Only Canadas really

The wind was fresher today and from SW. Overnight rain held off during the day, occasional sunny spells.

Canada geese 52 minimum - Janet saw these 52 flying south over Middleton Nature Reserve this morning, a little later (10:30) they had either turned round or a second large flock was heard over Heysham Village heading north.

52 Canada geese bringing this year's moult migration total to 143

Heysham skear - low water 13:00 (MD)

I didn't have much time today, it doesn't take long to check the skear on these neap tides. I wasn't expecting much and wasn't disappointed, for a while it felt like doing a stocktake on Noah's Ark, just two of everything! Eventually I managed to scrape a few extra Eider to add to totals.

Eider just 5 - 2 + 2 male and 1 female - the female flew off south these shots show some plumage detail.

Female Eider

Great Crested grebe 2

Little Egret 2

Curlew 2

Even the Oystercatcher weren't as abundant as typical but still c750.

Similar numbers of Herring gulls. The seed mussels are still forming, but are becoming increasing difficult to extract from in between the larger mussels. They prefer to be in shallow water, presumably to help remove any mud. Watch the bird with the weed, it ends up with a mussel, probably more by luck than sound tactics. This size of mussel is what I think is just about their size limit for eating whole.

I'll hopefully have more time tomorrow.

Insect day, but not as insectity as it could have been.

Light wind starting from east but moving to west by mid morning, then back east by evening. Mainly sunny during the day, but overcast by late evening.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Janet took these shots this morning, all day flying moths.

Cinnabar moth

Silver Y moth

Burnet Companion moth

South shore (MD)

Rock Pipits minimum 7. I checked twice, in the morning there was one on Red Nab plus Two along the sea wall. There were at least 4 around the lighthouse area, but there were several visitors walking around, so it wasn't really possible to sort them out. 

In the evening I didn't see any on Red Nab, but they were everywhere from No.1 outflow, around the roundhead and as far as the waterfall (taking advantage of the gut of insects coming in off).

There were four feeding on the sloping wall near the lighthouse with the male standing guard. I took the four to be the female, two young birds and the long staying lame bird. This is the male standing guard.

The male, preferring to stand on one leg as the right foot is causing him problems 
But he still stands proud 

The young birds were feeding themselves, as it was easy pickings, but they took a rest. These are the two that I thought were the young ones (MD). If they are both young, they must both be from the lighthouse nest, I can't see the male tolerating one from another brood.

There was an adult with a young bird on the sea wall between No.1 outflow and the roundhead. There was also an adult with a young bird between lighthouse and waterfall, but I couldn't rule out them being the same two, or even if they were two from the roundhead sloping wall. But I didn't think so.

This is the adult along the inner harbour wall, it looks stressed, presumably as it didn't know where the young bird was. It flies off as soon as it hears it.

So, at least 5 birds around the roundhead, probably 7, possibly 9.

There are four local factors that attract insects in off the sea at the roundhead:

temperature - it was warm enough today. 

time of day - they need time to arrive from wherever they are coming from

wind direction - ideally an east wind or at least a wind with some east in it

tide - if the above three conditions are met insects will be drawn in off the sea, but if the tide is in, they can come in anywhere. When the tide is out, the roundhead is the only point where they can come in directly from the sea onto land.

Today was a frustrating mixture of mistimed factors!

The wind was from the east early morning, so I had a look at 10:30 to give any insects time to arrive. Unfortunately the wind swung towards the west just as I arrived, but there had been some movement and I just caught the end of of it.

Painted Lady plus Common Blue butterfly on Red Nab.

Another Painted Lady, 7 Common Blue and 2 "small" whites heading inland from the roundhead.

Painted Lady

The wind was forecast to shift back to the east by mid afternoon, but it stubbornly refused to move! I went back at 18:00, the tide was in and the wind still from the west, albeit a light wind. It started to shift to the north, then NE at 18:15, when a trickle of butterflies started coming in off (there were probably lots more but stretched all along the wall as the tide was in).

Painted Lady 4

Also seen on scrub near lighthouse 

Common Blue 2

Silver Y moth 2 - this one feeding on sea campion 

Although there were only a few butterflies and no dragonflies seen. There was all sorts of insects coming in, mainly small flies/beetles - hence the focused Rock Pipits. This Crane fly came in off and rested briefly on the sea wall. I think it is a Tiger Crane Fly (MD). The reference books say it's a common species. It's only the second one I've ever seen so they can't be that common locally.

Looks to be a Tiger Crane fly
Unfortunately resting with its wings over its body, hiding its black back markings

A bit warmer

North to NE light wind, mainly overcast with a hazy sun occasionally visible through the clouds.

First a Canada Goose moult migration record that almost fell through the net.

