Heysham outfalls & Red Nab

Heysham Obs
Mediterranean gull 2 1st S (both had full tail bars, different to 1st S on the 2/6)
Kittiwake adult
Arctic tern 2
Red-brested merganser female
Ringed plover 3 Red Nab + 1 non-op land & 1 on Helipad
Black-headed gull juv still present

Elsewhere
A good little trip to Fair Isle took a new dimension today with a big 'wow' factor as a glance at a Purple Sand on the tideline revealed a bobbing tail on a nearby bird otherwise rather well-camouflaged against the shingle beach.........a TEREK! Usual headless chicken response helped when the first person encountered said 'shall I phone the obs' in a manner suggesting a regular routine! Orange mobiles dont work here.

Pete

Heysham outfalls

Mediterranean gull 2 first summer
Arctic tern 4
Common tern 2
Black-headed gull c300 + 1 juv
Common gull min.50
Shag juv on wooden jetty

Moths
Figure of Eighty was the most unusual moth. Heart and Dart and Shoulder-striped Wainscot (the latter now a UK Priority species) were the most abundant (30+ of each).

first definite Red-veined Darter of the year & new moth species

Lime Hawkmoth - new, but overdue species, for the reserve.

Chamomile Shark - not new for the reserve but a more unusual species.

An Eyed Hawkmoth unfortunately got away before a photo could be taken of it!

Elsewhere

Middleton Industrial Estate:

Red-veined Darter at Middleton Industrial Estate Model Boat Pond. Another located elsewhere on the site as well.

6 spot Burnet moths and Narrow-bordered 5 spot Burnet moths, newly emerged. Thousands at Middleton.

Masses of Common Blue Damselflies

Gangs of Bee Orchids

Leighton Moss: Spooonbill at Eric Morecambe Pool.

Fair Isle: River Warbler located by Mark Breaks as he was extracting a Red Admiral butterfly from the catching box of a Heligoland Trap. The bird flew into a nearby mist net whence it was also seen by the ''blogmaster"(on Fair Isle)........................along with Lesser Grey Shrike, 3-4 Red-backed Shrike, Common Rosefinch, Iceland Gull & a pod of Killer Whale

Heysham obs
1 Kittiwake on the outfalls and 3 further out.
2 Sandwich Tern also on the outfalls.

Dragonflies
Middleton IE
RED-VEINED DARTER - 3 mature males and two tenerals on model boat pond. NO suitable weather to check since!
Black-tailed Skimmer - 27 male & 7 female
Emperor - 17 male, 5 female
4-spotted Chaser - 73

BE properties
Emperor - one on reserve, 3 on dog pond (inc ovi. female)
4-spotted Chaser - 7 on reserve, 11 on dog pond (no sign Broad-bodied Chaser)

Elsewhere

Cheating a bit as this photo was taken at Caerlaverock, but it's the same bird:

WHITE TAILED PLOVER on the Eric Morecambe Pool at 5pm. Chased off by a Redshank at 6pm and flew fairly high north. Appeared to drop in height but then was out of view - possibly dropped onto main Leighton Moss reserve. A search commenced but negative so far.

Wood Warbler still at Tower Lodge.

The sound of silence

Heysham Obs
Kittiwake on the outfalls.
Elsewhere
No news from the rest of the area!

Tiny migrant moth

Heysham Obs
The smallest contribution of the year concerned a single example of the migrant Diamond-back Moth in the hut trap - the first of the year.

Bird coverage involved checking out a Ringed Plover nest (4 eggs) on the BE properties

Elsewhere
Spoonbill Leighton Moss and Wood Warbler Tower Lodge. Long-tailed Duck & Egyptian Goose Halforth, Kent Estuary

Autumnal gulls!

