Meds in winter mode

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall to gate only
Med Gull - Czech-ringed adult & 2 x 2nd S on the railings
Black Guillemot - not looked for

Red Nab etc
Sandwich tern - two roosting on Ocean Edge saltmarsh
Med Gull - ad & 2nd S on outfalls
Kittiwake - ad & 1st S on outfalls
Little Gull - at least one 1st S reported

Moths
Reasonable catch included 2 Southern Wainscot, Golden Rod Pug, the first (5) Single-dotted Wave for the year. Other year ticks were Barred Rivulet & Willow Beauty, with the top species (24) Straw Underwing

Black-headed 1st summer Little Gull

Heysham Obs
A 1st summer moulting to 2nd winter Little Gull with a completely black head was rather unusual

Red Nab/outfalls
Med Gull - adult and (new in) a 1st summer moulting to 2nd W
Little Gull - 1st summer (se above) - not one of the two present recently
Kittiwake - adult and 1st summer
Whimbrel - 2

North harbour wall/harbour entrance
Med Gull - adult and 2nd S
Black Guillemot - on the sea and then sitting on wooden jetty to midday at least

Insects
The first autumnal Comma (2) on the reserve. Poor catch in the moth trap with Straw Underwing the commonest species (9)

Elsewhere
Osprey north over Fleece Inn at Dolphinholme at midday

Useless north-westerlies

Heysham Obs
A phone call "requesting" Storm Petrel today just prior to posting these records was responded to by a 'no chance, head for the Mersey mouth'. North-westerlies are useless here, not the least for being too cold for insects.

Outfalls/south harbour area on incoming tide
Med Gull - 2 adults, including Czech-ringed bird & one 2nd S
Arctic Tern - one adult
Kittiwake - adult and 1st S
Little Gull - one 2nd S
No obvious sign Black Guillemot

Middleton IE
Common Sandpiper

Insects
Two windblown Gatekeeper on the reserve and a handful of the usual dragonflies in sheltered locations at Middleton

Elsewhere
40 Sandwich Tern and 1st summer Little Gull on the mudflats at the Morecambe Battery pre-tide. Not there on the WeBS (kite surfers!). Adult Med Morecambe Broadway but not sure whether ringed. Ad Yellow-legged Gull still Lune estuary & three Spoonbill Leighton Moss in evening (hard to see, mainly in areas surrounded by reeds & no viewing point).

A few seabirds

Heysham Obs
A few seabirds this morning but observations started rather later than they perhaps should have done and the wind went too far to the NW by about 1145hrs, but a vigil 1400-1600 still produced some dribs and drabs which must surely have been lingering in the bay from the early-mid morning westerly

North harbour wall 1020-at least 1300 but intermittent (nothing in last hour), then 1400-1600
Storm Petrel - 2 birds at about 1025 - one distant, one at 'yellow buoy' range, flying steadily out. One out between 1400 and 1600hrs - near the 'yellow buoys'
Arctic Skua - dark morph rather distantly seen chasing gulls before (re) landing on the sea on two occasions. Rare here in July
Fulmar - 3 out
Manx Shearwater - 3 out (all after 1400hrs)
Golden Plover - one 'in' at 1416hrs - rare here
Gannet - two out
Sandwich Tern - 8 out
Black Guillemot - sat on sea below wooden jetty at least 1045hrs, later sat on jetty itself
Med. Gull - Ad & 2nd S patrolling north wall

Stage 2 outfall/Red Nab (combined observations from 3 observers)
Med. Gull - 2nd S and Ad roosting on Red Nab (not known whether these were subsequent NHW birds)
Whimbrel - one
Little Gull - 2 x 1st summer and a second summer which was new in
Kittiwake - 3 adult and 2 1st summer

Elsewhere
Ad Med Gull Morecambe HS playing field HT (sat down so not known whether ringed). 32 Sandwich Tern Teal Bay area, but predictably no 'proper' seabirds in the inner bay as the wind veered (other than single Common Scoter & Kittiwake from a lengthy JBP vigil). Juvenile Marsh Harrier mistnetted (and ringed) at Leighton Moss this morning during the Bearded Tit research programme!!!

