Little Gull a little more obliging today

A dry day with sunny spells, a light NW wind

South shore

I checked first 09:30 - 10:30 (Malcolm) and was the only observer today not to see the Little Gull!

Whimbrel 1 near Red Nab

Whimbrel, making short work of a shore crab

Linnet 22 flew inland from Red Nab, presumably they had been feeding on seeds in the strand line

Male Linnet

Rock Pipit 4 - 2 on Red Nab, 1 along the sea wall and 1 near the wooden jetty

Two Rock Pipits on Red Nab

Mediterranean gull 4 - 1 adult and 3 juvenile (more seen later)

Juvenile Mediterranean gull (left) and juvenile Black-Headed gull

Pete Crooks checked later in the morning 

I walked along the seawall from Red Nab to the Harbour:

1 2nd CY Little Gull on the beach between HS1 outfall and the wooden pier, then flew across to HS2 outfall. 

12 Mediterranean Gulls - 8 juveniles, 1 2nd CY, 1 3rd CY and 2 adults. 

Janet checked this afternoon

It was clear if these Little Egrets were bickering or bonding!

Either way it looks very elegant 

The Little Gull was feeding on No.1 outfall

2nd calendar year Little Gull

Cormorant 

Curlew 

I checked the shore in front of the saltmarsh this evening (Malcolm)

130 Black-Headed gulls and just 1 adult Mediterranean gull.

A few other gulls including Herring, Lesser Black-Backed and Common

Common Gulls

Whimbrel 2 constantly calling from the saltmarsh 

Whimbrel (left) and Curlew (right)  

Little gull still around, but elusive

Mainly overcast with an odd shower. A light west wind

South shore (Shaun, Malcolm)

A two pronged attack with Shan along the sea wall and me out from Red Nab. 

Little Gull 1 2nd calendar year arrived from in the bay, fed on No.1 outfall for 10 minutes then returned into the bay

Mediterranean gull 9 - 4 adult, 1 2nd calendar year and 4 juvenile 

Adult and a Juvenile Mediterranean gull (on left)

2nd calendar year Mediterranean gull

Sandwich Tern 1 heard briefly 

Curlew 200+ south 

Whimbrel 1 heard heading south

Oystercatcher c500

This Oystercatcher caught a Lugworm and ran from the others before 
eating it

Grey Seal 1 out from No.1 outfall

The entire shore is covered in these tiny snails. They are what the small
waders will be feeding on in a while. These are also what the Shelduck
feed on here

Painted Lady 1 in the Nature Park

Middleton Nature Reserve (Janet)

Kingfisher 1 flew west across the main pond

Speckled Wood

Meadow Brown

Large White

Green- Veined White

Red Admiral

The Coot and Cormorants seemed to have a truce 

Immature Cormorants 

Truce or no truce, the young Coot didn't leave the cover of the reeds
until the Cormorants had gone

Feeding time

Heysham skear (Malcolm) 19:00 - 20:30

Great Crested Grebe 5

Little Egret 4

Gulls 400 large, mainly Herring. Two ringed birds, one seen recently, the other ringed in 2019 at the Ribble estuary, hasn't been seen since before the breeding season.

N:01E - it is a difficult one to read as the 1 and the E are so close together

Black-Headed gull 25

Mediterranean gull 1 adult

Mediterranean (left) with two Black-Headed gulls

Waders

Oystercatcher 300 but more arriving all the time

Curlew 80

Redshank 15

Turnstone 40

Ringed Plover 12

Cormorant switching from scales to feathers

Early morning showers soon eased with just the odd light shower during the morning. A light variable breeze.

Janet took this series of shots of a young Cormorant trying, and possibly succeeding, to eat young Coots on the main pond at Middleton Nature Reserve yesterday.

The Cormorant seems to be swallowing something here

The adults drove it back.....

........and the remaining chicks swam frantically across the pond

Later they adopted a strategy of mingling with the Swans, which itself 
is a bit of a surprise, it isn't long ago that the male Swan was chasing them!

South shore

Mediterranean gulls 12 minimum. This morning there were 7 adults and a juvenile on the feeding beach by the wooden jetty. This evening Shaun Coyle saw 7 adults and 5 juveniles on Red Nab.

This is the metal ringed adult Mediterranean gull that favours feeding
close to the sea wall on the feeding beach

This is where it tends to feed, it is dead centre in this shot

A few other bits on my morning walk (Malcolm)

Rock Pipits 3

Wheatear on the foreshore 

This Pied Wagtail is feeding young

This newly fledged Pied Wagtail was one of the recipients 

Herring Gull taking a Mussel to its favourite spot for dropping them

Janet had a walk along the sea wall this afternoon.

Little Egret 

Redshank

Oystercatchers 

Curlew 

Many more Oystercatchers 

Gulls on No.2 outfall

The warm wet conditions stirred this Garden Snail into "action"

Osprey  - seen by Mark Jones at 14:45 from Potts Corner. It started off in the recording area just south of the harbour, it then headed south with an entourage of gulls!

This Large shield bug was on my house wall this morning (Malcolm)
It is a Hawthorn Shield Bug