Something for everyone

The heavy showers from yesterday evening continued till 07:00. After that it remained dry, overcast in the morning then largely sunny. A light SW breeze.

South shore (MD)

I checked again on the rising tide, but today there were no gulls on the beach next to the wooden jetty.

Mediterranean Gull 6 - 3 adult including the metal ringed bird. 3 first summer. Initially there was one adult on the seaward end of No.1 outflow. Later 2 adult and a first summer on the beach between the outflows then all six on Red Nab.

Adult Mediterranean gull feeding on the seaward end of No.1 outflow

The metal ringed adult and a first summer Med arriving at Red Nab

There are three adults and two first summer Meds in this shot. Unfortunately,
the first summer on the left is hiding its head and partly obscuring the adult behind it

This is the third first summer Mediterranean gull

This is where the Red Nab gulls were resting, this shot from Ocean Edge foreshore 

Curlew 18

Whimbrel 1 

Curlew and a latish Whimbrel (right), just poking its head above the rocks

The Rock Pipits are taking larger portions of food to the lighthouse area nest. Not sure what these morsels are, it reminds me of a Puffin with a bill full of sandeels! The clip pans out to show the vertical wall that the young have to surmount on their first flight........there is no second chance. 

Rock Pipit feeding a growing second brood after the first failed to fledge.
Good luck this time!

Middleton Nature Reserve (MD)

I did two short visits, one late morning, it was still overcast and the only dragonflies showing were Black-Tailed Skimmers and Common Darters. However there was plenty going on:

Cetti's Warbler 2 singing

Chiffchaff 3

Reed Warbler 1

Reed Bunting 2 lurking in the willow scrub near the water's edge.

Reed Bunting 

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 

Common Buzzard 1 south

Little Grebe 1 trilling

Mallard 2 male 2 female with 8 and 6 large young. Bizarrely the male Mute Swan now happily tolerates them. 

One of the Mallard families resting next to the Mute Swan family

Gadwall female with 5 growing chicks on "no swimming" pond.

My second check was 15:45 in the hot afternoon sun.

Red-veined Darter 1 male

This first shot is a location shot. On the west side bank, it's taken from almost the same place as the mallard and swan shot above, but looking north not south. You can see it resting on the patch of sedges just before the large reed bed starts.

It was resting here, then flying out over the water surface, but kept returning to this corner.

Red-veined Darter

Heysham Nature Reserve 

These shots from Janet:

Ringlet one of many - currently the most common butterfly in the recording area.

Very worn Common Blue

Gatekeeper 

Small Skipper - first record this year

Red Admiral 

Six-spot Burnet

Azure Damselfly

Pellucid hoverfly 

I had a quick look late afternoon (MD). Neither myself or Janet saw the fritillary. But while we are on hoverflies, I learnt something from Jean's report from the Wildlife Trust outing (see post 10/06/23). The Bumblebee Hoverfly looks like a white-tailed bumblebee, but bees never settle on a grass stem. So when this one did just that, I knew exactly what it was!

Bumblebee Hoverfly

These Rudd were swimming near the surface of the dipping pond. Rudd will routinely take food from the surface of the water, but nothing found during this clip. The red fins are perfectly normal, unlike those hybridised with goldfish in the dog walk pond.

Just out of the recording area - ref Dan Haywood  

Red-veined Darter1 male West Shore near Sambo’s Grave

Clouded Yellow 1 NW (this, almost certainly would have crossed into the recording area)