An ill wind

An unexpected deviation in the wind direction, it started SSE, before swinging back SW by the evening. Heavy and prolonged showers in the morning, becoming less frequent, but still heavy.

The wind direction made it unlikely to blow anything in, and the heavy rain made visibility atrocious. Pete tried a check from Ocean Edge but couldn't see anything on the sea.

Mediterranean gulls 7

Whimbrel 2

Rock Pipit 3

The wind still looks good for tomorrow though.

Heysham skear - low water 18:10

After a heavy shower, it was actually sunny, shame there was little to see.

Great Crested Grebe 1

Eider 2

Low numbers of Curlew, Redshank and Turnstone. c1000 Oystercatcher 

Still high numbers of large gulls, mainly Herring.

Howard was also checking the sea, but nothing seen, so he "focused" on the Turnstone. c150 split between the old Heliport wall and the lighthouse area.

Summer plumage Turnstone
As ever with high definition images, best opened to appreciate the detail 

Turnstone shaking off the rain

I bumped into Howard as he was returning to his car, unfortunately he hadn't managed to shake off the rain, and was considerably wetter than the Turnstone. But he had enjoyed himself.

Finally just a couple of moths from earlier in the week. Neither rare, but but both attractive, and nice to see.

Udea lutealis on Middleton Nature Reserve Thursday - picture by Janet

This from Kevin's overnight light trap yesterday.

I had a rather lovely Drinker Moth this morning. Again, a fairly common moth, but it's somehow eluded me until now.

Drinker moth

Plenty of wind blown sea birds, plus Med numbers continue to increase

A fresh south wind quickly strengthened and shifted to SW, ending up being a strong wind. Heavy and prolonged showers in the morning became lighter and less frequent after lunch.

By lunchtime there was plenty of wind blown birds along the mid channel.

Pete checked just as the tide was starting to ebb.

At that time a number of birds were feeding in the mid channel, including:

Gannet 6

Manx Shearwater 1

Sandwich Tern 1

A distant bird was likely to have been a Fulmar

Tipped off by Pete, I checked from the lighthouse 13:30 - 14:30. By that time all the birds were all heading out. NB, these records are only what was spotted with binoculars, there could have been many more further out (MD)

Gannet 14 - from 2nd calendar year to adult

One of the immature Gannets

Immature Gannet next to juvenile Herring/LBB gull

This clip is an adult Gannet with two immature birds (I'm not good at ageing young Gannets).

Manx Shearwater 40 - this clip shows the largest group seen together. Not easy viewing as both the birds and myself were being buffeted, but at least 11 birds involved.

This flock of 30+ dark birds flew out. I could only think Common Scoter, but couldn't really see enough. Scoter are not a species that I am very familiar with, and the last time I thought distant birds were Common Scoter, they turned out to be Pink-Footed geese! These are not geese, but I'll let you decide on the species for yourselves. (MD)

Pete advises that it's looking good for some autumnal Seawatching over the next few days 

Mediterranean gulls 

Pete checked the shore and Red Nab after high water - minimum 19 Meds

Adult Sandwich Tern and a juvenile Mediterranean gull on Red Nab

I checked the beach near the jetty, just as the tide was exposing it. 26 - 19 adult/3cy, 3 x 2/3cy, 5 juvenile. This clip is just some of them, I know it's similar to yesterday's clip, but it is an impressive scene to witness.

 Shaun did a thorough check when the beach was fully exposed, just after low water

41 adult/3cy, 1 2cy and 3 juvs 

So the absolute minimum number of Meds seen today 49 - 41 adult/3cy, 3 x 2/3cy and 5 juvenile 

Saharan seascape

 The wind started from the east then freshened as it swung SE. Mainly overcast with a few light showers and occasional sun.

South shore

So far the only records today are from a couple of visits here by myself (MD)

Mid morning - approaching high water

Common Whitethroat - at least two female/immature near the small anemometer (not normally seen here)

Migrant Hawker 1 also around the small anemometer 

Little Egret - the bird with only one foot was waiting by the saltmarsh creek. I was hoping to see it fishing here on my return, but it had moved onto the saltmarsh by then. 

Whimbrel 2 came off the saltmarsh 

Curlew 52 feeding along waterline 

Rock Pipit 2 squabbling on the foreshore 

Mediterranean gulls 9 - 4 adult/3cy, 1 x 2cy and 4 juvenile - Roosting on the mud out from the saltmarsh. This clip shows three of the juveniles, just checking again, to make sure that a feather isn't food.

