Perhaps no longer such a great sighting, but still a great sight!

A dry sunny day with a west wind.

South shore ((Malcolm) 09:00 - 10:30

Migrant Hawker 1 zipped past me on its way inland at the saltmarsh 

Rock Pipit just one seen today, on Red Nab

Linnet 6 - 3 each saltmarsh and Red Nab

There were no gulls feeding on the outfalls, no sign of the Little gull, and more surprising no Mediterranean gulls seen

Osprey 1 turned up to fish out from the outfalls at 10:00. Only a few years ago an Osprey sighting here was something special, now they are almost becoming predictable. Still great to watch them fish though. This attempt failed

It wasn't long before it caught a Bass. It then flew to the south

A Meadow Brown flew along the sea wall and this Common Blue was resting on the wall.

Female Common Blue

There were 10 species of butterflies along a 75m stretch from beyond the small anemometer to the white barrier

Large White 5

Small White 1

Common Blue 2

Meadow Brown 3

Red Admiral 5

Gatekeeper 1

Peacock 1

Speckled Wood 3

Small Tortoiseshell 1

Brimstone 1 male

Brimstone - easy to see on the Buddleia......

........but not so easy to see on the Evening Primrose

Small Tortoiseshell 

Peacock

Large White

Red Admiral and Large White

I popped back again this evening to check the gulls on Red Nab and the shore out from the saltmarsh.

400+ Black-Headed gulls plus Herring, Lesser Black-Backed and Common, but still no Mediterranean gull.

Wheatear 1 on the saltmarsh 

This is a sawfly caterpillar on the Nature Park fence.
Probably a Common Pine Sawfly

Med numbers very low

A morning shower, then sunny for a while, before dark clouds began to roll in. Very light variable breeze till lunchtime then a freshening NW wind.

Heysham skear (Malcolm) 09:00 - 10:30

It was very tranquil out there this morning (tranquil being as good a euphemism as any for "not much happening"!)

Some of the c250 large gulls, mainly Herring gulls, still finding seed mussels

This regular was the only ringed bird seen. It is eating a seed mussel

Little Egret 8

Red-breasted Merganser 1 female type

Great Crested grebe 3

Oystercatcher 500

Curlew 45

Redshank 60

Turnstone 40

Turnstone 

As I was leaving the NW wind was just starting, and darker clouds
were rolling in

Middleton Nature Reserve (Janet)

No Hawkers or Copper Tipped Longhorn moths seen

The two young cormorants have taken a liking to the main pond

Male Common Darter

Green-Veined White

Gatekeepers were everywhere 

Common Blue

Brown China-mark moth - Straw Dot moth also seen

Once again, Janet managed to capture a sequence of a confrontation. Today between a Sawfly sp and a Gatekeeper 

A knapweed worth fighting for

South shore 

Andrew Cornall: Little Gull preening on the sand between the old wooden jetty and Number 1 outfall, after a short fishing session.

Malcolm 13:30 - 14:30

By this time the clouds were darker and had rolled further

Linnet 11. 9 on the saltmarsh and 2 on the foreshore 

Two Linnet on the foreshore 

Wheatear 1 on the Red Nab end of the foreshore before flying to Red Nab

Wheatear 

Rock Pipit 8 - 1 on the foreshore 1 plus 4 together on Red Nab, 1 by No.1 outfall and 1 near the lighthouse.

Rock Pipit

All four of the group together had a bath in the freshwater runoff

There were no gulls feeding on the outfalls. No sign of the Little Gull

Mediterranean gulls just 2 adults seen. This time last year there were typically 40+ Meds around 

One of two Whimbrel 

Grey Heron

Starlings feeding on black ants in the scrub near the lighthouse 

They were like this for a few minutes before heading back to the brambles near the waterfall. But, they weren't really feeding on the ants, they were rubbing them, or a secretion from them, along their feathers.

Grey Seal 2 feeding together at the seaward end of No.1 outfall.

There were 11+ Red Admirals in the Nature Park, despite it being overcast. Some may have come in earlier while it was calm and sunny.

Little Gull a little more obliging today

A dry day with sunny spells, a light NW wind

South shore

I checked first 09:30 - 10:30 (Malcolm) and was the only observer today not to see the Little Gull!

Whimbrel 1 near Red Nab

Whimbrel, making short work of a shore crab

Linnet 22 flew inland from Red Nab, presumably they had been feeding on seeds in the strand line

Male Linnet

Rock Pipit 4 - 2 on Red Nab, 1 along the sea wall and 1 near the wooden jetty

Two Rock Pipits on Red Nab

Mediterranean gull 4 - 1 adult and 3 juvenile (more seen later)

Juvenile Mediterranean gull (left) and juvenile Black-Headed gull

Pete Crooks checked later in the morning 

I walked along the seawall from Red Nab to the Harbour:

1 2nd CY Little Gull on the beach between HS1 outfall and the wooden pier, then flew across to HS2 outfall. 

12 Mediterranean Gulls - 8 juveniles, 1 2nd CY, 1 3rd CY and 2 adults. 

Janet checked this afternoon

It was clear if these Little Egrets were bickering or bonding!

Either way it looks very elegant 

The Little Gull was feeding on No.1 outfall

2nd calendar year Little Gull

Cormorant 

Curlew 

I checked the shore in front of the saltmarsh this evening (Malcolm)

130 Black-Headed gulls and just 1 adult Mediterranean gull.

A few other gulls including Herring, Lesser Black-Backed and Common

Common Gulls

Whimbrel 2 constantly calling from the saltmarsh 

Whimbrel (left) and Curlew (right)