Wheatears returning

Southerly light wind. Sunny spells but rain by early evening 

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Ringing report from Alan:

A successful ringing session today resulted in 36 captures from just two nets set, all but three birds being juveniles.

Grasshopper Warbler 4

Sedge Warbler 4

Common Whitethroat 9

Garden Warbler 2

Willow Warbler 1

Chiffchaff 4

Reed Warbler 3

Blackcap 3

Robin 1

Great Tit 1

Blue Tit 1

Bullfinch 1

Wren 2

A 6 watt Heath trap was set overnight which produced over 65 moths of 24 species.

These shots from Janet:

Swift (shots this good of this fast flying species, are not easy (MD))

Sparrowhawk 

These next two from a couple of days ago

Cinnabar moth caterpillar on Ragwort.
This is how they obtain their toxins.

Common Blue butterfly and a bumblebee 

Heysham Nature Reserve (MD)

I went to see if I could see the Purple Hairstreak in the oak stand in the NW corner of the plateau. Yesterday Shaun reported a "possible Holly Blue". Holly Blues are not common here, but that's what I saw. Although it didn't fly high, unlike Shaun's tree top insect yesterday.

Male Holly Blue, compare underwing pattern with Janet's Common Blue above.

South Shore (MD)

I checked twice, once in the morning and again early evening 

Sandwich Tern 1 flew out along the shipping lane (morning rising tide)

Mediterranean gull  8 adult, 2 juvenile - evening check of beach next to wooden jetty. The juvenile were feeding on the seaward side of the outflow.

There were 6 adult (or possibly 3rd calendar year) preening on the rocks below the sea wall, while waiting for the tide to ebb. These are 3 of them with 3 Black-Headed gulls.

The two late arrivals were the white and green German and Netherlands darvic ringed birds.

This is the German bird. They were only managing to grab a small portion of the Sandmason worms by trapping them in the end of their tubes. It hardly seems worth the effort!

Starlings c200 now near the waterfall, mainly juvenile 

Willow Warbler 1 in the same brambles as the Starlings, I didn't manage a shot today, but it or another was here yesterday.

Willow Warbler 

Wheatear 2. One each near lighthouse and foreshore both morning and evening. Looked to be the same birds. This is the foreshore bird in the morning 

Wheatear 

In the evening the lighthouse bird was catching insects on the sea wall.