A light SW wind. Overcast with light showers in the morning, but the sun came out mid afternoon.
Middleton Nature Reserve (Janet)
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| Male Blackcap - in punk mode |
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| Green-veined White |
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| Gatekeeper |
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| Female Black-Tailed Skimmer |
Red Nab/Saltmarsh - high water 10:40 (MD)
Eider 1 female
Redshank 2
Mediterranean gull 23 - 19 adult, 1 x 3rd calendar year, 2 x 2nd calendar year, 1 juvenile. No darvic rings seen.
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| Juvenile Med directly behind the flying Med |
Rock Pipit 2 - one each Red Nab and foreshore
Hummingbird Hawkmoth 1 on shingles north of the slipway - it managed to avoid being photographed today.
Just out of the recording area - Heysham Moss Nature Reserve (MD)
A very pleasant early evening stroll around.
Surprisingly few birds:
Blackcap
Chiffchaff
Wren
Carrion Crow
Magpie
Butterflies:
Whites several - all looked to be Small White
Meadow Brown everywhere
Ringlet a few quite worn
Small Skipper
Small Tortoiseshell 2
Dragonflies - this is what I went to check
Emperor 3
Four-Spotted Chaser 15+ these were the dominant dragonflies around the pools. Each pool had at least two, many ovipositoring
Common Darter only 2 seen
Black Darter 16+ These were the most numerous dragonflies, but many away from the pools. Unlike last year when I visited a little later, there were almost as many female as males (9 and 7)
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| Male Black Darter |
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| Female Black Darter |
The peat bogs were alive with insects. Every pool had it's own tribe of flies. I don't think these have a common name, but they should, they certainly are common. If you know please advise.
This comment from Barry Dyson (thanks) - The flies are one of the long-legged flies and as far as I can see are Poecilobothrus nobilitatus.
Those flies were big enough, but these were huge
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| A "Flesh" Fly |
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| This looks like a Hoverfly, but I can't find it (MD) Again if anyone knows please advise. |
