Interesting news from last Friday

Shaded Broad-bar moth this evening.  Thanks Janet

Heysham Obs
Friday sightings from Sean's vigil
Black Guillemot - one in non-breeding plumage around the end of the wooden jetty for about 30 minutes.  Only the second day this species has been seen this year
Arctic Tern - adult
Sandwich Tern - 2 out
Med Gull - three different adults seen between Half-moon bay and the harbour mouth but not possible to see whether the Czech bird was one of them

Todays stuff
Ocean Edge/Red Nab/outfalls
Arctic Tern - juv
Whimbrel - one

One of the unfortunate things recently has been a number of birders calling in at the office for info but not reciprocating by calling back in with their sightings, despite a polite request.  Sign of the times?

Moths
Lots, but nothing special, with the best being Dingy Shears, Dingy Footman, Bordered Beauty, White Satin, Slender Pug (2), Golden-rod Pug (4) and (scarce here) Sandy Carpet.  Common Rustic takes over from Straw Underwing as the top dog.  Note that Golden-rod Pug larvae feed on ragwort.

Old Lady tops the bill

Lesser Whitethroat in the pines near Ocean Edge this evening. Thanks Janet

Heysham Obs
Hardly the forecasted wash-out, but just too risky to mist net the Sedge Warblers etc at Middleton NR this am.  One Common Sandpiper on the model boat pond edge.  Red Nab dead at high tide.

Moths 
Predictably, after a cloudy night, the moth trap was rather full, but the excellent variety on the walls was followed by a rather disappointing procession of the usual culprits on the egg cases.  New for the year/autumn were: Barred Rivulet, Old Lady, Canary-shouldered Thorn, Six-striped Rustic, Agonopterix arenella,  Ruby Tiger and Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet.  The more notable species included Bordered Beauty, 5 Dingy Footman, Grass Emerald, Slender Pug, 2 Golden-rod Pug, and 2 Dingy Shears.  Straw Underwing was the most common species at 28, with the high trap entrance, as usual, rationing the Large Yellow Underwing catch, with just 16 of them!

One for sorrow, two for joy

A couple of mobile phone pics this morning followed by a juvenile Willow Warbler taken by Janet at Ocean Edge.  Note the distance between the tip of the under tail coverts and the tail tip in the Wood and Willow Warblers as well as the more obvious stuff 

Heysham Obs

A bit of ringing training using two nets next to the office hoping for some tits and Greenfinches didnt go as planned.  Quite a few migrant warbler species ended up in the nets and they were highlighted by a Wood Warbler - an excellent record for the BTO challenge list amongst other things.  A juvenile Magpie extended the learning curve for the ringing trainee and then amazingly, after 46 years of trying, I managed to extract two Magpies from mist nets on the same morning as another juvenile was caught as the nets were being taken down!

Red Nab/outfalls
Arctic tern - juv
juvenile Arctic or Common Tern - one perched on Red Nab at an 'awkward angle' at high tide, perhaps the above but looked a bit too 'ginger'
Med Gull - adult
Whimbrel - 2

Moths
Dun Bar & Least Yellow Underwing new for the year, Straw Underwing topping the bill at 34 and Southern Wainscot best of the rest

They dont think its all over

Heysham Obs
.......referring to the Grasshopper Warbler breeding season.  There were FOUR singing males on Middleton NR this morning!  A short ringing session there was curtailed by gusty winds where, although the nets appeared to be alright for 60-70% of the time, the other 30% was unacceptable as regards the welfare of the birds.  So down came the nets after catching 5 new Sedge Warbler, 2 new Reed Warbler, one juv Reed Bunting, one juv Grasshopper Warbler, one juv Whitethroat and a Great Tit.  Other stuff:

Green Sandpiper - one Middleton appeared to land in the central marsh briefly before disappearing
Swift - 10 south
Arctic Tern - juvenile outfalls
Med Gull - adult in almost winter plumage Red Nab
Common Sandpiper - at least one Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Whimbrel - one Red Nab

