Invertebrate day

Overnight rain finally cleared by mid morning, but it remained overcast for most of the day. A light NE breeze.

South shore

I had a walk from the saltmarsh to Red Nab before the rain had completely cleared (Malcolm). There wasn't much to see!

Shelduck 6

Wheatear 1 male

No sign of any Rock Pipits

Chiffchaff 2 singing in the Nature Park

Kevin and Alison checked this afternoon.

Now four Wheatears along foreshore. 3 males and a female.

Male Wheatear

Lots of beetles resting along the sea wall.

Aphodius fimetarius

Seven-spot Lady Bird

Rove Beetle - Philonthus sp.

Aphodius sp. 

Oulema sp - cereal leaf beetle

And not just beetles

Chrisylis - looks like it could be either small/green veined white

Dotted Border moth. Not rare, but nice to see. 

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

Just a passing check of the two main ponds.

Mute Swan pair

Mallard 4

Gadwall 12

Teal pair

Herring gulls taking a bath plus Teal pair

Coot 10

Cetti's warbler 1 singing

Chiffchaff 2 singing

Heysham skear - low water 11:40 (Malcolm)

I had a look on the rising tide after lunch.

Pale-bellied Brent Geese 4 (2 + 2)

Pale-bellied Brent Geese

Eider 10

Red-breasted Merganser 4

Oystercatcher 1,500

Curlew 10

Curlew

Redshank 200

Knot 8

Turnstone 30

Dunlin 8

Ringed Plover 6

A Dunlin with two Ringed Plover

It's "green jelly blob" time of year again. The difference this year is that they are high definition jelly blobs. These blobs are typically 15mm diameter, and are the egg sacs of ragworms.

Unfortunately, high definition jelly, just looks like jelly.
Although if you look closely you can make out some black specks

In the next three shots, the jelly blobs are in shallow pools

The light offshore winds so far this spring has been good for the ragworms
that produce these egg sacs. Many of the sacs are still secured where the worm
left them. Most of the ones that break free end up in the strand line. Although,
presumably a few will drift to other suitable locations. 

This sac has ruptured, if you open this shot and zoom in you can see the tiny
eggs with dark embryos. They look like microscopic frog spawn. Presumably
the eggs will now be prone to predation, but surely some will mature.