Juvenile Meds arrive plus mayhem in the moth traps!

Some overnight rain, then it managed to stay dry till mid morning, then showers till mid afternoon.

South shore

I checked from 07:40 till the rain began at 10:00 (Malcolm)

Mediterranean gull at least 47, including 4 x 3rd calendar year, 8 x 2nd calendar year and the first 3 juveniles this year

Juvenile Mediterranean gull

There were 30+ on the feeding beach between the wooden jetty and No.1 outfall. Some just resting close to the sea wall, but many catching Sandmason worms, close to the waterline.

This Med is drawing a Sandmason worm from its tube

This is another one, they quickly pull the worm from its tube....

.......which stretches the worm to its full, and quite impressive, length!

Two of the Meds were ringed, a yellow ring from a German scheme plus a returning white ringed adult.

From the bottom up: Juvenile Black-Headed gull, juvenile Mediterranean gull.
Three adult Mediterranean gulls, the top one with a white ring. Ringed as a
chick at Antwerp, Belgium in 2018, it was first seen here the same year and
returned 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024. In between it has been recorded in the
Netherlands, France, Portugal and Belgium. Since it left Heysham last autumn,
It was recorded in the Netherlands in March and two locations in France in May.

This Curlew out from the foreshore has a small crab

This Curlew was on the beach by the wooden jetty, look how wet
the mud is in places

Peregrine Falcon 2 around the Power Stations

Juvenile Peregrine Falcon 

Wheatear 1 juvenile along the foreshore.

One of a few young Chiffchaff flitting around the Nature Park

I wasn't expecting any butterflies coming in/off today, but it felt strange seeing none at all along the foreshore, there had been so many!

Yesterday, there were c500 Large Yellow Underwings in Kevin and Alison's moth traps. Today there was a minimum of 700, probably closer to 1,000 - it was mayhem!