Insects and wanderers

The insects are making the most of the hot weather on Middleton nature reserve. Large numbers of dragonflies including: Emperor, 4-Spotted chasers, Broad bodied chasers and Black tailed skimmers. Plenty of butterflies too, including first Meadow brown (for me at least).

Birds on Middleton NR:
Canada goose - 3 on model boat pond all morning
Gadwall - 3 adult plus two lots of young chicks (5 & 11) "no swimming" pond
Mallard 2 female with chicks (2 mature & 8 young)
Little grebe, at least one feeding on "no swimming" pond
Just one pair of mute still with active nest, but the two failed pairs are still present.
Cetti's warblers 2 singing birds, "no swimming" pond and central marsh

Two additional mute swan feeding on Red Nab again today.

Two Pinkfoot south 9:00.
MD

Coastal bits and pieces

Sandwich Tern - 16 feeding in Kent channel region on dropping tide
Arctic Tern - one fishing slightly closer in than above
More diving white dots further out in the heat haze
Eider - couldn’t find a single one in scan from Knowlys
Shag - 2cy still on and around wooden jetty
Great crested Grebe - still one
Rock pipit no show

Jackdaw - two in sheep field - never seen them foraging on south side of head before!

Grey Seal - one between outfalls

MD and PM

Summer variety

Birds
Two sandwich tern in low tide channel off outfalls

Middleton NR
Dragonflies
Three black-tailed slimmer and four emperor

At least one Little grebe feeding on "no swimming" pond (pair feeding on main pond yesterday).
Cetti's warbler singing from central marsh.
2 Gadwall plus at least three chicks

Quiet period

Please could people post their own stuff this week.  I may be able to do a quick check of gulls one or two mornings but otherwise nothing from Jean or Pete this week.  Thanks.

Bits and bobs

Gadwall - female with 5 new young Middleton
Little Grebe - pair but behaviour suggests nest failure
Mallard with two large chicks

No coastal coverage but the seagulls should be building up now - await some Meds!

2nd June belated warblers

The only coverage today was a ringing session in our usual Middleton western marsh sites which was a bit of a revelation, with the absence of the Subalpine Warbler replaced by a perfectly acceptable Plan B

Eight new for year Sedge Warblers were caught (three with last year's rings) and all seemingly wandering males or females without brood patches.  Mid-month there was just one singing male Sedge Warbler in the trapping area!  Three unringed male Whitethroat were also caught, unringed Dunnock, Goldfinch, Blackbird and Robin, the 'ahhh' factor a baby Robin and the pain factor a Great-spotted Woodpecker

Two singing male Cetti's Warblers in the central marsh - one intermittent and the other sounding like it was unpaired

Subalpine Warbler spp

Can’t post much today but a female Subalpine Warbler was located by an experienced migrant searcher on Middleton NR just west of the western marsh at the bottom of the slope up to the higher ground

More stuff for today will be sorted tomorrow when I can get on main computer internet

Photography day

Birds
A few bits
Reed Warbler - three caught in the same net at Middleton NR could easily have included a late migrant or two
Sandwich Tern - between four and eight at various times off Heysham skeer this evening
Canada Goose - flock of 7 by Heysham skeer this evening

Insects etc at Middleton (thanks Janet)  I think the moth is Cochlymorpha straminea

Unpredictable mix!

Janet went to do some photography on the south harbour wall and came up with these. This Rock Pipit is clearly not a littoralis and is of the nominate form, perhaps a northern kleinschmidti, but in the absence of any suggestive measurements it could equally originate from more sedentary populations further south. Any opinions anyone, please?  It has been hanging around extremely elusively since the winter period.  Nearby were two Pink-feet, again not end of May candidates but perhaps injured

Thanks Janet

Coastal sightings today
Rock Pipit - south harbour mouth
Pink-footed Goose - two on sea by outfalls
Arctic Tern - short seawatch on turning tide saw 2+4 in
Sandwich Tern - 31 in/fishing on early turning tide
Gannet - subad floated in, flew out, then floated in again (injured?)
Great-crested Grebe - still 5 in summer plumage in inshore low tide channel
Sanderling - 3 OE tideline - slightly separate from flock below
Dunlin - 42 OE tideline
Ringed Plover - 18 OE tideline
Shag - 2CY wooden jetty
House Martin - one north
White butterflies - about 15 in-off/north!

Arctic Tern farewell performance? Stirrings on the outfalls

Sea early incoming tide
Arctic tern - flocks of 9+30 in, then five in the evening in the low tide channel
Sandwich Tern - c6
Swallow - 3
House Martin - 3
Mute Swan - 3 in
Shag - 2CY wooden jetty

Outfalls
At least 50 mixed Common/Black-headed Gulls from just a handful for the last few weeks

Middleton NR
Greylag - 2
Cetti's Warbler - 2 singing males
a few off-passage hirundines and swifts
Treble Bar moth (thanks|Janet):