Hot and sunny (temperature peaked at 28.5°C this afternoon). A light breeze mainly from NW.
Heysham skear - Malcolm 10:30 - 12:00
Eider 11 (8 males)
Red-breasted Merganser 1 male
Great Crested Grebe 2 together
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| Great Crested Grebe |
Gulls - there were c350 large gulls, mainly Herring on and around the skear, plus 30+ Black-Headed gulls to the south and north (many more further north)
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| Some of the large gulls waiting for the seed mussels to become exposed |
Sandwich Tern, constantly calling but just 2 seen.
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| Sandwich Tern |
Oystercatcher c1000
Curlew 6
Knot 46
Sanderling 90
Dunlin 1
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| The Knot arrived from the south, fed for a while then continued north |
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| The Sanderling also arrived from the south. Four flocks, 30, 11, 33 and 16. Some fed for a while before continuing north, others didn't stop to feed at all. |
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| Knot and Sanderling |
There's a lot going on in this clip. Herring and Lesser Black-Backed gulls, Oystercatcher, Knot and Sanderling all looking for food.
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| Knot and Sanderling heading north. This is 11:45 and it left the skear empty of small waders. |
There was still quite a bit of algal bloom, but not as much as yesterday. No idea why!
Painted Lady 3 (2 north and 1 south)
White butterfly sp 2 south
Middleton Nature Reserve
Jean briefly saw an immature Darter sp fly out over the main pond.
These shots by Janet
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Painted Lady |
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| Common Blue |
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| Silver Y |
A Red-Veined Darter and Lesser Emperor were seen at Crosby marina today. Hairy dragonfly Leighton moss yesterday. Hopefully we will have something interesting here in this warm spell.
As the insects move in, so too do the insect eaters. A possibility, albeit an outside possibility, of a Bee-Eater over the next few days. Worth watching out for!
