Middleton Nature Reserve late afternoon (MD)
Wildfowl unchanged
House Martin two feeding groups 5 & 3
Swift 3 feeding, but drifting south.
Stock dove 1
The only dragonfly was a single Common Darter.
Only butterflies: Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper (I did say it was a dreary day!)
Wooden Jetty area - Afternoon and evening (KE, MD)
The solitary Rock Pipit is still hanging around.
The gulls, including 16 Mediterranean Gull (12 adult plus 4 3rd calendar year) were easily catching sand mason worms today. The picture below clearly shows the worm tubes showing above the mud on the beach between the wooden jetty and No.1 outflow.
Both the above pictures from Kevin.
I (MD) believe that the availability of the worms is linked to their breeding cycle, which I also believe is linked to the phases of the moon. New moon is on Tuesday.
This adult has a worm, hope you can make it out. They are thin, but long and protein packed!
This 3cy with a darvic ring is a Belgian ringed bird - details awaited.
The next few days could be good, about 3.5 hours before high water, probably better in mornings.
