Small gull numbers increasing

A warm sunny day with a light west wind.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Report by Alan:

Ringing at Middleton this morning produced a reasonable catch including some young birds this time. 19 birds caught comprised :

Cetti's Warbler  2 + 1 juv

Reed Warbler  2 + 1 juv + 1 retrap

Robin  1 juv

Blue tit  4 juv + 1 juv retrap 

Sedge Warbler 1 freshly fledged juv  + 1 retrap

Blackcap  1 juv

Blackbird  1

Chiffchaff  1 juv + 1 retrap

 

My small 6 watt Heath trap set overnight produced a decent catch of 43 moths of 20 species.

Heysham skear (Malcolm) 08:30 - 09:30

Red-breasted Merganser 1 female

Great Crested grebe 1

Little Egret 5

Grey Heron 1

Grey Heron

Oystercatcher 400

Curlew 7

Gulls, mainly Herring 300

Imperial Rd (Malcolm)

Just a quick check on the way home.

The Male Stonechat was around and feeding, but I didn't see him take food anywhere.

Male Stonechat

He returned to the above post several times, it is far right in this shot

Buzzard 1 and Kestrel 1

Buzzard and a Kestrel

Moorhen 1 calling

Sedge warbler 3

Reed Bunting 1

South shore

Kevin had a walk along the sea wall.......he wasn't alone

I counted 8 Cinnabar moth caterpillars along the wall today.
 I don't know where the nearest Ragwort is, or why they're attracted to the wall.

I checked out on the shore (Malcolm)

Curlew 95 along the waters edge out from Red Nab

Curlew

Black-Headed gulls c150 

Black-Headed gulls

First juvenile Black-Headed gull this year

Common gulls 35 mainly 2nd calendar year but a couple of adults 

Lesser Black-Backed, Common and  Black-Headed gulls,
 including a juvenile Black-Headed

This is where a raptor has plucked its kill - looks like a pigeon

These are the raptors prints, probably a Peregrine, but not seen one 
here since the small waders left

One of two Painted Lady around the saltmarsh.

Morning Med

Showers on and off all day. A SW wind.

Lengthy look at seaward end No.1 outfall eventually produced a 2cy Mediterranean Gull with partial hood  - Pete

Small Magpie moth on Janet's fence this morning

Middleton Nature Reserve (Janet)

These shots from yesterday, when the sun shone

Young Great Tit

Black-Tailed Skimmers

Damselfly, probably a Common Blue

Silver Y

This shot from today, when the rain fell

Common Toad

Imperial Rd (Malcolm)

Two quick passing checks located the Buzzard, but not the Stonechat 

Sedge warbler 

South shore (Malcolm) 14:30 - 16:00

As I was entering the Nature Park a lady advised that she had just seen a young fawn running around. I didn't manage to see it, which I was actually pleased about. It wants nothing to do with running around where dogs are regularly exercised. Presumably Mum had moved it to somewhere quieter.

The only gulls on the outfalls were Lesser Black-Backed, Herring and Common.

2nd calendar year Common Gull

There were 20+ Black-Headed with other gulls feeding on invertebrates as the tide covered the shore near the saltmarsh.  

This is a Cormorant flying across the Harbour at 15:00. Look how dark it is!

Rock Pipit 3 - 1 on Red Nab and 2 on the foreshore 

One of the foreshore Rock Pipits

Linnet 5 flew across the saltmarsh 

I'd seen two dead 2nd calendar year Herring gulls on Red Nab, and this 
Wood Pigeon on the edge of the saltmarsh refused to budge, I had to
walk around it. Do not handle any dead birds that you see, and keep dogs
safely out of the way

This is what I was referring to yesterday about the rocks below Heysham Head being "active". This shot of Janet's shows one of several areas that demonstrate the constant erosion of the cliffs. A reminder not to get too close, particularly after storms or heavy rain (Malcolm)

This large rock below the cliffs provides a history of the erosion of the cliffs.
The holes are formed as water almost constantly drips down from the cliff above.
Not all the holes form at once though, the one on the far right first. Cliffs erode 
in steps as sections are undermined and pieces slip down. As each section 
drops the water drips on a new area of the rock and, eventually, a new hole is formed.  

