Sunshine and some clouds the west breeze fesher
A couple of observations from home - Malcolm
Greylag geese 3 south 08:30
Swift 2 south 11:30
Middleton Nature Reserve
Peter and Rosemary Silvester took these shots today
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| Small Red-eyed Damselfly on the main pond |
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| Ruddy Darter by the pond on the south side |
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| Teneral Common Blue Damselfly |
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| Common Blue butterfly |
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| .......smashed her camera |
And smashed her elbow! Another operation required, so out of action for some while. Before her fall she had seen 3 male Ruddy Darters on the south side.
South shore
Heysham skear - Malcolm 13:15 - 15:00
Eider 1 male in eclipse
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| Male Eider |
It was eating the small mussels in the shallows
Red-breasted Mergansers 3 female/immature
Little Egret just 1
Gulls:
c400 large gulls mainly Herring gulls
30 Black-Headed gulls
3 Mediterranean gulls
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| Two of the Mediterranean gulls |
Oystercatchers are very hard to estimate as they are spread all over the skear, but definitely more than of late, at least 1500
Curlew 10
Redshank 10
Turnstone 2
Dunlin 15 all in summer plumage
They were very close, and torn between feeding and freezing
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| Dunlin |
South shore
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| Kevin spotted this Field Grasshopper along the sea wall |
Red Nab - Malcolm 17:00 - 18:30
Mediterranean gulls at least 24
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| Mediterranean and Black-Headed gulls, no new ringed birds seen |
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| Mediterranean gull and a Curlew |
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| There were c150 Curlew, but they and the gulls kept being spooked by over enthusiastic recently fledged Lesser Black-Backed gulls diving down |
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| Just a solitary Whimbrel |
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| Most of the gulls ended up out from the saltmarsh again |
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| Some if the 8 Redshank |