Canada Geese 5 north from Heysham Head 28th March, which makes this the first record for this year's migration - Thanks to David Kaye

Middleton Nature Reserve 

The Bee Orchids are out here too, joining the Spotted and Purple. This shot by Janet.

Bee Orchid 

I had a walk around this afternoon, it was warmer, I thought there might be a few insects around. And so it proved......just a few insects! (MD)

Mute Swan 2 adult 8 cygnet 

Coot 8 adult plus at least 3 chicks

Moorhen 3

Gadwall 1 male on Tim Butler pond

Mallard 4 male plus this female on the main pond with 9 young chicks - she's giving them a good work out!

Little grebe just one adult seen and another heard.

The warblers were more vocal today, but I didn't hear a Lesser Whitethroat or Grasshopper warbler.

Cetti's warbler 2 (central and western marshes)

Common Whitethroat 3

Willow Warbler several

Chiffchaff 3

Blackcap 2

Sedge Warbler 3

Reed Warbler 1

This clip is a Reed Warbler, unfortunately not singing, you can see it has been ringed.

Reed Bunting 4 singing males

House Martin 1 and Swift 2 feeding over the main pond.

Butterflies:

Small Heath 8

Green-veined White 6 (4 confirmed, 2 presumed)

Speckled Wood 3

Orange Tip 1 male

Moths

Burnet Companion 

Cinnabar 

Cinnabar moth

Dragonflies:

Four-spotted Chaser 1

Broad-bodied Chaser 1 male

Male Broad-bodied Chaser

This is a Tree Bumblebee. They have colonised from the continent, the first record in the UK was only 2001. Now, they are everywhere!

Tree Bumblebee 

Freezing, not flaming, June!

A cold ENE wind, with no sunshine to warm the day. Some showers but thankfully, dry for most of the afternoon for Morecambe's street party along the promenade, but I bet they were cold!

Pete managed an accurate count of the gulls this morning:

865 immature herring gull, mainly 2cy

6 Great Crested Grebe 

2 Red Breasted Merganser  

The above on/around the skear

15 adult Black Headed Gulls on the outflows

Shag 2cy on wooden jetty

I also had a look on the skear at low water (MD).

I was back in full winter plumage, including woolly hat and fingerless mitts!

Apart from Pete's records there were:

Eider 44

Curlew 3

Whimbrel 1

Shag 1 - by this time resting on Conger rock with three cormorants, waiting for the tide to ebb a little further before feeding.

South Shore (MD)

Just an evening stroll along foreshore and sea wall.

Rock Pipits - none seen on the saltmarsh or Red Nab, but four near the lighthouse. But I could only find one juvenile. This is the female:

She is still feeding the youngster, but there were lots of small flies around so it was trying to catch its own supper:

Unfortunately, the Power Station was blowing off steam, otherwise you would have been able to hear the male trying to distract me in the above clip. This isn't the male, it is the lame bird that has been around all year. You can see its contorted foot as it scratches itself in this clip (wonder how it scratches its left side). But plenty of small flies this evening  making for easy pickings.

Linnet - a male standing guard next to the known nest site near the lighthouse. It saw off at least two other pairs.

Shag 1 2nd calendar year - showing well in the harbour.

2nd calendar year Shag 
All three of today's Shag records likely to have been this bird

In this clip an immature Great Black-Backed gull walks by. Not sure if it shows how slight shags are or how large Great Black-Backed gulls are:

One the way back through the Nature Park, this Blue Tit was having a bath in the rain.

More Canadas through

 A cool NE quite fresh wind. Warm in the frequent sunny spells

I didn't have much time today, just a quick check of:

Heysham skear  - low water 09:30 (MD)

Eider 36 - the additional females not present today

Great Crested Grebe 9

Red-breasted Merganser 2 (probably immature) males

Shag 1 feeding - presumed long staying 2nd calendar year bird

Little Egret 5

The only waders other than Oystercatcher were:

Curlew 5

Bar-Tailed Godwit 1

Bar-Tailed Godwit

Canada Geese:

c20 north 07:30 over Trumacar - thanks Joanne

c20 NE 12:30 over golf course - thanks Garry

Heysham Nature Reserve 

This was actually located last weekend by one of the young naturalists with the Family group day. It is a Water Ladybird, not generally uncommon, but I can't say that I've seen one before (MD). Thanks to Emma for the picture.

Water Ladybird - as the name suggests, normally found near water
This one was spotted (sorry about the pun!) from the wooden viewing platform 

Feeding day

East to NE lightish winds. Steady rain till early afternoon then fortunately clearing up and becoming sunny in time for the many Jubilee events this afternoon and evening.