Just out of the recording area Heysham Moss Nature Reserve - Alison Haywood

Dead-nettle Leaf Beetle - Chrysolina fastuosa, though UK wide in it's distribution it is decidedly patchy. So this was a pleasing to find one on White Dead-nettle at the edge of the moss. Not many other sites nearby. 

Dead-nettle Leaf Beetle - Chrysolina fastuosa

Warm weather bringing out more insects

A warm sunny day with a light SW wind

Heysham Nature Reserve 

Kevin is recovering from tendon injury but managed a walk around this afternoon 

One of a small colony of Bee Orchids.

Dingy Shell moth

Painted Lady on the plateau 

Imperial Rd (Malcolm)

Buzzard and Stonechat not seen again

Grey Heron 1

Swift 1

Reed Bunting 2

Cetti's warbler 2 singing

Sedge warbler 2 singing plus 1 seen

Sedge warbler 

Chiffchaff 2 singing

Small Tortoiseshell 3

Silver Y 10+ - I have not seen any here before this summer, there must have been an emergence. 

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

A check of the main pond at 11:00

Mute Swan pair plus 7 cygnets 

Mallard 13 including the female with 2 almost full grown young.

Female Mallard with two large youngsters

Coot 5, including these 2. They look to be squaring up for a fight, but this is Coot courtship! 

Moorhen 2

Reed warbler 2

Cetti's warbler 2

Chiffchaff 1

All singing

Speckled Wood 2

Meadow Brown 1

Large Skipper 1

Common Darter 2

Common Darter 

Black-Tailed Skimmer 10

Black-Tailed Skimmer

Emperor 3 (2 males and a female). Unfortunately they were very active and I didn't see one settle.

This is the best inflight shot I managed - male Emperor

Below Heysham Head (Janet)

The Rock Pipits are still active - as are the rocks themselves.....
one for tomorrow 

Distant Osprey best of the day

A mainly dry day with just a couple of light showers. A SW wind.

Heysham skear (Malcolm). 09:00 - 10:15

Osprey 1 - I hadn't reached the inner skear when all the gulls on the outer skear lifted.

Gulls taking flight over the outer skear

For once I managed to locate the distant speck causing the clamour.

 

Highly zoomed and cropped Osprey. It was to the west of the skear heading south,
and must have continued as the gulls quickly settled.

It was heavy going today, the recent westerlies have been depositing mud over the mussels. So the mussels move higher to continue filter feeding. The upshot is thickening unconsolidated mud with a thin crust of mussels.

This is one of the better areas, it wasn't practical to stop at the worse ones.
You can see the mussels just showing through the mud. It isn't dangerous as
the stone surface isn't far below. But it makes for difficult walking.

The last time I was here this vista was black with mussels. They are still
there but partially covered in the mud from the last tide

No Eider seen

Red-breasted Merganser 6 - what seemed to be two pairs plus lone male and a lone female type.

Red-breasted Mergansers

Great Crested grebe 2 together 

Great crested grebes

Little Egret 4

Oystercatcher 300, but there would have been more on the outer skear

Curlew 9 at least

Gulls - at least 500 on the outer skear

Middleton Nature Reserve (Janet)

One of two House Martins

Speckled Wood

Silver Y

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnets

There is just a single Mullien caterpillar on the Mullien plant near Tim Butler 

Spotted Orchids sp

There is a Diamond-back moth on the bottom of the right hand bloom

Hare's foot Inkcap

Imperial Rd (Malcolm)

Just a quick evening check as a light shower was ending.

No Buzzard or Stonechat seen

Swift 1 and Swallow 3 adult 

Reed Buntings calling

The only warblers seen or heard were Chiffchaff and Sedge.

Sedge warbler a bit more subtle today

Little Egret 5 flew over together to NE

Little Egret