The trend of fresh west breezes and sunshine continues.
Not a great deal today, plenty of butterflies everywhere but little else.
South shore
A check mid morning at low water.
Rock Pipit 3. One juvenile on Ocean Edge foreshore, a bird flying along the sea wall towards Red Nab and this juvenile near the lighthouse.
This is the good recognition
 |
| Juvenile (I think (MD)) Rock Pipit catches a Ladybird |
 |
| Then it remembers just how bad they taste, and lets it go again. |
Mediterranean gulls at least 3. There was an adult and a 2nd calendar year on the water's edge near the wooden jetty, later two adult flew south along the sea wall.
There were lots of butterflies near the newt pond behind Red Nab.
Red Admiral 3
Meadow Brown 10+
Gatekeeper 10+
Ringlet c6
This is the not so good recognition, or perhaps just extreme optimism.
 |
| This Ringlet attracted a male Gatekeeper. Perhaps he was trying to chase her away, but he looked very friendly. |
 |
| Two eye spots on wing........near enough. |
Heysham Nature Reserve
Janet took this shot of a Brown Hawker. Quite an unusual shot and a reminder of how appearances can be deceptive.
 |
| Male Brown Hawker - but they have yellow stripes on the thorax, these stripes appear blue, presumably an effect of the light through the foliage |
Middleton Nature Reserve
A check mid afternoon
Not a lot of dragonflies around
Emperor 3
Black-Tailed Skimmer 5
Brown Hawker 1
Plenty of butterflies, in order of abundance:
Gatekeeper 20+
Meadow Brown 20-
Small Skipper 10+
Ringlet c4
Large Skipper 3
Speckled Wood 3
Red Admiral 2
Large White 2
Small White 2
Comma 2
Silver Y moth 1
 |
| Silver Y |
Mallard - it was nice to see the 10 young birds on Tim Butler pond. This is the first sighting since they were tiny. The Tim Butler pond is becoming increasingly difficult to view more than just a few patches. There were also 10 young birds on the main pond and a further 8 on the "no swimming" pond. So 28 1st calendar year birds!
This is a nice group shot of the Mute family, some of the Mallard and a Moorhen, on the main pond. This is unlike previous behaviour of the aggressive male Mute, who normally chases everything.
 |
| This reminds me of a school photograph (yes we did have cameras when I was at school, albeit black and white). Smallest at the front please and the tall ones at the back. |
This tiny (c4mm) moth, Grapholita compositella, was one of several on the Bird's-Foot Trefoil near the lighthouse. To the naked eye they just look like pieces of dandruff flitting about, but it is actually quite a striking moth. A common species, but this is the first record for the whole of the 10 x 10 kilometres of SD35, although, hardly surprising as about 99 square kilometres of SD35 is sea or mud, with the Fluke Hall area being the only other dry land.
 |
| Grapholita compositella |
