A warm sunny day with a light west wind.
Middleton Nature Reserve
Report by Alan:
Ringing at Middleton this morning produced a reasonable catch including some young birds this time. 19 birds caught comprised :
Cetti's Warbler 2 + 1 juv
Reed Warbler 2 + 1 juv + 1 retrap
Robin 1 juv
Blue tit 4 juv + 1 juv retrap
Sedge Warbler 1 freshly fledged juv + 1 retrap
Blackcap 1 juv
Blackbird 1
Chiffchaff 1 juv + 1 retrap
My small 6 watt Heath trap set overnight produced a decent catch of 43 moths of 20 species.
Heysham skear (Malcolm) 08:30 - 09:30
Red-breasted Merganser 1 female
Great Crested grebe 1
Little Egret 5
Grey Heron 1
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| Grey Heron |
Oystercatcher 400
Curlew 7
Gulls, mainly Herring 300
Imperial Rd (Malcolm)
Just a quick check on the way home.
The Male Stonechat was around and feeding, but I didn't see him take food anywhere.
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| Male Stonechat |
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| He returned to the above post several times, it is far right in this shot |
Buzzard 1 and Kestrel 1
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| Buzzard and a Kestrel |
Moorhen 1 calling
Sedge warbler 3
Reed Bunting 1
South shore
Kevin had a walk along the sea wall.......he wasn't alone
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| I counted 8 Cinnabar moth caterpillars along the wall today. I don't know where the nearest Ragwort is, or why they're attracted to the wall. |
I checked out on the shore (Malcolm)
Curlew 95 along the waters edge out from Red Nab
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| Curlew |
Black-Headed gulls c150
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| Black-Headed gulls |
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| First juvenile Black-Headed gull this year |
Common gulls 35 mainly 2nd calendar year but a couple of adults
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| Lesser Black-Backed, Common and Black-Headed gulls, including a juvenile Black-Headed |
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| This is where a raptor has plucked its kill - looks like a pigeon |
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| These are the raptors prints, probably a Peregrine, but not seen one here since the small waders left |
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| One of two Painted Lady around the saltmarsh. |
