A good day, but hot work!

A hot (29.7°C) sunny day. The light SE breeze held till mid afternoon then shifted to west.

Imperial Rd

Mark Jones checked at 08:00

Male stonechat briefly, near the bush to the left of the elderberry, seemed quite static on a post, also Cetti’s, sedge warbler, common whitethroat, Reed bunting, great spotted woodpecker, song thrush, wren and numerous swallows.

I checked at 15:45 (Malcolm). The same mix of birds as Mark, but the male Stonechat was finally joined by at least two juveniles.

Male and juvenile Stonechat 

I had despaired of ever seeing the young! Hopefully they will be 
more prominent for a while. And where is Mum?

Heysham Nature Reserve (Mark Jones)

Azure Blues

Ringlet

Speckled Wood

Song Thrush with food

Also, heard a little grebe in the reedbeds with moorhen, Reed bunting, sedge warbler, chifchaff, blackcap, long tailed tits (party of 20) common whitethroat, Jay causing havoc, carrion crow feeding youngster in a small conifer, song thrush feeding young.

Roe Deer droppings, looks like they have been eating cherries.
What a great starting opportunity for the cherry seeds.

South shore (Malcolm) 13:30 - 15:00

The east breeze was still blowing and there were quite a lot of butterflies in the Nature Park

Red Admiral 4

Red Admiral 

Painter Lady 2

Large White 1

Small White 3

Ringlet 4

So I was anticipating a number coming in off the sea as I walked along the sea wall. And there was a number, just not the number that I was expecting.....2....Red Admirals.

There must have been more coming in earlier as there were still plenty in the scrub between the lighthouse and waterfall, and quite a variety.

Red Admiral 4

Painted Lady 2

Painted Lady

Meadow Brown 1

Large White 1

Small White 6

Small White

Small Tortoiseshell 2

Silver Y 1

Not easy seeing the Silver Y on this dead leaf

There were more resident Six-spot Burnet, at least 80 (assuming they were all six-spot)

On the return along the sea wall a further 3 Red Admirals came in off.

Mediterranean gull 1 third calendar year, preening on the shore between the outfalls.

Mediterranean gull, top centre. With Black-Headed gulls

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Janet checked this morning 

If you look closely, this Common Whitethroat has a rat-tailed maggot

Emperor, also Black-Tailed Skimmers seen

Ringlet

Meadow Brown 

Six-spot Burnet

Mallard and Heron resting on the eastern bank

I checked the main pond at 15:15 (Malcolm)

Red-veined Dater 1 male. Originally flying over the main pond before settling were the Mute Swans rest on the western bank. Janet had checked this area this morning and didn't see it. Almost certainly recently arrived 

Red-veined Darter male

Also 1 Emperor, 5 Black-tailed Skimmers and a Common Darter.

Cetti's warbler 2, Chiffchaff 2, Blackcap 2, and Reed warbler 2 singing

Stock Dove 1

Some chose not to fly......others wished they hadn't!

A hot (26°C) sunny day. Very light breezes, from the east till 09:30 then switching to west then NW.

This young Blue Tit probably wishes that it hadn't flown. It ended up
stunning itself against Janet's window. It recovered after a rest

Heysham Head (Janet)

A morning walk 

Lots of singing Wrens

Singing adult Wren

Juvenile Wren

South shore (Malcolm) 12:30 - 14:00

I had hoped for some insect movement, but what little air movement there was, was from the west. There was a little butterfly movement, but the wrong way!

Small Tortoiseshell 3 and Comma 1 flew out into the breeze.

There were a few remnants from earlier inwards movement in the scrub between the lighthouse and waterfall.

Red Admiral 3

Painted Lady 1

Large White 1

Plus the resident 50+ Six-spot Burnet

Rock Pipit 2 (Red Nab and Lighthouse)

This is the Lighthouse Rock Pipit with a bill full of insects

Pied Wagtail also collecting insects

Osprey 1 - it was on top of the post at the end of No.2 outfall for the whole duration of my walk.

Osprey watching the Manxman come in

I assumed that it was either eating a fish or just a resting. But on closer inspection it was actually watching the sea trying to spot a fish. They normally do this on the wing. Perhaps it had already eaten and was just checking by instinct. At the end of this clip it stretches a leg revealing a blue ring.

There were lots of mainly large gulls on the outfalls, but they also were not flying over them, as they normally do, but floating down them then flying back when they had too. Presumably they prefer a breeze to fly against so that they can easily remain above the water.

Gulls floating down No.2 outfall, the Osprey on the post at the seaward end

The Black-Headed and Common gulls were just lounging on the beach

Juvenile Black-Headed gull

This is looking north from the lighthouse. It is low water, I am not normally here
at low water. I am often on the skear, and there it is. The thin dark line stretching 
the full width of the shot two thirds up the frame

Nature Park

One of at least three young Robins 

Ringlet 3

Red Admiral 1

Small Tortoiseshell 1

Small White 1

Large Skipper 3

Large Skipper

Imperial Rd (Malcolm)

Just a quick passing check

Stonechat 1 male in the same area as yesterday 

Stock Doves 2 south

Cetti's warbler, Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Sedge warbles singing and feeding.

Red Admiral 1

Green-Veined White 1

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

Just a check of the main pond to see if the early east wind had brought any interesting dragonflies in. If it did, I didn't see them.

Black-Tailed Skimmer 6 (5 male 1 female)

Emperor 2 males

Large White 1

Speckled Wood 3

Cetti's warbler 2, Chiffchaff 2, Reed warbler 1 all singing

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