Middleton under the microscope!

Almost breathless till mid morning then a steady ESE breeze continued for the rest of the sun filled day.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Jean provided this report from this morning's Wildlife Trust outing:

Main pond
2 ad Mute Swan with 9 juvs
3 moulting male Mallard, 1 female and 7 young birds that were more or less fully grown
5 Coot and 1 juv
1 Little Grebe “tittering”
2 Moorhen 
3 Swift and 1 Swallow feeding over the pond
1 Reed Warbler singing on the edge of the pond

Around the main pond were several Northern Marsh orchids and Bee orchids. Also a few Common Spotted orchids and some hybrid marsh orchids which were pink rather than purple.

Northern Marsh Orchid

Bee Orchid

It was very dry on the edge of the main pond so many flowers were miniature in size eg Ox-eye Daisies 3cm high, Common Centaury even smaller. The pink flower may be Centaury but it should have 5 petals not 4. The yellow flowers look like buttercups but are in fact Lesser Spearwort and you can see some Cotton Grass in amongst it.

Lesser Sprearwort and Cotton Grass

Four petalled Centaury?

These flowers are typical of wet conditions but it was far from that - more like desert! 

 

A pregnant Alder beetle. Many of the alder leaves had been
ravaged by the larvae of this species.

This looks like an ear of grass is one called Bishop’s Mitre Shieldbug and is found
in dry grassland. It’s common but easily overlooked.

Here is a hoverfly that mimics a white tailed Bumblebee and even buzzes like one. The larvae develop in Bumblebee nests. It has a kind of beak and only has one pair of wings. It landed on a grass stem which bumblebees never do. 

Not a bee!

Pupae of a 5 spot Burnet moth.

Common Blue Damselfly

Female Common Darter - main pond

Black tailed Skimmer
 several on the small dragonfly pools to the west

At least 3 singing Cetti’s Warblers 
1 NW end of main pond
2 N end of No swimming pond 
3 N end of ringing area/near dyke

The best sighting was a line of 5 weasels running across the track just before the little brick building but they were so quick I didn’t get a photo.

A small selection of the 15 people who were on the walk today.
 Steve has got his head buried in the sweep net looking for beetles! 

Janet also visited earlier and took some nice dragonfly shots.

Male Broad-bodied Chaser

Black-Tailed Skimmers mating. You seldom see the lower abdomen
of a female (lower insect). This one is particularly blue

A more typical view of a female Black-Tailed Skimmer

You can see some of the lower abdomen in this ovipositoring female,
just a shade of blue

The Coot are still squabbling, they've been at it all year!

Heysham skear - low water 11:50 (MD)

Little Egret 5

Great Crested Grebe 1

Eider 1 male

Red-breasted Merganser 3 - these two were "snorkelling". They spot their prey before diving for it. I normally associate this feeding method with catching crabs, but if it was crabs they were diving for, they would have caught one (as the gull behind does). Presumably they were after more elusive prey, probably Butterfish.

Oystercatcher 100+

Curlew 10

Sam

Sanderling 1 - flushed by the rising tide from the north side Honeycomb worm reefs.

Emperor Dragonfly 1 north

South sea wall (MD)

I had a walk along just before the tide reached the sea wall at the wooden jetty.

Red Admirals 11, in the last 10 minutes of the walk to the end of the wall 6 flew in off. But I got there at the same time as the tide and after that there was only one more till I was walking back and had reached the point where the tide hadn't reached the sea wall.

This was the only Red Admiral to pause briefly on the sea wall, the rest just piled through.
They are surprisingly difficult to see on the wall when they rest with their wings closed.

There was a Meadow Brown, several Common Blues in the scrub near the lighthouse, but the only other butterfly I saw come in off was a Small White.

Swallow 1 in off

Rock,Pipit 4. 1 displaying near No.1 outflow. 2 near lighthouse, one appeared to fly to a different hole in the wall. 1 near waterfall.

Linnet 5

Curlew 19 flew south

Imperial Rd (MD)

Just a quick stop off on my way home, no sign of any Buzzards.

Stock Dove 2