Heysham obs
1 Kittiwake on the outfalls and 3 further out.
2 Sandwich Tern also on the outfalls.

Dragonflies
Middleton IE
RED-VEINED DARTER - 3 mature males and two tenerals on model boat pond. NO suitable weather to check since!
Black-tailed Skimmer - 27 male & 7 female
Emperor - 17 male, 5 female
4-spotted Chaser - 73

BE properties
Emperor - one on reserve, 3 on dog pond (inc ovi. female)
4-spotted Chaser - 7 on reserve, 11 on dog pond (no sign Broad-bodied Chaser)

Elsewhere

Cheating a bit as this photo was taken at Caerlaverock, but it's the same bird:

WHITE TAILED PLOVER on the Eric Morecambe Pool at 5pm. Chased off by a Redshank at 6pm and flew fairly high north. Appeared to drop in height but then was out of view - possibly dropped onto main Leighton Moss reserve. A search commenced but negative so far.

Wood Warbler still at Tower Lodge.

The sound of silence

Heysham Obs
Kittiwake on the outfalls.
Elsewhere
No news from the rest of the area!

Tiny migrant moth

Heysham Obs
The smallest contribution of the year concerned a single example of the migrant Diamond-back Moth in the hut trap - the first of the year.

Bird coverage involved checking out a Ringed Plover nest (4 eggs) on the BE properties

Elsewhere
Spoonbill Leighton Moss and Wood Warbler Tower Lodge. Long-tailed Duck & Egyptian Goose Halforth, Kent Estuary

Autumnal gulls!

Satin Wave - thanks Reuben

Heysham Obs
The gull numbers are starting to build up on the outfalls with c340 Black-headed Gull, including several adults. First summer Common Gull numbered about 40. With them:

Med Gull: 1st S and 1st W on tideline off Red Nab
Common Tern - one on outfalls

Middleton IE
A recently fledged Grasshopper Warbler clambering about in Ox-eye daisies!

Insects
New moths for the year in the hut trap included the local SATIN WAVE as well as Rivulet and Dusky Brocade. No sign of Broad-bodied Chaser in intermittent sunshire & checks of Middleton model boat pond coincided with cloud cover!

Elsewhere
Two Little Gull Leighton Moss. Two lots (of two?) young Long-eared Owls on Leck Fell but not showing this evening. View only from the road

Carbon footprint time

.....subtitled 'the ghost of 1975 laid to rest'. The White-tailed Plover leaves just three to go on the British wader list (Caspian & Mongolian Plovers, Cream-coloured Courser........assuming Eskimo Curlew is extinct)

Heysham Obs
No known coverage of the outfalls or wooden jetty area. Any day now should see the start of a build up of returning Black-headed Gulls and the early returnees always contain a good sprinkling of Med Gulls with several double-figure counts in the last two years by July

Insects
Female BROAD-BODIED CHASER Nature reserve marsh this lunchtime - this is the rarest of the resident dragonflies in this area with no well-established site as yet

Painted Lady on reserve - influx at present - please report all sightings

Yet another Shaded Pug in the moth trap

Elsewhere
Spoonbill and two 1st S Little Gulls at Leighton Moss. Male Broad-bodied Chaser at Woodwell

Disappointing dragonflies

Heysham Obs
The only bird records of note today were: a Reed Warbler singing for a short period in Middleton IE central marsh and the continued presence of 3 Jackdaw around the model boat pond. NNEW from the outfalls and area

Insects
Moths
Lime-speck Pug new for the year

Dragonflies
Four-spotted Chaser: c35 in Middleton IE new scrape with c20 on the remaider of the site. At least 5 on the Nature reserve/dog pond.
Emperor: 8 male and a single ovipositing female on Middleton IE and two males on the dog pond along with a single in the NR marsh
Black-tailed Skimmer: 4-5 male and one female in 'cop' on the model boat pond Middleton IE

No sign of any red darter spp or Broad-bodied Chaser

Plants
Several hundred Southern Marsh Orchid and several Bee Orchid at Middleton IE, a few Bee Orchid along the Landscape Strip dog-walk along with Yellow-wort

Elsewhere
Ad Med Gull feeding in pasture with BH Gull near Cross of Greet bridge at 2200 (!) hrs. Note that TWO highly unseasonal Long-tailed Duck were seen heading into Morecambe Bay from Walney early this morning

Inconclusive dragonfly vigil

Heysham Obs
No coastal birding today for a change!

A thorough breeding bird CBC-style census carried out on the Nature reserveand Landscape Strip highlighted by the first breeding Reed Bunting for a year or two on the reserve, at least one singing male Reed Warbler and two singing male Lesser Whitethroat in full voice again after a 'break'.

