Pretty much the same mix, including the Osprey, plus more top moths

A very light west breeze, overcast to begin with then hazy sunshine 

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Report by Alan:

The conditions this morning were ideal for ringing and also for the moth trap set last night at Middleton.

The small 6 watt moth trap produced 52 moths of 27 species, including a migrant Small Marbled and a Round-winged Muslin (uncommon for the locality).

Small Marbled

Round- winged Muslin

The mist nets caught 34 birds, many of them juveniles. The full list:

Willow Warbler  2

Sedge Warbler  3 + 1 retrap

Reed Warbler  5 + 1 retrap

Lesser Whitethroat  2

Common Whitethroat  1

Robin  1

Wren  1 + 1 retrap

Reed Bunting  2

Blue Tit  1 + 1retrap

Great Tit 1 retrap

Chiffchaff  7

Cetti's Warbler  2

Blackcap  2

Kevin Eaves checked the main pond later and confirmed that there still is at least one male Red-Veined Darter present 

South shore (Malcolm) 08:00 - 09:15

Osprey 1 - again it was initially resting on the post at the seaward end of No.2 outfall.

Unfortunately, it faced away from me today. I could see that it had a blue
ring, but it wasn't possible to tell if it was the same bird as yesterday 

It caught a Bass

Then headed off south (the opposite direction to yesterday). The gulls get braver when its talons are full!

Mediterranean gulls 10 - 7 adult plus 2 2nd calendar year and 1 3rd calendar year 

7 adult and a 3cy Med

One of the 2cy Meds

I checked again as the tide reached Red Nab, but only 6 adults and 2 2cy turned up

Heron on No.2 outfall rail

North shore (Malcolm) 18:45 - 19:45

Eider 14 - there was just one female/immature on the sea then a group of 13 female and immature flew past to the north.

Some of the Eider

Great Crested Grebe 5 - one by itself plus what looked like two pairs. I took a short clip as I couldn't get a shot of all four showing at the same time.

Little Egret 2

Grey Heron 1

Oystercatcher 300

Curlew 107

Gulls, initially there were more Black-Headed gulls (30) than large gulls, but the large gulls, mainly Herring, were arriving all the time from the east, there were c150 by the time I left. Just one previously seen ringed bird.

Herring and Black- Headed gulls, including 2 juvenile 

Juvenile Black-Headed gull

Common Tern 1

Common Tern

It tried fishing for a while, but didn't catch anything, so it moved further north.

Kevin Eaves also managed some nice moths in his overnight trap

Palpita vitrealis A migrant from Southern Europe.
Sometimes called the Olive-tree Pearl.

Shore Wainscot. An uncommon and local coastal species. 

Quite an interesting day

A warm largely sunny day. Calm early on then a SW breeze

South shore (Malcolm) 08:00 - 10:00

Osprey 1 initially resting on the post at the seaward end of No.2 outfall

You can just make out the Osprey on top of the post. The gulls normally rest
in a tight group close to No.2 outfall. The Osprey had clearly scattered them.

Fortunately, I had my wellies on today, so I walked out to be close enough to check the Osprey for rings.

It was ringed. Seen at Leighton Moss in 2023. A full history awaited.

It then began fishing.

It caught a Bass after only a few minutes then flew off with it northwards.

Mediterranean gulls 11. 8 adult, 2 2nd calendar year, 1 3rd calendar year 

The bird on the right is a 2nd calendar year, with a particularly well
developed hood. We saw the adult on the left here last year, it is the
one with the lower half of its right leg missing. It "stands" on the
stump and its left knee.

This 3rd calendar year Med is feeding amongst the sandmason worm tubes, although it wasn't feeding on the worms this time.

No sign of any Kittiwakes today.

Common Tern 1 feeding on No.1 outfall

Common Tern

Rock Pipits 3 - one on Red Nab plus an adult feeding a juvenile near the lighthouse 

Despite the early hour there were already a few butterflies 

Small White 6 seen coming in off

Common Blue 2 near the lighthouse 

Common Blue

Quite a collection of insects here. From the top, clockwise:
Six-spot Burnet, Beetle sp, Cinnabar moth caterpillar and "a bee".
(The beetle is one of the soft winged flower beetles (Melyridae). It could
be one of two species but is far more likely likely to be the Common
 Malachite Beetle - Malachius bipustulatus - Alison)

This yacht was fortunate that it was calm at high water last night. It clearly had
broken free from its moorings somewhere, possibly during the last storm. It has
probably been adrift for days and gently came to rest on the rocks by No.2 outfall.
No obvious damage. I contacted the coastguard and three were just arriving to
secure the vessel as I was leaving. Hopefully it safely re floated at high water today.

Plenty of butterflies in the Nature Park.

Ringlet 13

Meadow Brown 2

Red Admiral 1

Large White 5

Small White 2

Large Skipper 1

Imperial Rd (Malcolm)

Stonechat 1 male and at least 1 juvenile 

Male (left) and juvenile Stonechat 

The juvenile is more recognisably a Stonechat now

Sedge warblers 2 singing

Reed Bunting 2

Buzzard at least 2 calling

Sparrowhawk 1 over

Green-Veined White 8

Green-Veined White

Meadow Brown 2

Meadow Brown

Middleton Nature Reserve

Pete scanned from the main pond lower car park

At least one male red veined darter over riffled water. Took a bit of time for it to appear - landed below gun club I think, then it or another very briefly which could have been red common 

Janet checked the west bank and located, what was probably a different male.

male red veined darter

Other shots from Janet:

Brown Hawker

Male Emperor over the "no swimming" pond

Male Emperor at the main pond

Female Emperor ovipositoring

Black-Tailed Skimmers

Common Darter

 

Female Mallard with her almost full grown young. Keeping out of
the male Mute Swan's way on the "no swimming" pond

Silver Y

Small Skipper

Green-Veined White

Large White

Not really a lot going on, but at least it was dry!

A fresh SW Wind. Mainly overcast, but it managed to remain dry till late evening.

South shore (Malcolm)

Two walks along the sea wall today. 07:30 - 08:30 and 17:00 - 18:00. All records from this morning unless  stated.

Common Tern 1 on No.1 outfall

Common Tern, it didn't stay for long and headed off SE towards the Lune estuary 

Mediterranean gull 3 - there were no gulls at all on the feeding beach between the wooden jetty and No.1 outfall (I wondered if the Osprey had been fishing earlier). There was just one adult Med resting with Black-Headed gulls by No.2 outfall.

Mediterranean gull resting by No.2 outfall

Then a Peregrine Falcon buzzed them

And all the small gulls left the area, led by the Med

This evening there were 3 adults resting on the rocks by No.2 outfall

Fortunately, one briefly revealed itself to be the white ringed bird seen at
Coder Green recently. Ringed in Portugal in 2020, it visited Heysham in 
2023 and 2024. It is a well recorded gull, also seen in Spain, France and
the Netherlands 

A juvenile Rock Pipit was waiting to be fed

An adult arrived with a bill full of food.....

.......but still managed to give me a good chirping at

Janet checked the Nature Park

Immature Moorhen on the dog walk path

Large White

Six-spot Burnet

Large Skipper

Comma

Middleton Nature Reserve (Janet)

Coot with chicks

Common Bluetail

Hoverfly sp

Common Toad

Heysham Nature Reserve - Kingfisher - Note in post box relating to one seen on dipping pond - recorder name not given.