The light east wind continues. Some early morning showers then the day became increasingly heavy till the rain resumed at 19:00 and was still falling at the time of posting, marking the end of the prolonged arid spell.
South shore (MD)
I walked down the wall early in the rising tide to check what gulls, if any, were after the sandmason worms on the beach between the wooden jetty and No.1 outflow. There were quite a few, but only....
1 Mediterranean Gull - the metal ringed adult. The mud is still thick here, but that isn't a handicap for the worms who just build their tubes higher.
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| Mediterranean gull, surrounded by the tips of Sandmason worm tubes. |
In fact, the thicker mud seem to favour the worms as the gulls find it more difficult to catch them. I suspect that the softer mud allows the worms to sense the gulls presence earlier. This is an even bigger problem for this Med, as it has a walking difficulty, which leaves it far from stealthy!
There were 21 other gulls, 19 Black-Headed and 2 first summer Common gulls. The Black Headed gulls weren't after the Sandmason worms though, they were paddling in the muddy pools and picking off the small invertebrates that they disturbed.
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| One of the Black-Headed Gulls was colour ringed - details awaited |
The Mediterranean gull eventually got fed up of trying to catch Sandmason worms and moved over to the rocks next to the outflow, where there are always small invertebrates to be found, particularly in the absence of the Turnstone and Redshank that normally feed here.
There were lots more gulls feeding on the outflow, but only Black-Headed, Herring, Lesser Black-backed and Common (feeding at the seaward end).
Rock,Pipits 3. 1 near the waterfall and 2 near the nest site.
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| One standing guard |
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| The other delivering food to the nestlings |
Linnet 26 - 8 near the lighthouse and 18 on the saltmarsh, including several juvenile.
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| Juvenile Linnet |
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They are feeding on the seeds of this plant. I think it is Sea Arrowgrass.
But please correct me if you know otherwise (MD) |
Unfortunately the vegetation is quite dense and you can only really tell how many are feeding when they take flight. Only three visible here, but ten took flight when one did, the Wood Pigeon are also tucking in.
Goldfinch 7 feeding together in the scrub next to Red Nab.
Middleton Nature Reserve
Janet checked the main pond area late morning:
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| Male Red-Veined Darter |
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 | | Female Common Darter |
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| Ringlet |
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| Six-spot Burnet |
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| Common Bluetail Damselflies |
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| One of several toadlets |