This is a unusual angle of the fourth juvenile Mediterranean gull.
Slightly more practical use of energy as it tries to catch a passing insect

Butterflies:

The wind was due east when I started, there was nothing on the Buddleia, the same three Green-Veined Whites as yesterday were near Red Nab, but nothing moving along the foreshore or on the saltmarsh, just one static Large White seen. But by my return the wind was SE and there were now several Large Whites and two Small Tortoiseshell  moving south along the eastern side of the saltmarsh.

Just another quick check in the afternoon as the beach near the wooden jetty became exposed.

The wind was still quite strong from the SE, the tide was out and it was still warm. But no sun and it was actually raining when I arrived at the lighthouse area, so no surprise that no insects were coming in off the sea again.

Whimbrel 3

Mediterranean gulls 18 - there were 12 adult on the beach (possibly some were moulted 3rd calendar year)  plus another between the outflows. 1 x 3cy (probably), 1 x 2cy plus 3 juvenile 

They arrived at the beach from both the north and south side. This clip is just as the mud became exposed, there are 9 Meds, including the flying bird, plus a Black-Headed gull. The two obviously immature birds are the first and last in the clip.

All the gulls were paddling again today, it seems that is the easiest way to catch sand mason worms this year. The worms are much smaller than the ones they catch when they are feeding on patches on the dry beach. I have always suspected that bounty is related to the breeding cycle of the sand mason worms, which will obviously only involve mature worms. This clip shows two of the juveniles feeding, the one at the back catches a worm at the start of the clip and makes a bit of a meal of eating it (pun intended today). The closer bird appears to catch something, but I am sure it is only the top of the worm's tube.

This faded Ringlet was near the newt pond, it's the first I've seen for a week or so, and I had assumed that they were done for the year.

Ringlet butterfly 

Not so many butterflies around the Buddleia,  c5 Peacock, plus low numbers of Meadow Brown and Common Blue.

The Migrant Hawker was still around the small anemometer, I managed a couple of shots this afternoon.

This in flight shot is just to show location, the tower behind is the tall anemometer
as seen from the small anemometer. Fortunately the hawker eventually settled

Not quite fully mature male Migrant Hawker.

We are just finishing a period of neap tides, so for almost a week the mud out from the saltmarsh has not been covered by the tide. The hot sun over the last few days has dried it out. So when the wind freshened from the SE this morning, it created a Saharan like sandstorm. Well, perhaps not Saharan like, particularly with the Power Stations in the background, but at least enough to disturb a few of the roosting gulls.

Purple Hairstreak confirmed

The west breeze continues but with a bit of south in it. Some clouds but mainly sunny.

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Purple Hairstreak - last year there were a couple of "probable" sightings, and there have been some unconfirmed repots this year, but yesterday Linda and Barbara had a definite sighting at 17:00. This is the most likely time of day, check out the oak trees on the northern side of the plateau.

Middleton Nature Reserve (Janet)

Good numbers of butterflies here too. Including this Painted Lady

Painted Lady 

These droppings were amongst the rocks by the main pond, Janet wasn't sure, and I can't be certain, but they do look like Otter spraints (MD).

Waterside droppings containing broken crayfish shells

South shore

Wheatear 1 on Ocean Edge foreshore 

Rock Pipit 1 on Red Nab

Mediterranean gulls 5 adult/3cy on the beach next to the wooden jetty.

Insects:

It was hot, the tide was out, ideal conditions for insects coming in off the sea near the lighthouse, if the breeze had been from the east. But the breeze was from the west. When you have a theory of insect movement based on wind direction, it is important to check both predictions. Today there should have been nothing coming in off, and that's exactly what I saw. The only butterflies were a couple of resident Common Blue.

But there was plenty of butterfly movements inshore. The Buddleia near the newt pond was again very busy, but the butterflies did seem to be moving through, particularly the Large White. 

All the butterflies seen yesterday were present again, plus:

Painted Lady 1

Brimstone 3 (all males)

Brimstone butterfly feeding on Ragwort 

But most of the feeding was on the Buddleia. The light reflecting off the surrounding foliage made the wings look pale green, showing their excellent camouflage effect, as a leaf.

At least 7 Large White passed quickly through in the 10 minutes I was watching. Once again, they were reluctant to rest with open wings (not good camouflage). This was as close as I got.

