The A Team Are Away

With the main contributors away in the freezing north of Norway for a week, apologies for what will be rather sparse reporting.

Heysham
The last two broods of Great tits in the nestboxes were ringed today.  Great Tits have done well this year with 9 successful broods.
Blue Tits have had a terrible year here with only one nest in a box.  A brood of 9 young were raised to the half-grown stage but were all found dead today.

Two Burnet Companion moths were seen along with a number of Common Blue butterflies on the plateau.

Middleton NR from Wednesday 31st May
Gadwall - 2 with 4 and 8 chicks
Cettis Warbler - Now 2 singing from NE and SW corners of No Swimming pond. Apparently was only one territory there previously but perhaps a second bird has taken part of the territory.

Dragonflies
At least 4 Red veined Darters on model boat pond.  A couple of examples of great shots taken by Stan Parrott reproduced here:

ajd

Three of note in quick visit

Heysham outfalls is an easy food source and can attract waifs and strays, notably coffin-dodging young Kittiwakes in winter gales.  This Arctic Tern appeared today and the anomolies may have impeded its migration.  Wheatear very late - a small female

Outfalls/Red Nab
Med Gull - at least one 2CY - didn't look like either of yesterdays with a lot of black on head
Arctic Tern - oddly plumaged adult-type

Wheatear - female OE foreshore

Two 2CY Meds

The cutting edge was a bit less blunt this am with 2 x 2CY Med Gulls on the outfalls in much better viewing conditions than yesterday

At least 5 singing Reed Warbler Middleton including one in SE corner of model boat pond

A Freyers Pug graced the moth trap but not a lot else

Grey Seal off outfalls

Fox ran across Moneyclose lane

Lots of common seagulls

Couldn't pull anything out of the bag on the outfalls this morning:

Sandwich Tern - 1 out
Gannet - 2 casually noted flying out

Late afternoon sunshine saw one male Red-veined Darter being seen in the SW corner of Middleton model boat pond and 'with' it a probable female (per Dave)

Broad-barred White in the moth trap

Grey Seal offshore and Weasel Middleton NR

A day of unsynchronised seasons

Stop press: three prob four male red veined darter over the water on model boat pond this afternoon also one male black tailed skimmer


ust out of the area - a Large Heath was photographed on Heysham Moss in one of the few areas not affected by the recent fire devastation........but why is it out a month early?

Mediterranean Gull - A 3Cy male was displaying to an adult female on the mudflats next to Heysham two outfalls - very early for this age class on ??autumnal dispersal and they should surely have already found a room in a BHG colony?

The third record of note was a flock of 17 Canada Goose adults floating in on the tide.  What on earth are they doing?

Nothing else of note on the outfalls but BHG were 700+ all seemed to be 2CY.  Watch this space! 

Outfalls bonanza

Things are really kicking off on the outfalls now the outage has produced a full flow.  A shortish visit on the incoming tide saw up to 450 Black-headed Gulls (all wandering 2CYs with obvious implications re-similarly wandering rares), 50-70 2CY Common Gull, lots of large gulls and some other odds and ends - see below:

Common Tern - at last!!  Adult seaward end Heysham one briefly (with one of the Arctics), then flew around the jetty into the bay
Arctic Tern - Ad with the above and another remaining on the inner end of Heysham one throughout
Little Gull - 2CY briefly seaward end Heysham 2 then couldn't find it - may have flown with BHG towards Middleton
Swallow - 2 in-off

Re-security and telescopes etc at Red Nab and along the seawall by the outfalls.   You will/may be paid a visit by security staff and will be expected to give full details - obviously something like a driving licence with you will help.  So no change, but assume more regular patrols - there are no restrictions unless eg some idiot tries to photograph through the power station fence.  In this respect you will be on camera at all times.  The harbour police are responsible for the north harbour wall and area and the same situation as above applies   

Too many moths

Tried to mix early morning coverage with moth traps today.  No chance !

A belated check of red nab and the outfalls saw nothing of interest with the gulls but a sanderling was on the beach and a late whimbrel on red nab

Insects included 15 b b chaser on middleton and three on the nature park ponds.   Three burnet companion heysham nr and silver ys at both reserves.

Yesterday evening saw five shaded pig at dusk on middleton at a hotspot for this species

Wednesday fare

Arctic Skua - dm in 0834
Gannet -8 imms sauntering around the bay
Auk - one in
Sandwich tern - 2 out

Gulls
Massive influx of 2cy black headed to outfalls -c300 but nowt with them

Sanderling day

Not too bad a seawatch this morning given the lack of any substantial wind or showers (as per promise a week ago!)

Sea 0715-0830
Arctic Skua - light morph flew in heading NE, then turned and circled up and headed "over Barrow" - not seen this migration strategy before (but regular with Kittiwake)
Red-throated Diver - 1 in distantly and a close 2CY out
Razorbill - I in very close (nearly 'under' the scope!)
Guillemot - 1 in
Razorbill/Guillemot - 6 in
Kittiwake - single adult out
Sandwich tern - just the one - in
Common Scoter - flock of c25 in
Gannet - 17 in and a few distant 'outs' presumed same
Sanderling - flock of 19 out

Outfalls/Red Nab
Sanderling - at least 40 amongst a mixed flock/tideline scattering of c350 small waders, mostly with 'pale bellies', therefore this or RP, mostly too distant to see in the heathaze.  Went round to Potts Corner but could not relocate them on the incoming tide
Black-headed Gull - 55 - an increase - mostly 2CY
Common Gull - 35 2CY
Med Gull - a 'masky' 2CY new in - quite a bright orange dark-tipped bill

End of spring season feel

Having said that tomorrows seawatching might be a bit better in the SW winds. 

Sea for about 30 minutes
Sandwich tern - 3 blogging
Gannet - one out
Turnstone - 129 on wooden jetty

Nothing at all of note around the other side with only 15 Common and 5 Black-headed Gulls accompanying small numbers of big gulls

No waders other than Oystercatcher and 5 Curlew on Red Nab/along tideline

White-shouldered House Moth in trap