Solstice over.....Autumn passage commences!

Almost breathless till mid morning then a light west breeze for the remainder of the day. Sunshine all day.

Heysham Nature Reserve (Janet)

This female Ringlet was just enjoying the sun

Then this male turned up to "pester" her

Common Green Grasshopper

Common Field Grasshopper 

Pellucid Hoverfly

Well developed Moorhen youngster 

South Shore (MD)

I went down while the tide was still out to check the beach next to the wooden jetty. All there was to see, was another layer of silt, not a single gull. The only Mediterranean gull seen was the metal ringed adult resting on the beach between the outflows.

Eider 1 female between the outflows 

Rock Pipits 2 at the lighthouse are still taking food to the nest and becoming ever more frantic. This one dropped down to the hole when it knew I was watching, something they never normally do. Unfortunately the hole is pretty much under where I was stood so the pipit disappears when it drops down.

Linnet 4 near lighthouse 

Starling 6 near waterfalls, this number will soon increase significantly.

A measure of just how low this month's tides have been and how calm the sea
has been, is this, albeit stunted, sunflower growing at the base of the sea wall.

I returned when the tide was almost full to check Red Nab.

Mediterranean gull 6 - 2 adult, 3 first summer, 1 second summer - there probably were more as the light was awkward and many were resting with their heads down, but there definitely wasn't anything like the numbers seen yesterday.

There were 4 juvenile Black-Headed Gulls today

Common Sandpiper 2 - this is the "autumn passage" from today's title. Presumably they are returning from their breeding grounds rather than heading to them. They made no attempt to feed, just rested.

Off passage Common Sandpiper 

Saltmarsh 

Linnet 10 

Greenfinch 2 - this male was feeding on the seeds at the edge of the saltmarsh.

This male Drinker moth had managed to get itself trapped in a cage of sedge stems on the saltmarsh. It graced me with its presence for a couple of seconds after I freed it.

Male Drinker moth

Middleton Nature Reserve 

No Red-Veined Darter records received today.

This is an interesting piece from Peter and Rosemary Silvester, based on pictures they took of Common Blue damselflies on Middleton Nature Reserve yesterday, you will have to open the images to see the detail referenced in the narrative.

This one comes with a modesty warning: "Not to be viewed by those likely to be offended by some rather explicit shots of damselflies coupling and uncoupling." 

We came across these two on our way out and Rosemary just kept popping away at them because they were particularly well placed to photograph. When we looked through them at home we realised that, when they are zoomed in on, they contain remarkably fine detail of the secondary genitalia of the male during the mating process.

We came across information recently that male dragonflies and damselflies can actually use their sexual organs to remove a rival's sperm from the body of a previously mated female and wonder if this might have been going on before our very eyes!

Scarily, yesterday was the longest day for 2023! Kevin Eaves condensed it into a nutshell, "as seen from my south-facing weather station webcam"