Afternoon Storm Petrel and returning Med

Heysham Obs
15 minutes seawatching and a reasonably productive 10 minutes on Red Nab/Stage 2 outfall, then a Storm Petrel lingering in the shipping channel between the outfalls on the red buoy mid-afternoon, then definitive sightings of the Czech-ringed adult Med Gull following a boat into the harbour before lingering at the harbour mouth late afternoon

North harbour wall
Adult Med Gull in p.s.p. flew north along the seawall but then carried on towards Morecambe after telling an interested angler it was the returning Czech-ringed bird!! Late afternoon saw a f.s.p. adult Med with about 7 old primaries still to moult following a boat and this transpired to be the Czech-ringed wintering adult. It was accompanied by the usual NHW 2nd summer [which in itself was one of the two 2nd S on Red Nab in the am].
Sandwich Tern - one out was the sum total of offshore activity in the morning
Gannet - one out late afternoon

Stage 2 outfall/Red Nab in morning
Med Gull - 2 x 2nd summer
Little Gull - one x 1st summer moulting to 2nd W
Kittiwake - one adult
Whimbrel - at least one
Black-headed Gull - 732

Storm Petrel offshore mid afternoon between the outfalls and the red buoy for at least five minutes

Moths
Too many for the time available as this east-facing window-entrance trap comes into its own during cloudy, but fairly warm conditions with intermittent drizzle and westerly winds. New dross for the year comprised Snout and July Highflyer, also new for the year and scarce at this site was Double Square Spot and the quality year ticks comprised Toadflax Pug and Dingy Footman. The last species only colonised Heysham/VC60 in the last three years with the first record here, followed by at least one at Leighton Moss in 2007.

Elsewhere

Ad Med Gull Morecambe Broadway (NOT 36W returning = unringed). Ad Yelllow-legged Gull at yesterdays location on the Lune Estuary late afternoon with 2 moulting adult Sanderling with the Dunlin (c250) on the Sunderland mudflats (& 3 Whimbrel)

Bits and bobs on the sea

Heysham Obs
Seawatching during a weather front/trough giving moderate visibility pushed a few birds into the Bay.......but no Storm Petrel.

North harbour wall 0935-1020hrs
Manx Shearwater - 5 out together
Fulmar - one very distantly out
Kittiwake - 1st S on the sea
Med. Gull - 2nd S
Gannet - 3CY flew over the harbour in the morning, seemingly with fishing line around its head (per Lou)
No sign of Black Guillemot

Ocean Edge/Red Nab/Stage 2 outfall
Watching conditions difficult:
Med Gull - the other 2nd S on Red Nab - beware - this bird could be mistaken for adult at long range
Kittiwake - adult
Sandwich Tern - two adults roosting on Ocean Edge saltmarsh at high tide

Moth trap
The recurrent theme of low numbers of common species, but a reasonable species range including Dingy Shears, Dot Moth and True Lover's Knot (2) new for the year as was Paraswammerdamia lutarea.

Elsewhere
Ad Yellow-legged Gull in Lune channel just downstream from Glasson this afternoon (Fylde side)

Birding improves as the weather deteriorates

Heysham Obs
Red Nab/north harbour wall am
It took 45 minutes of intensive birding (i.e. not reading the paper whilst "seawatching") to register anything worth mentioning this morning and the sum total 0815-0905hrs was:

Whimbrel - one Red Nab
Med. Gull - 2nd S Red Nab

There was absolutely nothing on the sea, despite a mod/fresh wind and incoming tide and this is currently contrasting sharply with Walney (& presumably the Blackpool open sea coast?). Poor visibility/intermittent squalls needed to disorientate 'standard' seabirds into the Bay at this time of year, or, in the case of multiple Storm Petrel, Heysham One outfall being back in action!

