Tuesday 6 September 2022

Plenty of stuff grounded and some interesting recent ringing recoveries

A very heavy downpour about 11:00 last night, almost certainly followed by more showers, but it was fine by the morning. It was overcast and dry till lunch then another heavy shower. Sunshine in the afternoon led to thunder showers by evening. East to ESE light wind all day.

Middleton Nature Reserve 
Report by Jean:

42 birds of 11 species caught today between 07:30 - 10:45 at Middleton NR:

Grey Wagtail 4 were colour ringed

Chiffchaff 11

Willow Warbler 2

Sedge Warbler 2

Reed Warbler 1

Blackcap 4

Lesser Whitethroat 2

Meadow Pipit 1

Blue Tit 9

Great Tit 1

Long-tailed Tit 5 (2 were retraps)


Vis included:

11 Grey Wagtail (4 caught and ringed)

37 Swalliws

1 Snipe dropped in

5 Meadow Pipits

62 Goldfinch headed SW in 3 groups (30, 25, 7)

4 Gadwall flew in


Some interesting recent ringing recoveries:

Willow Warbler
LCN244                juv          10/08/2021           Lytchett Bay Poole Harbour (Dorset)
Re-trapped                            06/08/2022           Middleton NR 370km N 361 days
 
Sedge Warbler
ALL6172              Juv          01/08/2022           Middleton NR
Re-trapped                            13/08/2022           Hilgay Wetland (Norfolk) 274kmSE in 12 days
Our first Sedge Warbler from Norfolk out of many thousands ringed – autumn movement usually between SSE and SSW        
 
AXH0237             Juv         01/07/2020           Middleton NR

Re-trapped                          28/07/2022         Nanjizal Land’s End (Cornwall) 480 km SSW 757 days


I had a walk around in the hot afternoon sun (MD)

6 Gadwall  and 1 Shoveler on "no swimming" pond

Water Rail at least 3 squealing, including 1 somewhere on the industrial site side

Common Sandpiper 2 seen both on main pond and the "no swimming" pond, but think they were the same mobile birds

Common Sandpiper - another slightly uncommon underwing view
Two Common Sandpiper


House Martin 5 together south


Despite it being hot, the rain must have dampened the insects down as there were not many

Dragonflies:

Emperor several

Common Darter 3


Butterflies:

Red Admiral 6

Speckled Wood 6

Small White 3

Meadow Brown 1

This Speckled Wood was displaying to a potential mate, but I suspect the potential mate's mating days are over......


Silver Y moth

Achaius oratorius - wasp

South shore 

I checked this morning (MD)

Meadow Pipit 9 grounded plus 3 over to south

Meadow Pipit

Rock Pipit 2

Rock Pipit

Robin 5 grounded

Wheatear 5 - Janet also saw one below the Barrows on the north side. This is one of Janet's pictures of a typically sleek Wheatear 

I've posted Janet's picture here as a comparison to a, definitely not sleek, Wheatear on the foreshore. The larger birds are normally associated with birds that breed in the far north, as far as Greenland. But this might just be a big bird.

It obviously has its feathers fluffed out............

....but whichever way you look at it, this is a big Wheatear

Linnet 6 

No sign of the Kingfisher on Red Nab today, but the neap tides were not often visited last winter (the freshwater stream only has fish in it when the saltwater fills it, allowing the sea fishes to move along it). Mark Jones reports that there was one on the dipping pond on Heysham Nature Reserve, a week ago.


Shag 1 resting on wooden Jetty

Sandwich Tern 2 adult flying towards the Lune estuary - this is one of them, the other not far behind.


This next clip is of a Chiffchaff in the Nature Park catching a fly, it happens too quickly to see in real time, indeed too quickly for my camera to catch, but this shot is a blurry still from the end of the clip, showing the end of the fly!


Finally, this clip is from Middleton Nature Reserve this afternoon. It shows Black ants "farming" aphids. This is a great example of a symbiotic relationship, the ants protect the aphids from predators and the aphids provide the ants honeydew (the aphid's waste). Don't suppose the bramble is impressed though.