It was clear that a number of the butterflies were moving through, but it wasn't obvious which way, so I had a walk along the foreshore and saltmarsh to see if anything was coming in off.

There was a small group of, probably resident Green-Veined White near Red Nab, but nothing moving either way, there or along the foreshore. But there were plenty of butterflies around the saltmarsh:

Large White 5+

Peacock 1

Small White 7+

Small Tortoiseshell 4

They were feeding, but also gradually moving south as they did so. So presumably the general movement was south, probably along the coast line. This does fit with the element of south in the breeze at this time. (MD)

Finally a bit of news on the one legged Little Egret (see post 2/08/21) Kevin spotted it resting on Red Nab. It wasn't stained today, and Kevin's shot shows that the leg is severed just above the foot, and if it is the result of an accident, as opposed to a deformity, it has healed well (pun not intended, but it is a good one!). Red Nab would not be a good place for it to feed, as the technique here is generally to disturb the mud with one foot while standing on the other. But it will be fine in the ebbing drains around the skear, where they just have to stand and wait for the prey to swim past them. Hopefully I'll see it feeding one day when I'm down there.

Sand Martins heading south

A very light southerly breeze to start with, later freshened and moved to the west. Sunshine all day.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Ringing report from Alan:

Much as yesterday the conditions were far from ideal for ringing.  It seemed that most birds had moved on during the last two clear nights.  The catch was therefore rather low:

Grasshopper Warbler  1

Blackcap   3

Chaffinch  3

Willow Warbler   2 retrap

Lesser Whitethroat  2

Reed Bunting  1 retrap

Sedge Warbler  1

Song Thrush   1

Blackbird  1

South Shore (MD)

On these very low neap tides, high water doesn't get much higher than Red Nab, so I had a walk along the water line, nice walk, but little to see other than the large gulls, Oystercatcher and Curlew.

Holidaymakers disturbed the small roost of small gulls on Red Nab revealing:

Mediterranean gull 4 (3 adult and 1 3rd calendar year)

No sign of Wheatears or Rock Pipits today.

Sand Martin 3 flew south out from the saltmarsh - later a single bird flew south past my house.

There are large stands of Buddleia (butterfly bush) near the pond behind Red Nab. The flowers this year have been very impressive, but largely butterfly free! Today they were alive with butterflies.

Red Admiral 3

Peacock 10

Peacock butterfly 

Comma 7

Large White 2 - these were particularly frustrating. I find these second generation butterflies very striking, especially when seen against a large purple flower. Both the ones seen here did feed on the Buddleia, but they quickly moved on before I got a decent shot. The picture below is one of two that were on the saltmarsh.

Large White butterfly 

Meadow Brown 4

Meadow Brown

Small Tortoiseshell 5

Small Tortoiseshell 

Small Skipper 2

Also around the Buddleia, but not seen feeding on it.

Gatekeeper 5

Common Blue 3

Heysham skear (low water 14:50)

Another nice walk, but with little to see. Nothing on the sea except gulls and the odd cormorant.

Little Egret 7

Curlew numbers still low c20

Whimbrel 1

Plus the ever present Oystercatcher and a scattering of Redshank and Turnstone 

It has been a good year for moths turning up in gardens (I understand it has been a good year for moths generally). This Vapourer moth turned up in Janet's garden. It has to be a male, as the females are wingless.

Vapourer moth

There's always a vegetarian option!

Very light west wind early on freshened slightly as the day progressed. Mainly sunny.

First of all an apology. There were some items missed yesterday and observers, originally mixed up. This is mainly down to my recent email address change. Unfortunately most mail systems offer recent addresses as the first option, even if that address has been changed in contacts, perhaps I should have radically changed it, but it would take me years to remember a totally new address! My email address on the sidebar is correct, if you have anything to report. Yesterday's post has now been amended. Malcolm.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Ringing report from John:

Weather turned out differently than forecast, with it being clear and sunny quite early. Not the best conditions for ringing.

Sun on the nets early and many birds would have moved on during the night, taking advantage of the conditions.

Given this, a reasonable catch, which comprised:

Sedge Warblers x 7

Blackcaps x 3

Chiffchaffs x 2

Willow Warblers x 2

Whitethroats x 4

Grasshopper Warblers x 1

Lesser Whitethroat x 1

Cetti's Warbler x 1

Bullfinch x 3

Reed Bunting x 1

Bluetit x 1

Dunnock x 1

Of these the vast majority were young birds, and all but two were new birds.