Moths
Nothing of any great note but a further Dingy Footman

Should have been here yesterday

Heysham Obs
Middleton NR CES
The wind was a bit of a problem with one of the CES nets this morning and the catch was rather poor in relation to the number of birds around.  Yesterday would have been much better!   The catch included an unringed adult Grasshopper Warbler, probably a female without a brood patch anymore and implicitly a migrant, 7 Sedge Warbler, 2 each of Blackcap/Willow Warbler/Whitethroat, the first Reed Bunting for quite some time, a young Great Tit from Box 15 on the nearby Heysham NR and a single juvenile Song Thrush-public-relations-exercise

Vis Middleton NR
Racing Pigeon - huge flock of c75-80 SE
Swift - steady southerly passage of 41 birds
Sand Martin - 2 south
Meadow Pipit - very early high southbound migrant

Moths
Diamond-back Moth was the only capture of interest other than yet another Dingy Footman

Small Tortoiseshells back to form and Hummingbird Hawk-moth

Heysham Obs
Hummingbird Hawk-moth in the NE of the recording area in suburban Heysham at Mossgate park (per H Dickson via LDBWS insects)

Saw about 50 Small Tortoiseshell today, over the twice the number than in the last two years put together.  6 of these were on/around the emerging office buddleias (with 35 others up Roeburndale east).  On the down side there appears to have been a dramatic population crash of midges this year with none in the usual Roeburn/Hindburn hotspots, even after the monsoon.  Clegs, on the other hand have been very bad, with a mass synchronised emergence after the start of the rainy season, notably Middleton NR

CES Heysham office area
A much better morning for ringing, but no obvious migratory movements yet with the 30 or so birds largely reflecting a reasonably good breeding season including a small Long-tailed Tit flock.  The only summer migrants were 2 Whitethroat, 4 Willow Warbler and a Blackcap.  Unexpectedly, for this site, no new Lesser Whitethroat.  There were TWO Moorhen chicks wandering around the office this morning!

Med Gull - adult off Ocean Edge early am

Moths
Nothing dramatic other than a small black and white thing which might be new to science given absence of an obvious match on UK Moths!   Two Dingy Footman and the first Shuttle-shaped Dart of the second brood

First 'autumnal' Garden Warbler

Clouded Border moth at Heysham NR this evening. Thanks Janet

Heysham Obs
Useful when species do not breed anywhere near here as is the case with Garden Warbler - you can identify any movements over and above the local.  This was the first bird caught on an attempted Middleton CES, but the operation soon fell foul of a NE wind which started blowing the nets around to an unacceptable degree as regards the welfare of the birds.

Middleton NR very early morning
Garden Warbler - one ringed
Grasshopper Warbler - one singing regularly, another intermittently
Reed Warbler - 3 singing males
Kingfisher - heard once

Moths
A large catch devoid of really interesting macro captures, apart from four Dingy Footman and an (increasingly scarce) Garden Tiger.  However, the micros included a new species for Heysham: Argyresthia curvella and two scarce Heysham area specialities Phtheochroa inopiana and Coleophora trifolii

2441 influx & seabird array

Heysham Obs
Time to get a little geeky as the huge backlog of hut trap moth records are put on MapMate.  The easiest way is to remember the individual (Bradley and Fletcher)numbers, so 2441 refers to Silver Y, a migrant moth of which there was a small influx in the overnight torrential rain.  This sort of weather often produces a few migrant moths, especially if the wind is southwesterlyish

North wall early morning (Mike Baron)
Arctic Skua - dark morph chasing juv Common Gull (both quite early for here in 'autumn'
Sandwich tern - 1
Razorbill - one - scarce in July
Gannet - 1

Thanks for these Mike

Middleton NR
Kingfisher - hovering over the central marsh pond, caught something or other, then flew towards the fence pond
Reed Warbler - 3 singing males

Singing in the rain

Heysham Obs
Middleton NR
Singing male Grasshopper and Reed (2) Warblers

Moths
Drinker an appropriate new species for the year.  Just 13 Straw Underwing and 20 other moths in total

St. Swithin's day if thou dost rain..............................

..............for forty days it will remain

Heysham outfalls/Red Nab
Common Tern - adult
Arctic Tern - adult
Med Gull - adult
Dunlin - adult

Moth trap
Not too bad with Grass Emerald, Southern Wainscot, Dingy Shears and (scarce here) Rivulet highlighting & Straw Underwing & Large Yellow Underwing tying for the lead with 10 apiece