted Chaser. A Brown Hawker was present on the nearby Nature reserve along with a single Emperor

The Heysham NR butterfly transect was dominated by Small Skipper (90). Other species included 9 Large Skipper, 2 Comma and a rather early second brood Small Copper.

Elsewhere
This evening, at least three young Long-eared Owl were calling from the upper left plantation on Leck Fell but none from any of the others during a relatively brief visit. A Short-eared Owl was quartering higher up the fell. Nothing else reported on any local websites/local info lines