Plenty of jets! and Stonechat breeding confirmed.

A bright start, but prolonged heavy rain from late morning to mid afternoon. A lighter west wind eased to almost nothing by this evening.

Heysham skear (Malcolm)

I went down as the tide was covering the skear this morning.

Eider 4

Red-breasted Merganser 1 male

Red-breasted Merganser

Little Egret 3

Swallow 1 in/off

The only waders were 1200 Oystercatcher that left the skear, plus a few hundred more that flew over from further north.

Gulls c600 mainly Herring Gulls

Gulls lined up along the waterline, some were heading off all the time

Then a precession of fighter jets began passing over. At least seven passes,
but possibly not seven different planes if they were flying a large fast circle.

Needless to say, they hastened the gulls departure 

Some shots from Janet as she exercised a dog this morning 

One of two Pheasants on Middleton Nature Reserve 

Moorhen with chicks on the dog walk path pond

Marsh Orchid on Middleton Nature Reserve 

Imperial Rd (Malcolm)

A 30 minutes spell after lunch, mercifully the rain stopped after 10 minutes.

Song Thrush 3 singing

Song Thrush, singing in the rain

Mistle Thrush 1 feeding

Blackbird several

Stock Dove 1 south

Wood Pigeon several

Swallow at least 3 feeding

Grey Heron 1

Grey Heron left as the rain was easing and headed SE

Little Egret 2 over to NW

As soon as the rain stopped a Blue Tit and a Reed Bunting began stripping the Reedmace seed heads. Not for nest material and they weren't after the tiny seeds as they were quite aggressive. Presumably some invertebrates shelter within when it rains, and it had rained hard.

Reed Bunting

Reed Bunting with a metal ring

Blue Tit

Cetti's warbler 1 singing, this was from a new location on the west side of the marshes. So at least three territories here

Sedge warbler and Chiffchaffs singing

Common Whitethroat and a Lesser Whitethroat seen.

It was 15 minutes after the rain ended before I located a Stonechat, but when it showed it was again near where the wooden gate used to be. I managed these shots showing it holding a small grub then flying off with it. This confirms that they are feeding young.

Male Stonechat flying off with a small grub

Still some wind blown stuff

The wind wasn't quite as strong and more to SSW. Showers, some heavy.

Seawatch report - Clay Garland

Heysham 7:20 to 9:40 

5 Gannet

2 Razorbill/Guillemot

4 Red-throated Diver

c70 Canada geese 

Fulmar from Heysham Head - David Kaye

South shore (Malcolm)

A walk along the sea wall this afternoon at 2 hours ebb. Lots of feeding gulls but nothing of note.

You can tell there aren't many taking a walk along the sea wall when
the gulls choose to rest on it

Herring, Lesser Black-Backed, Common and Black-Headed gulls
feeding on No.2 outfall

2nd calendar year Common and Black Headed gulls

Rock Pipits 3 - saltmarsh, Red Nab and along the sea wall

And that was it!

We have received the history of the green ringed Cormorant that took to
resting at the end of No.2 outfall in April. Ringed as a nestling on Puffin Island
 23/06/24. It was then seen at Grimsargh Wetlands before moving to Alston
Reservoirs in September, then Brockholes Nature reserve in November. It was
last seen here 13/05/25. The scheme manager has asked if we can update him
with any further sightings as it helps them better understand site fidelity.
Please advise if you spot it.

Imperial rd (Malcolm)

Just a quick look on my way home.

Buzzard 1 flew to the copse

Stonechat 1 female

This is the scrub along the edge of the road, still close to where 
the wooden gate used to be

The wind provides

A very strong SW wind throughout the night continued all day. Some showers.

Seawatching:

Nick Godden from Stone Jetty 06:40 – 10:10

Canada goose 2
Eider 11
Common scoter 12
Long-tailed duck pair flew out, male in full breeding plumage
Red-breasted merganser 1m
Great crested grebe 1
Manx shearwater 36
Fulmar 3
Kittiwake 78
Gannet 24+
Razorbill 1
Auk sp 9
Arctic skua 2 together in 8.55 then out close inshore a bit later. 1 light and 1 dark morph
Skua sp group of 5 in 

Pete Crooks from North Harbour wall 07:55 - 10:15:

Gannet – 7 flew in distantly 7.55-9.59 am, 10 flew out 9.05-10.25 am

Fulmar – 4 flew out 8.10-9.33 am

Kittiwake – 12 (11 adults, 1 1st S) flew in at 8.14 am, 1 1st S flew out at 8.20 am, 20 (18 adults, 2 1st S) flew in then U-turned and flew back out at 8.25 am

Manx Shearwater 23 flew into the Bay distantly 8.35-8.58 am, 88 flew out of the Bay closer in 8.46-10.11 am

Also: 5 Common Scoter, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Auk sp.

The above two reports are part of more detailed posts on the LDBWS webpage.

https://lancasterbirdwatching.org.uk/sightings/

South sea wall (Janet)

Black-Headed gull

Herring gull

Black-Headed gull and Lesser Black-Backed gull

Female Eider battling the sea

Two more Eider heading towards Blackpool 

The survey boat, also battling the waves, inside the harbour!