North harbour wall early pm
Following a couple of squalls, a Storm Petrel was slowly making its way out of the bay, just beyond the yellow buoys at 1410hrs - unfortunately lost it in the fairly rough sea as had to move car. Also 2nd S Med Gull just offshore

North harbour wall/stage 2 outfall late afternoon
Storm Petrel - one appeared in the 'flat' foaming sea left by the Seacat turning round the end of the wooden jetty, then probably followed it out
Med Gull - 2 moulting 2nd S birds on the outfalls together
Arctic Tern - adult on the outfalls
Kittiwake - adult on the outfalls
Common Tern - adult flew out of the bay

Elsewhere
Pristine Old Lady moth in home trap at High Tatham. Spoonbill still at Leighton Moss last night at least (elusive because it/they are frequenting pools surrounded by reeds), 3 Little Egret today on Allen/EM Pools. Adult and 2nd S Yellow-legged Gulls at Glasson

Storm Petrel at last

Heysham Obs
Ocean Edge/Red Nab/outfalls
Storm Petrel - feeding near red No 6 buoy off the outfalls for c10 minutes then lost behind an incoming boat 1020-1030ish
Gannet - 2 out, 1 in
Fulmar - 1 out
Med Gull - 2nd S on outfalls
Little Gull - 1st S Red Nab

Moths
A nice muggy warm sector night, with the trap window sheltered from the fresh wind, produced a good catch including: Southern Wainscot, Latticed Heath, 2 Silver Y, 5 Straw Underwing and the first Drinker, Lesser Yellow Underwing, Chinese Character and Yellowtail for the year. Micros included Paraswammerdamia albicapitella!

Elsewhere
Osprey and Hobby seen again at Leighton Moss

Routine coastal coverage highlighted by Greenshank

Heysham Obs
The high tide roost at Red Nab & the north harbour wall area were covered with a 20 minute seawatch from the latter.

Ocean Edge foreshore/Red Nab/Stage 2 outfall
Med Gull - ad with fsp head still, 2nd S with 'speckled' head
Little Gull - 1st S
Whimbrel - 1
Greenshank - one adult - not common here!
Car - one in sea off Ocean Edge (occupants ok)

North harbour wall
Med Gull - 2nd S moulting to adult winter - head moult more 'uniform' than Red Nab bird, 'fading' to greyish without the 'speckling'
No sign of Black Guillemot
Gannet - 2 out

Moths
Grass Emerald was new for the year in the moth trap

Elsewhere
Spoonbill and three Little Egret Leighton Moss/EM Pools respectively. Adult Yellow-legged Gull by the Golden Ball with Herring and LBB Gulls c1830hrs.

A few day-flying insects at last on a Sunday!

Heysham Obs
No reports from the coastal sites other than 2nd S Med Gull off the north harbour wall. Ringing efforts at Heysham (CES) and Middleton were stunningly unremarkable in the stronger-than-forecasted wind, other than the capture of three juvenile Bullfinch, an uncommon breeding species at the SW edge of its mid/north Lancs range (note Fylde status). The weather forecast for this (and the following week) is awful but there may be a chance to connect at last with Storm Petrel with westerly sector 15-20mph winds to the fore.

Middleton IE
In apparent 'vis mig' mode were three early Meadow Pipit and two early alba Wagtail. No perceptible hirundine passage but a Sand Martin at lunchtime was clearly not a local bird. Common Sandpiper and 2 Snipe also noted

Stock Dove
One flew over the model boat pond car park at lunchtime heading inland. This species is scarce in the Heysham area and the only chance to place it on the BTO/challenge list for British Energy properties is to record it along the strip of BE land running around the perimeter of the golf course and Middleton IE. See map in office. Could regulars please keep an eye open for this species which does not appear to be breeding on the IE this year. Thanks.

Insects
Plain Golden Y was new for the year in the moth trap. Single male Gatekeeper on the nature reserve. Dragonflies highlighted by Common Hawker on the nature reserve but Middleton IE was too windy - the fifth consecutive week the Sunday census has either been impossible or carried out in sub-optimal weather. I am pretty certain we wont see any more Red-veined Darter this year and suggest the colony has probably died out.

Elsewhere
TWO Yellow-legged Gull (Ad & 3CY) on the Lune at Glasson. Chough Warton Crag quarry late morning. Osprey Leighton Moss lunchtime & Hobby also there, showing from the "Osprey tree" layby late afternoon. Ad Med Gull Hest Bank roost (unringed). Four Ringlets on Thrushgill plantation "access" track by gate (first records for here) but no sign of any White-letter Hairstreak at the known site at Stairend