The gullfest continues and big Red Admiral movement

The light east wind in the morning had drifted to the south in the afternoon. Plenty of sunshine.

South shore

Report from Pete:

Osprey 1 fishing 0815-20

Gullfest still Heysham outfalls and area - far more than usual

Little Gull at least one juvenile but lost after Osprey flush, 

Mediterranean gull at least 63 with at least 28 2cy and four 1cy 

Sandwich Tern 1

Pink-Footed goose 190 south 0810-0846 then 50 later

Swallow only 10

Sand Martin 1 late bird

Red Admiral 157 south from 0850 including 50 in 15 minutes (0945-1000)

Jean was at Heysham Nature Reserve. 

Pink-Footed goose 500 additional 

Sedge Warbler 1

I was busy and couldn't get down till the tide was full (MD). So no chance of checking the shore for Whitebait (see yesterday's post). But there obviously hadn't been a repeat performance. The gulls were feeding on the outflows when Pete checked, the shore and any available fish were still exposed then.

Wheatear 9 plus 1 at the lighthouse in the afternoon.

Rock Pipit 1

Red Admiral 29 south in 45 minutes, most were what just fluttered past. But every time I looked through my binoculars at something there was almost always one in the field of view.

A second check along the sea wall in the afternoon saw butterflies come in off at the lighthouse at the rate of one a minute. Mainly Red Admirals but a few Small Tortoiseshell too.

Chiffchaff 1 in the scrub near the lighthouse 

Pink-Footed goose 108 south in two skeins at 15:40 - so 848 total today.

Linnet 7 feeding along the sea wall in the afternoon and 6 on the foreshore and saltmarsh in the morning.

This is one of the morning birds eating the seeds off one of the many foreshore Sunflowers, which were finally killed off by the saltwater in the last set of spring tides. Nice to know they managed to set seed though.

These are some of the Linnet along the sea wall, finding plenty of seeds amongst the sparse vegetation.

Alison and Kevin saw at least 6 Wheatear along the foreshore in the afternoon, almost certainly additional to the 4 there this morning as they were quickly moving through then.

Painted Lady on the small beach between Red Nab and the foreshore 

Middleton Nature Reserve (JP)

Quite a few Butterflies and lots of Common darter coupled up, I think there was a Black Darter on the boggy track at the main pond but lost sight of it.

Common Darters

Comma

Red Admiral