Satin Wave - thanks Reuben

Heysham Obs
The gull numbers are starting to build up on the outfalls with c340 Black-headed Gull, including several adults. First summer Common Gull numbered about 40. With them:

Med Gull: 1st S and 1st W on tideline off Red Nab
Common Tern - one on outfalls

Middleton IE
A recently fledged Grasshopper Warbler clambering about in Ox-eye daisies!

Insects
New moths for the year in the hut trap included the local SATIN WAVE as well as Rivulet and Dusky Brocade. No sign of Broad-bodied Chaser in intermittent sunshire & checks of Middleton model boat pond coincided with cloud cover!

Elsewhere
Two Little Gull Leighton Moss. Two lots (of two?) young Long-eared Owls on Leck Fell but not showing this evening. View only from the road

Carbon footprint time

.....subtitled 'the ghost of 1975 laid to rest'. The White-tailed Plover leaves just three to go on the British wader list (Caspian & Mongolian Plovers, Cream-coloured Courser........assuming Eskimo Curlew is extinct)

Heysham Obs
No known coverage of the outfalls or wooden jetty area. Any day now should see the start of a build up of returning Black-headed Gulls and the early returnees always contain a good sprinkling of Med Gulls with several double-figure counts in the last two years by July

Insects
Female BROAD-BODIED CHASER Nature reserve marsh this lunchtime - this is the rarest of the resident dragonflies in this area with no well-established site as yet

Painted Lady on reserve - influx at present - please report all sightings

Yet another Shaded Pug in the moth trap

Elsewhere
Spoonbill and two 1st S Little Gulls at Leighton Moss. Male Broad-bodied Chaser at Woodwell

Disappointing dragonflies

Heysham Obs
The only bird records of note today were: a Reed Warbler singing for a short period in Middleton IE central marsh and the continued presence of 3 Jackdaw around the model boat pond. NNEW from the outfalls and area

Insects
Moths
Lime-speck Pug new for the year

Dragonflies
Four-spotted Chaser: c35 in Middleton IE new scrape with c20 on the remaider of the site. At least 5 on the Nature reserve/dog pond.
Emperor: 8 male and a single ovipositing female on Middleton IE and two males on the dog pond along with a single in the NR marsh
Black-tailed Skimmer: 4-5 male and one female in 'cop' on the model boat pond Middleton IE

No sign of any red darter spp or Broad-bodied Chaser

Plants
Several hundred Southern Marsh Orchid and several Bee Orchid at Middleton IE, a few Bee Orchid along the Landscape Strip dog-walk along with Yellow-wort

Elsewhere
Ad Med Gull feeding in pasture with BH Gull near Cross of Greet bridge at 2200 (!) hrs. Note that TWO highly unseasonal Long-tailed Duck were seen heading into Morecambe Bay from Walney early this morning

Inconclusive dragonfly vigil

Heysham Obs
No coastal birding today for a change!

A thorough breeding bird CBC-style census carried out on the Nature reserveand Landscape Strip highlighted by the first breeding Reed Bunting for a year or two on the reserve, at least one singing male Reed Warbler and two singing male Lesser Whitethroat in full voice again after a 'break'.

Insects
Butterflies
A disappointing by-product of the bird survey was once again the complete lack of Wall Brown which seems to have suddenly 'crashed' around here. A Red Admiral was in rapid transit north over the model boat pond

Dragonflies
A lunchtime vigil on the model boat pond on Middleton IE saw very unhelpful cloud managing to find the sun! Nevertheless a reasonable burst of sunshine saw 4-5 male Black-tailed Skimmer and an immature male RED DARTER spp which appeared to be Red-veined. Two Emperor were on the dog-walk pond and a 4-spotted Chaser had managed to find the '6 million dollar pond' in the Nature park.

Moths
Spectacle was new for the year in the trap as was a Mother Shipton seen by the model boat pond

Elsewhere
One adult and squeaking juvenile Long-eared Owl up Leck Fell - last plantation on left. Stay on road, please. Wood Warbler still singing at Tower Lodge.