Still plenty of Meds

The sunshine today was hazy at times coupled with a fresh variable breeze keeping the temperature under 25°C

Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet

Main pond

Small Red-eyed Damselfly 

Common Darter

Another Common Darter, quite a friendly one!

Southern section 

Ruddy Darter by the pond

Common Darter

Red Admiral

Peacock

I was hoping for a Copper Tip Longhorn but just found this beetle sp

There was a comment yesterday asking where to find the dragonflies and is there a map. 

There isn't a map of the Reserve, but there is a map of the recording area at the foot of the posts. Someone from the Observatory team regularly checks the reserve and reports here saying what is to be seen and including a location shot if relevant. The three ponds referred to most commonly are:

The main pond. This is where the bottom car park is.

"No swimming" pond this is just next to the main pond on the west side.

The southern section begins on the other side of the road from the car park. If you follow the track and cross the small bridge then turn left it takes you to the pond there.

South shore

I went to check the feeding beach by the wooden jetty at low water (Malcolm). It was empty?

No Mediterranean gulls on the feeding beach

Juvenile Black-Headed gulls on No.1 outfall

Rock Pipits 2 together flew along the sea wall

Mediterranean gulls 110 on Red Nab. That's a lot at any time, but they are normally feeding at low water. But these long days allow them plenty of time to feed then rest and preen. An increase in juveniles, there were 9.

 

It's becoming increasingly difficult to be confident of the age of some of the 
immature birds

Two Juvenile Meds

This juvenile is stretching its wings

Kevin spotted this Hummingbird Hawkmoth on the sea wall this afternoon 

Heysham skear - Malcolm 17:15 - 19:00

A very pleasant evening walk with a cooling inshore breeze.

Eider 1 female

Great Crested Grebe 2

Eider and a Great Crested Grebe

Little Egret 3

Sandwich Tern at least one fishing 

Mediterranean gulls 3 - they are not commonly seen here

Black-Headed gull (left) and Mediterranean gull

There were about 130 large gulls on the skear to begin with, plus more on the sea. There were about 250 feeding when I left. The mussel beds are well established now, but seed mussels continue to arrive. Not as easy to find as a month or so ago but still a plentiful food source.

The Herring gull centre is one of two previously seen ringed birds located.
The gull lower right is just swallowing a seed mussel

Oystercatcher c300

Curlew c60

This Curlew with a plain orange ring and a black ring code A5
Ringed at Llanrhystud near Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, 10/02/2016
Its only other sighting was here last September