A good day for insects, although perhaps not for ants.

The light breeze started from the east but had swung round to south by midday, then SW. Hot sun after the mist cleared, but becoming overcast and very "heavy" by evening.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Ringing report from Alan:

The sky was clear and with a bright moon at midnight last night, it was with little optimism that my small moth trap was set at Middleton. On arrival at 06.00 the sky was completely overcast with low cloud/mist that obscured the upper parts of the power stations and wind generators - not sure what time in the night this formed. A catch of 20 moths resulted but with nothing unusual.

After a break of over two weeks, a couple of nets were set this morning:

Cettis Warbler 1 retrap

Wren 1 juv

Sedge Warbler 4 (2 juv) + 1 retrap

Lesser Whitethroat 1

Whitethroat 2 juv

Blackcap 4 (3 juv)

Chiffchaff 3 (2 juv) +1 retrap

Blue Tit 1 juv

Great Tit 1

Janet had a look in the morning:

Common Darter

Emperor

Think this is one of the "Glass Snails" 
Obviously a quite an acrobatic one! (MD)

By the evening it was overcast and very heavy, gulls were catching flying ants all over the recording area, so I paid a quick visit to the main pond (MD)

Mediterranean gull 1 adult had a post anting drink on the main pond before setting off again. There were hundreds of gulls feeding but quite high, almost certainly more Meds with them.

Double figures of Swallow and Swift with at lest two House Martins feeding above the gulls.

A flock of 42 Jackdaw rested briefly on a pylon, before all but, the more typical, 5 flew off. I presume that they had also been anting.

Warblers heard singing from the bottom car park

Cetti's warbler ("no swimming" pond male)

Blackcap 

Chiffchaff 

Sedge warbler 

Stock Dove 1

South shore (MD)

Unfortunately I was busy till after lunch, the east wind had stopped, although when I set of at 12:30 at least it wasn't from the west. Not for the first time this year I arrived at the lighthouse area just in time to witness the end of whatever insect migration there may have been.

Meadow Brown 12+ probably most if not all residents 

Gatekeeper 2

Small White 1

Small Tortoiseshell 1 seen coming in off the sea

Painted Lady 1 seen coming in off the sea, plus this worn one filling up after, presumably, a long flight.

Mediterranean gull 2 adult flew from the north, but none were feeding on the beach next to the wooden jetty 

Rock Pipit 6 - one on Red Nab plus at the lighthouse, 2 adult (neither the ringed male who seems to have taken a back seat role in the fledging of this second brood) each with a juvenile in tow, and I strongly suspect one adult had two young in tow. In this clip the adult will not feed the chick when it knows it is being watched. So it drops down to the ledge below the wall and the juvenile follows.

But in this clip, I am much further away and the adult would normally feed the chick, but it again drops down to the ledge. This time the juvenile just watches on. The adult returns empty billed so presumably it fed a second juvenile. Meanwhile the second adult with another juvenile were on the wooden jetty rocks.

This was a bit unusual, this Cormorant appears to eat a piece of this wrack. Wrack is full of minerals so possibly required occasionally, or perhaps it's just like a dog eating grass to help it digest a meal.

Heysham Nature Reserve 

I just went to check the Oak trees in the NW corner of the high plateau and it proved fruitful (MD)

Purple Hairstreak 1 male at least - I had to watch for several minutes before one was flitting high in the highest oak tree. I saw one on four occasions before a "family" of Long-Tailed Tits arrived, after which there were no more sightings. Not easy to get a picture of, as they are small, move quickly and the trees are tall, this was the best I managed!

Male Purple Hairstreak high in the oak tree

The flying season covers this and next month, worth checking on any warm sunny day. The picture below is the Oak tree it was in today. They mainly feed in Oak trees and the only Oak stand is in the corner of the copse on the NW corner of the high plateau (there is a small oak tree in a metal protective cage close by).

Family is in inverted commas for the Long-Tailed Tits, as perhaps there was more than one family involved. This young bird does not appear to be able to feed itself yet (it barely looks capable of leaving the nest!).

Meanwhile this juvenile is independent and appears to be providing the Oak tree an aphid clearing service.

Kevin Eaves checked the Oak trees later in the afternoon, no sign of the Hairstreak but he did spot a 

Hummingbird Hawkmoth - he managed this "fly by" shot, but not only does it serve as record shot, it also shows that this moth is different to the worn one that has been on the saltmarsh for a few weeks.

Hummingbird Hawkmoth 

Two more shots from Kevin

The offshore wind farm in disarray, reflecting today's light and variable breeze

Today was one of the few days each year when Snowdonia is
clearly visible from the south wall roundhead