Just my stuff so far (MD) 

I made the mistake of trying the south shore after the rain had stopped. But, of course, all the dog walkers and all the holiday makers had the same idea. I just checked the foreshore, the only thing of note was a Common Whitethroat taking food to the nest near the slipway.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Fortunately, this was virtually visitor free.

Mute Swan 2 adult plus 8 cygnets on main pond

Moorhen 3

Coot 5 adult feeding 3 young - the young are larger now.

Mallard 6 male and a female with a single small chick on the main pond

Little grebe 4 adult, but I only saw one chick. In this clip the adult catches a small fish, but makes sure it is stunned before trusting the chick with it. You can see the bubbles the feeding adult is making.

This adult is having a spruce up. They seem so buoyant you wonder how they manage to dive so effectively.

There weren't many warblers singing and the ones that were, somewhat subdued. The following heard in order of abundance:

Willow Warbler 

Chiffchaff 

Blackcap 

Common Whitethroat 2

Lesser Whitethroat 1

Sedge Warbler 1

This Common Whitethroat was also taking food to the nest

Buzzard 2 hanging on the east wind like Kestrels over the eastern open field.

Common Buzzard

Kestrel 1 male, also hanging on the east wind like a Kestrel. The two smudges in the background are the Buzzards.

Male Kestrel 

Insects, not a lot around despite it being quite warm in the sun.

The only butterfly seen was a very faded Green-veined White male.

Common Cardinal beetle 

There were plenty of damselflies around, but the only dragonfly seen was this immature Four-spotted Chaser

First record of a Four-spotted Chaser this year

Eider take to dabbling

Very light breezes again moving around the compass, but mainly east in morning and west in afternoon, calm by evening. Sunny in the morning, then largely overcast, with heavy shower late evening.

Heysham skear (MD)

Canada goose 6 + 4 north

Canada geese single file, low and silent - easily missed.

This clip is the 4, it is just to show how low they were , if I hadn't have seen them first, I wouldn't have known what the dark wings were appearing over the sandbar.

N.B. Pete has started a thread on the LDBWS website to try and capture all this year's Canada Goose moult migration. If you see any in or out of the Observatory recording area please either let me or Pete know, or add to the LDBWS thread - thanks

Greylag Goose 2 north - nether low or silent!

Greylag Geese 

Eider 54 - a marked increase of late and the additional birds mainly female. My first thought was young families, but I thought, and Pete confirmed that it is too early. So either failed or non breeding birds.

The ratio of male to female birds was completely reversed. This male suddenly finds himself surrounded by 10 females.

This small group were dabbling for gutweed, can't say I've seen them do that before.

Gutweed here is an easy option, some of it is 1m long and will float just below the
surface when the tide is slack (how the Brent would love it!)

Great Crested Grebe 6

Red-breasted Merganser 3

Little Egret 3 

Heron 2

Shag 1 feeding

The only waders this morning were the Oystercatchers plus single Dunlin and Ringed Plover

I had a very brief check again this evening as the inner skear was becoming exposed.

Sanderling 7 - 5 came in off and joined 2 already feeding

South Shore (KE)

Canada goose 30 south over the lighthouse - although flying out they will likely be northward bound (MD)

Near the harbour entrance:

Female Linnet collecting nest material.

Rock Pipit displaying distraction behaviour near the nest.

I found this lovely patch of Bee Orchids in the landscaped garden, near the pond. I hope they don't get picked!

Bee Orchids 

Middleton Nature Reserve (JP)

Two Heron on main pond

Little grebe with chicks on main pond

Burnet Companion moths numerous 

Burnet Companion moth

June wader fest (sort of)

The light wind was again quite variable, but basically started NNE and ended WNW. Sunny in morning and evening but overcast in between.

Just my checks of Heysham Skear so far (MD)

Morning low water 07:45 - I went down at 08:45 and walked the tide in.

Eider 17

Great Crested Grebe 5

Red-breasted Merganser 5

Little Egret 9 plus 1 Heron

Ringed Plover 8 on inner skear

Dunlin 7 - one with the Ringed Plover plus six "together"

Dunlin and Ringed Plover

I said the other six were "together". The inverted commas signify, not quite together, there were six in the same location, but one definitely wanted to be alone!

This clip starts with the individual Dunlin, but the quickly rising tide was pushing the five closer to it. Two Dunlin start to swim towards it then seem to recognise it and shoot off!

One of the other birds did join it briefly 

But was politely asked to "go away"

I tend to forget just how flexible the long billed waders bill tips actually are (MD)

Time to leave

Curlew 1

Sanderling 13 (10+3)

Knot 1 - this distant clip shows the Knot with some of the Sanderling 

The significance of this clip is that by this time the tide was quite well in, these birds were no more than 200m from the fishing platform. They would not have been visible from there at this time as the bank beyond them was quite steep, but I'm sure thy would have been viewable from the platform by about 10:45. There is another chance tomorrow c11:15.