Janet had a quick check in the morning and located two Canada geese on the main pond.

Canada geese

Unfortunately, the aggressive male Mute Swan was having none of it and eventually drove them off.

I had a look in the afternoon (MD)

Mute pair plus 9 cygnet (the Tim Butler pair not checked)

Gadwall 1 female with 3 young

No Mallard seen today?

Green Sandpiper 1 calling from the western scrape

Dragonflies:

Common Darter lots of mature males and females throughout the reserve

Mature male Common Darter

Emperor 6+

Black-Tailed Skimmer 2 males on main pond

Migrant Hawker 3

Brown Hawker 4+ This female is ovipositoring 

Butterflies included, in order of abundance:

Gatekeeper 

Meadow Brown

Small White (Alan pointed out that the bulk of the whites around the ringing area are Green-veined, so the likelihood is that some of the ones that I saw were too, either way they are about)

Common Blue 

Speckled Wood 

Comma 3

Large Skipper 2

Peacock 1

This young Sparrowhawk was trying to hunt. I'm saying it's a young, but only based on it crying like a baby, suppose it could be a soft adult (MD)

Sparrowhawk 

South shore mid morning 

Wheatear 2 on Ocean Edge foreshore - they seemed to be in association.

Female/immature Wheatear (MD)

The other bird was a youngster

Rock Pipits just 2 on Red Nab

Whimbrel 1

Mediterranean gull - just one seen on the feeding beach. It's difficult as they are moulting to be sure of the age of the younger birds. I couldn't decide if this one was a second or third calendar year bird.

But Pete advises - 3cy moulting the last of its primaries - quite a black tipped one .

Starlings don't often get a mention but the numbers in the harbour are growing. There were c200 feeding today

These on the water side of the wall were clearly after invertebrates, there are a couple of Linnet in this clip too. All are totally unfazed by a jackhammer!

There were as many feeding on the fence side of the wall, this is where the first vegetarian option comes in. These are feeding on blackberries. In the middle of the wall is a watering hole. Watch the bird front middle with the blackberry.

It's not clear if some only eat invertebrates and some only berries, or if they mix and match. But judging by the mounds of purple guano on the wall roost, some eat a lot of berries

This is evidence of another bird that has taken a vegetarian option. This gull pellet is 6cm x 3cm, so either Herring gull or Lesser-Black Backed gull. It is completely seeds and seed husks, most looking hardly digested. The gull must have been feeding in a wheat field as it was being harvested. I've never seen a totally vegetation gull pellet before.

This large gull pellet is completely vegetation.
The flies are not part of the pellet, they are just laying their eggs in it.

This final piece is a bit harrowing, so do not proceed if you are overly sensitive. There were a number of Little Egret flying around this morning (5 birds plus the three regulars). This one has lost half of one leg.

Little Egret with half a leg missing 

The wound looks clean, but I would have expected it to be the same colour as the leg if it was an old wound (only speculation, I have no knowledge of how egret wounds heal (MD)). Also it's tail was stained and possibly incomplete. The staining could be a direct result of the trauma or possibly just a consequence, i.e.not being able to stand correctly to defecate. I can't think of any natural event to cause this, at least not in this country. By natural, I mean not involving human activity. I suppose Egrets feeding in the rivers of Africa can be injured in this way, if grabbed by a crocodile. But my gut feeling is that it's more likely to be human related (farm machinery?) in this country. Hopefully it will manage ok. I have seen two legged Egrets feeding on just one leg.

Razorbill adds to the mix

The breeze swung around a bit this morning, but always a bit of north in it, ending up WNW. Ocercast but dry.

A ringing session on Middleton Nature Reserve this morning - records from Jean

Visible migration - Swift 5

Shaun and Jonathan managed a good session from the south shore

Mediterranean gulls 31 - 26 Ad/3rd cy + 5 juv Med Gulls Heysham Harbour outfall/pier area (1330)

Razorbill 2 in

Whimbrel 1 on Red Nab

Also on south shore

Linnet 22 on saltmarsh 

Rock Pipits 10. There were 6 together moving south along the foreshore, plus 2 x 2 along sea wall

A good Med count

West to WNW breeze regular light showers

First a correction from yesterday. There were two juvenile Meds on No.1 outflow, but on the clip I originally posted I'd actually followed a juvenile BHG. Not easy to check through the small camera viewfinder, but I should have realised before posting! I'm blaming an evening pub meal washed down with a few beers, before doing the post last night! Or it may just be incompetence. Either way I've changed the clip now. (MD)

Pete and Jean did a pincer movement to check the number of Meds around the south shore this afternoon. Pete checking from Red Nab and Jean at the feeding beach near the wooden jetty, coordinating by mobile to ensure there was no overlap. The interesting result being:

Mediterranean gulls 27.