Insects
Butterflies
A disappointing by-product of the bird survey was once again the complete lack of Wall Brown which seems to have suddenly 'crashed' around here. A Red Admiral was in rapid transit north over the model boat pond

Dragonflies
A lunchtime vigil on the model boat pond on Middleton IE saw very unhelpful cloud managing to find the sun! Nevertheless a reasonable burst of sunshine saw 4-5 male Black-tailed Skimmer and an immature male RED DARTER spp which appeared to be Red-veined. Two Emperor were on the dog-walk pond and a 4-spotted Chaser had managed to find the '6 million dollar pond' in the Nature park.

Moths
Spectacle was new for the year in the trap as was a Mother Shipton seen by the model boat pond

Elsewhere
One adult and squeaking juvenile Long-eared Owl up Leck Fell - last plantation on left. Stay on road, please. Wood Warbler still singing at Tower Lodge.

More Black-tailed Skimmer

Heysham Obs
The only bird observations worth noting (so far?) were:

Med Gull - 1st summer on the outfalls late afternoon - this bird has at least one 2nd W tail feather, therefore two have been around in the last fortnight or so
Grasshopper Warbler - two singing males on the IE this morning

Dragonflies
Dull but humid conditions brought out an almost full quota of 4-spotted Chaser with 22+ on the IE and 8 on the dog-walk pond. Emperor, however, inhibited by the conditions but singles were seen on the dog pond and IE central marsh pond. THREE Black-tailed Skimmer on the model boat pond but conditions not sunny enough for any chance of early Red-veined Darter (assuming they did not all emerge on a 'ticket to nowhere' last autumn after the hot 2006 summer)

Moths
Quality local rarity in the form of Yellow-barred Brindle - only the second or third for the site. More mundane year ticks included Clouded Border and Middle-barred Minor. Three further Shaded Pug were notable and a single Small Clouded Brindle was welcome

Elsewhere
Two near misses for the all-time Heysham Obs list (Spoonbill) were replaced on Bowie's Pool by two others today in the form of two Avocet! It is really about time these species occured within visual range of Heysham. Wood Warbler still at Tower Lodge

Migrant butterflies

Heysham Obs
Outfalls/harbour area morning
Single Common and four Arctic Tern
Shag - at least one juv

Evening update
Mediterranean gull 1st summer Heysham 1 & 2 outfalls
Arctic tern 10 + 2 Common off end of No. 2
Heron

Middleton IE
Now THREE Jackdaw!

Insects
Two Painted Lady and a tatty Red Admiral
Emperor patrolling the model boat pond (probably additional to yesterday)

Elsewhere
Two Spoonbill on nearby Bowie's Pool, Sunderland, early afternoon at least. A single was reported at Leighton Moss in the morning but no known sightings after the Sunderland birds seen. NNEW on Lan Uni Black Redstart or Tower Lodge Wood Warbler. Pair Arctic tern on Lune at Sunderland + 26 Eider, c200 Dunlin. Adult & at least one 'squeaky gate' young Long-eared Owl up Leck Fell this evening. The adult flew out of the top left plantation, the young was/were in the next plantation down. Please stay on the road and do not enter enclosed fields which are not part of the "right to roam'' designation as is also the case with the plantations. Thanks.

First decent dragonfly day, notably Black-tailed Skimmer

Heysham Obs
Sea/offshore
Predictably little with 4 Arctic Terns on the outfalls early on and one flying into the bay later. No Shag seen and no obvious sign of the Rock Pipit. Three Swallows flew north in about 2.5 hours of observation!

Evening visit
Shag 2 wooden jetty
Arctic tern 6 off No. 1 outfall
Sandwich tern 2 blogging
Ringed plover Red Nab
Long-tailed tit 6 Nature Park
Linnet 2m 1f on mound

Nature reserve
TWO singing male Reed Warbler in the reserve reedbed

Middleton IE
Jackdaw - 2 of this scarce Heysham bird on the shoreline of the model boat pond
Canada Goose - a singleton of this thankfully scarce Heysham bird on the model boat pond
Tufted Duck - pair on the No Swimming pond
Little Grebe - Pair with 4 smallish young on the No Swimming pond (4+ other pairs on this site)

Dragonflies
Male Emperors recorded singly on the Middleton IE new scrape & fence pond and on BE properties on the 'dog walk' pond & Nature Reserve marsh

Immature male Black-tailed Skimmer on the model boat pond was much earlier than the previous two years

Four-spotted Chaser - c30 on Middleton and two on the 'dog-walk' pond

Common Blue, Azure, Large Red and Blue-tailed Damselflies all seen

Butterflies
Large Skipper was early BUT NO Wall Brown seen on the census yesterday or during todays more casual check. Please record all individuals you will hopefully come across. Thanks.

Elsewhere
Female-type Black Redstart showed reliably at Lancaster University until about 1100hrs opposite the Sports centre then was seen about 1800hrs on the rooftop of the nearby hotel (c250m to the west over the other side of the 'ring road'). At least one Spoonbill reported at Leighton Moss. Singing male Wood Warbler still in the Trough of Bowland at Tower Lodge this afternoon along with several Spotted Flycatcher. 100+ Sanderling in the high tide roost at Cockersands Point this lunchtime