It was a lovely evening, and I couldn't resist another look, this time on the ebbing tide.

Sanderling 21 - possibly including some of this morning's birds, but the mix was totally different 4,2,1,1,2,1,4,1,1,1,3.

Sanderling looking splendid in the evening sun

Curlew 4

Whimbrel 2 - you can hear them calling in this clip.

So, with the Oystercatchers a total of 7 wader species, not bad for June.

This Peregrine was trying to reduce the wader number this evening, but went back with empty talons.

Hobby and Canada Goose moult migration begins

The lightish winds swung round from NE in morning to NW by evening. Some heavy showers and sunny spells.

Hobby - adult low over Heysham Skear 0715 then climbed NW - thanks to David Kaye for this record

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Little grebe - Janet spotted an adult with two chicks on the main pond, she could only managed some distant shots as she was exercising a dog.

Adult Little Grebe (Dabchick)

Dabchick chicks

Rock Pipits - I went to check how the Near Naze and Half Moon birds are doing. The answer is, I'm not sure! (MD)

Near Naze - just one bird seen feeding, I saw it fly to a potential nest site, but couldn't see if it was carrying food.

Half Moon Bay - two birds feeding among the rocks near the cafe slipway. Both headed off over the sloping wall towards the industrial buildings, but again I failed to see if they were carrying food, but I suspect they were.

No sign of any birds near the rocks on the north edge of Half Moon Bay

House Sparrows rarely get a mention, largely as there are not huge numbers within the recording 
area, but there are colonies on both sides of Half Moon Bay. Newly fledged birds abound.

Canada Goose - 36 flew north low over the old heliport. The first record this year of their northward moult migration. No risk of not hearing these birds!

Heysham skear - low water 19:20 (MD)

As yesterday I went down 2 hours before low water, fortunately this coincided with a heavy shower ending.

Eider 13

Great Crested Grebe 5

Red-breasted Merganser 3 (pair plus a female) - this is the lone female, having a stretch, she flew off to the north not long after this.

Little Egret 9 plus Heron 1 - all shrimping again

Curlew 2

Whimbrel 1

Sanderling 20 - still in individual groups (7, 2 and 5 along north side. 4 and 2 along the south side). 

Birds under foot........well........almost

NNW to W winds. Mainly overcast with some showers.

Report from Pete:

Seacheck heysham north wall 1005-1105: 

2cy Shag (later on Wooden Jetty)

5 Sandwich Tern (including two late unexpected bloggers on the yellow buoys)

2 Guillemot

1 very distant Gannet

Heysham Head (MD)

I just went down to check how the rock Pipits are doing. Only one pair found, below the high cliffs. I say found, but if you go down there the male finds you and gives you a good peeping at (I'm assuming male based on the behaviour seen by the lighthouse pair (MD)). He came within 3 metres of me and didn't stop calling till I moved away, although he didn't seem overly stressed, plenty of time for the odd scratch. He was so close that I had to zoom out to get him in frame.

Meanwhile the (assumed) female was waiting with a bill full of food. But she wouldn't fly to the young while I was watching. You can hear the male still peeping at me in this clip.

I looked away and then back, but she was gone, fortunately I saw her fly back down from the cliff tops. So either the young are still in the nest or perched atop the cliffs. I didn't want to disturb them any longer so left, the male ignored me as soon I started walking away.

I'll check out the Half Moon Bay and Near Naze birds tomorrow.

Heysham skear - low water 18:50 (MD)

Eider 6

Great Crested Grebe 5

Little Egret 3

Dunlin 4

Sanderling 34 - small groups 1 - 7 birds were making their way along the northern edge, they must have been working their way along the southern edge too as a large feeding group was forming on the western edge (as far as they could go). I paddled out beyond the western edge and watched as the feeding group grew and came closer to me. Initially it was raining, but fortunately it stopped and the sun came out briefly.

This in flight shot was before the sun came out.

Sanderling, there was quite a range of plumages, this was one of the less rufous ones

As the feeding group, now 32, passed me they came within 4m, the sun came out, allowing some better shots than I normally manage.

Quite rufous Sanderling 

Less rufous Sanderling 

Sanderling and Dunlin feeding

They were managing to catch shrimps, but perhaps some a little too large for them. This bird has a lively shrimp, but it appears to be pinched by the second bird, which also seems to let it go.

This clip shows where they were on the skear

As the tided ebbed further they started moving further west, these are some passing me. 

I didn't try to follow them but walked back along the south side, two more single birds past me heading west. I was really disappointed that you can't hear them calling in any of the clips. Their calls were very clear in real time and the breeze was behind me, I was sure my camera would pick them up. Still, a very nice experience.