Adult 14

3cy at least 2

2cy at least 4

2cy/3cy 2 partially obscured

Juveniles 5

The only ringed bird seen was this metal ringed adult
You can see the sand mason worms tubes, looking more prominent now.

Whimbrel at least  2

Grey seal 1

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Just a very brief check of the two main ponds found the wildfowl, pretty much unchanged

Mute pair + 9 cygnet

Coot 2

Moorhen 4

Mallard 9

Gadwall 1 female with 3 young

Grey Heron 1

Only minimal coverage

The wind was light and mainly from the north. Plenty of showers, but not particularly heavy.

South shore

I only had time for one short walk today, so I checked the beach next to the wooden jetty 3.5 hours before high water. No other reports so far (MD)

Common Whitethroat 3 female/immature together on Power Station southern perimeter fence.

Rock Pipit 5 - 3 on Red Nab, 2 on Ocean Edge foreshore 

Whimbrel 1 calling from Red Nab

Mediterranean gull 10 - 6 adult/3cy on beach near wooden jetty, also 1 x 2cy and 1 juvenile here. Also 2 juvenile on No.1 outflow.

This clip shows one of the juveniles (I inadvertently followed a young BHG on the original clip I posted here, should have spotted before I posted it though - sorry for any confusion MD)

This is a still of the juvenile Mediterranean gull from the above clip

This is a still from the original clip. The upper bird is one of juvenile meds,
but the lower one a juvenile BHG, unfortunately that's the one I followed! (MD)

I'm not sure what's happening with No.1 outflow. One minute there are lots of gulls feeding, although most are sitting on the water, then a few minutes later there is nothing feeding. There was no dredger activity in the harbour today. Perhaps the fish and shrimps being removed from the cooling water are periodically being fed back into the outflows. More observations required! This clip shows the feeding at it's height.

This is the same outflow 5 minutes later - empty!

Most of the meds were resting on the rocks on the western end of the beach, till moved towards the wall by the tide. No ringed birds today.

Most of the meds were resting on these rocks

This is the 2nd calendar year bird, scavenging Oystercatcher leftovers 

I wouldn't normally bother posting this, but it is a slow news day. This Marbled Beauty moth was sheltering from the rain on my back door this morning. Not an uncommon moth, but nice to see nether the less. It is an attractive moth.

Marbled Beauty 

Waifless and strayless

The strong WSW wind continued through the night and didn't start easing till lunchtime. Showers all day some very heavy.

There was a chance that the wind may have blown in some waifs and strays, and possibly it did, but none were seen/reported.

South shore,

Three quick checks today, trying to dodge the showers

Rock Pipits 5 - one on foreshore, two on Red Nab and two near the waterfall. One flew off leaving this one looking very much like a recent fledgling. So hopefully the waterfall pair have at least one young (it is thought the nest site is within the Fishers complex).

Probable fledging Rock Pipit (MD)

Whimbrel 3 - some seen/heard on each visit 3 was the highlight single sighting 

Mediterranean gull 6 - the beach next to wooden jetty had four adult including one with a white ring at low water. Four adult plus a juvenile arrived as the beach became exposed in the evening, no white ringed bird so at least 5 adult over the two checks. 

There are regularly two or three in the corner near the outflow, I had presumed that they were just resting, but in this clip the bird on the left catches a sand mason worm, it then defends its patch by seeing of the other adult when it came too close. The juvenile is also in this clip.

I can empathise with this clip, wading into the water, not looking where you are going, and falling into a drain - still, being able to fly off, as if nothing had happened, is an advantage.

The combination of hot and wet weather this year, has obviously suited the flora (mainly Unscented Mayweed, Ragwort and Dyers Rocket) along the top of the harbour wall. This stretch is usually mainly bare, with just a few tufts of vegetation. It's a shame there have not been more hot days with east wind to draw the insects in, these flowers would have undoubtedly both help attract and retain any. Still time for suitable opportunities.

A view from the waterfall looking back to the lighthouse 

The lighthouse looks pristine in the above shot, it is just being painted. Unfortunately the rain has curtailed activity.

A before and after view of the lighthouse