Heysham Nature Reserve (Janet)

Male Common Blue

Female Common Blue

Large Skipper

Burnet Companion 

Large Red Damselfly and a Green Shieldbug

A nice enigmatic shot of Cuckoo spit

Rudd in the dipping pond

Imperial Rd (Malcolm)

A 20 minute visit mid morning moving no further than 25m from where the wooden gate used to be:

No Buzzard seen or heard

Sparrowhawk 1

Mistle Thrush 1 feeding

Song Thrush 1 singing.

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 flew to the copse

Sedge Warbler and Chiffchaff singing

Common Whitethroat 1 taking food to the nest

Stonechat 2 (female and male). Only one glimpse of the male but several of the female, but only briefly. Each time she was feeding then flying to the same area where presumably she was taking food to chicks.

The best vantage point is to sit on one of the rocks where the wooden gate was:

This is looking SW from the rock I was sat on. The circled area is
roughly were both birds were seen flying to.

Female Stonechat on one of the posts in the foreground of the above location shot

But she didn't stay anywhere for long

This Roebuck looks to be eating bramble leaves.

I had a another look in passing this evening 17:00. The roles were reversed the male Stonechat was the most active bird. This shot from my car, parked where the wooden gate used to be.

Male Stonechat. I was quite pleased as I had considered that this morning's
 Sparrowhawk may have been the reason that I only glimpsed the male once
this morning.

The sea is starting to stir interest

Heavy overnight rain then morning showers. Mainly overcast with a strong SW wind.

Seawatch report - Pete just 45 minutes 

1 immature Gannet

2 Manx Shearwater

1 very distant auk spp 

1 x 1st summer Mediterranean gull

1 adult common tern briefly on outfalls area

Imperial Rd (Malcolm)

I checked twice today 09:00 and 16:00 but failed to relocate yesterday's Stonechat.

Still, there was quite a lot going on.

Buzzard 1 seen on three occasions. Once this morning being mobbed by a gull as it flew east, then 10 minutes later, presumably the same bird returned to the copse with food.

Buzzard and gull

Possibly a young rabbit or squirrel with vegetation grabbed as well

This afternoon one was patrolling the wetland area hovering like a Kestrel in the strong SW wind. 

Greylag goose 2 over to the west 

Grey Heron 1

Song Thrush 1 singing

Swallow 2 feeding

Pheasant 3 males seen

Male Pheasant

Cetti's warbler 2 singing (one at each end of the road)

Sedge warbler 2 singing 3 feeding

Common Whitethroat 1 taking food to nest

Chiffchaff 1 singing

Male Greenfinch taking a break during a light shower,
also Chaffinch and Linnet seen/heard

A typical view of a female Roe Deer

Yellow Flag Irises looking splendid 

Heysham skear (Malcolm) 12:30 - 13:45

Eider 4

Red-breasted Merganser 1 male

Male Red Breasted Merganser

Great Crested Grebe 2 
Oystercatcher 800

Knot 10 in non breeding plumage flew southwest into the wind.

Knot

Gulls, initially there were only 50 and I was thinking that the changed conditions were providing other feeding opportunities, but numbers increased slowly and there were c500 by the time I left. No new ringed birds seen, but a previously seen Herring gull was spotted.

This Herring gull, ringed at Bowland in 2024, was seen a few days ago.
And that seems to be the trend. With the exception on one Herring gull that 
has been seen four times from 7/05 to 23/05, other ringed birds are either only
seen once, or two or three times over a short period, then not again. You have to
think that seed mussels form only part of a balanced diet.

A nice Stonechat surprise

A dry day but clouding over by evening, light rain began 20:00.

Heysham skear (Malcolm) 11:30 - 13:00

Eider 13

Red-breasted Merganser 1 male

Little Egret 1

Swallow 2 in/off

The only waders were 300 Oystercatcher 

Gulls at least 600 on and around the skear with more further out to sea. One new ringed Lesser Black-Backed was seen

Just read it before it was moved on from its perch.
Ringed as a nestling at Bowland 05/07/23. This is its first sighting 

I started a little earlier in the tide today and many gulls were still arriving from inland. Presumably from along the river Lune, as they will need to know the stage of the tide.

A Grey Seal has caught quite a large Flounder. Its messy feeding technique attracting many gulls.

Middleton Nature Reserve (Janet)

Five Greylag geese flying over the southern section of the reserve

Heron and Mute Swans, the cygnets hidden by the foliage 

Coot taking time out to preen

Robin below the feeders

Common Blue

Imperial Rd (Malcolm)

A very pleasant 30 minutes look around this evening. The wooden gate at the roundabout end has been removed, in just 25m from where the gate had been:

Cetti's warbler 1

Chiffchaff 1

Sedge Warbler 1

The above three singing.

Common Whitethroat taking large items of food to the nest.

Cranefly 

Caterpillar 

Stonechat 1 male feeding. They have bred previously in the recoding area, but not known for many years. I didn't see this one carrying food, but I will check again.

Stonechat