Low tide check of outfalls

Heysham Obs
Swathes of moulting Black-headed Gulls do bring fleeting recollections of a Catherine Tate remark before common sense and scientific endeavour takes over and you 'go through them'

Red Nab/Ocean Edge
Black-headed Gull - c1,250
Med. Gull - the first juv of the autumn plus 2 adult
Little Gull - one 1st summer moulting to 2nd W
Sandwich tern - 2

HN Reserve
6 contact-calling Willow Warbler at about 0900 by the office

Moths
A rather late check of the hut trap produced the first second brood Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet and (I think) the first Carcina quercana of the year!

Elsewhere
A huge moth trap catch at Millhouses, nr Wray included TWO (male and female) Four-spotted Footman. Nearby two Spotted Flycatcher around the High Tatham moth trap. It is looking increasingly like Med Gull 36W (a returning adult frequenting north Morecambe) has lost its darvic ring (Ad Med behaving in the same way with just a metal ring) - see MHS playing field area today

Bits and bobs

Heysham Obs
Middleton IE
A few migrant Sedge and Willow Warbler plus at least one Reed Warbler. Common Sandpiper heard. Plenty of Emperor dragonflies plus 2 Brown Hawker

Moth trap
Burnished Brass and Timothy Tortrix new for the year and the first autumn brood Shuttle-shaped Dart appeared (3). Local species comprised: Grass Emerald, Common White Wave (barely annual here), Slender Pug, Phyticodes binaevella and two more Dingy Footman. One migrant: a Silver Y.

Elsewhere
Nothing yet

Crossbill surprise & Willow Warblers trickle through

Heysham Obs
"Dog-walk" pond (half way along Heysham BE land 'landscape strip' running to OE from the reserve)
Ad male Common Crossbill drinking water mid-pm (thanks Paul)

Heysham NR
The CES ringing revealed a trickle of Willow Warblers but very little else around - the dearth of Whitethroats around the office was noticeable. We usually have trouble with this species in the moth trap at this time of year but not at all in 2008 - surely very poor productivity from what appeared to be an 'average' breeding population.

Middleton IE
Ringing saw a few Willow and Sedge Warblers with a couple of Whitethroat. Two singing male Grasshopper Warbler and c5 Meadow Pipit and under 20 Swift (anyone else had trouble using the 'less than' symbol, citing incomplete HTML?)

Outfalls area
Sandwich Tern - c6
Med Gull - Czech-ringed Ad & 2nd Summer
Little Gull - Ad & 1st S
Common Sandpiper - 2 by wooden jetty

Half-moon Bay
roosting Sandwich tern

Insects
Heysham Nature reserve: one 4-spotted Chaser, 1 Emperor, 1 Brown Hawker, 8 Common Darter the only dragonflies. Full butterfly survey comprised: 65 Meadow Brown, 19 Common Blue, 2 Small Tortoiseshell, 1 Small Copper, 10 Speckled Wood, 35 Small White, 15 Green-veined White, 1 Large White, 2 Peacock, 3 Holly Blue, 13 Gatekeeper, 1 Comma, 2 Small Heath. Painted Lady in nearby garden.
Middleton IE: 4 x 4-spotted Chaser, 14 Emperor, 4 Black-tailed Skimmer, one Brown Hawker, one Common Hawker and c30 Common Darter. Butterflies included one Red Admiral, one late Large Skipper, 12 Small Skipper
Moth trap: Fan-foot new for the year as was Small Phoenix!

Elsewhere
Two Spotted Flycatcher searching around the moth trap as I type this (High Tatham). Spoonbill & 3 Little Egret Leighton, 3 Little Egret Aldcliffe

Quick outfalls check & Middleton

Heysham Obs
Middleton IE
Kingfisher, Grasshopper Warbler and Reed Warbler were ringed but, once again, no Whitethroats, usually the mainstay of the ringing effort at this time. Another Reed Warbler was seen.

Outfalls
Sandwich tern - 2
Med Gull - ad
Anglers - 'hundreds'

Harbour mouth
Med Gull - ad
No Black Guillemot in careful search

Elsewhere
2 Ad Med Gull in evening roost at Teal Bay - one bearing a metal ring (is this P96 or 36W having lost the darvic ring?).

A few Meds

Heysham Obs
Red Nab/outfalls etc mid afternoon
Med Gull - 2 adult and one 1st summer moulting to 2nd W
Little Egret - OE saltmarsh channel

Elsewhere
Chough Warton Crag quarry late morning but not there late afternoon

Little Egret pays a visit

Heysham Obs
Red Nab/outfalls etc mid afternoon lowish tide
Little Egret - adult in the channel next to Red Nab
Whimbrel - 2

Middleton IE
Greenshank heard flying over
Swallow - c50 early morning

Butterflies
c8 Gatekeeper (at least) on reserve = those on transect & those noticed just outside transect

Elsewhere
Chough Warton Crag quarry mid afternoon

Ants, Swifts and a strange Golden Plover

Heysham Obs
The ants "reached" us this afternoon c/f complaints on the national media.

Red Nab/outfalls/north harbour wall to the gate
Med Gull: Czech adult on the north harbour wall & one 2nd S. 1st summer moulting to 2nd W, 2nd summer and adult on Red Nab
Whimbrel - 2 Red Nab

Middleton IE am
Golden Plover - Juvenile landed on the road between the western and central marshes and proceeded to feed for about 15 minutes before walking through the gate and then flying off!!!! As well as the bizarre occurence, this is a rare bird at Heysham with 1-2 records per year if you ignore distant 'seen froms' looking south from OE.
Reed Warbler - they DID breed (male not heard to sing) - female ringed last year trapped with large brood patch. Also two juveniles and another unringed adult which may or may not have been local.
Swift - c220 south, possibly more
Meadow Pipit - 5 really early migrants high to the south-east
Grasshopper Warbler - one still singing and two juveniles trapped and ringed, one a retrap from earlier in the month

Middleton IE pm
13 Little Grebe, including 3 new young. Singing Grasshopper Warbler. 30+ Swallow & a few Swift. Water Rail heard

Moths
Middleton IE was trapped last night with sheet/light for 1.5 hours and turned up good numbers of Double Lobed and Pinion-streaked Snout as well as a few Southern Wainscot, two Ebulea crocealis and a local scarcity in the form of Dark Spinach. The Heysham hut trap was again 'full' and records included 2 Bordered Beauty, 2 Dingy Footman and the first (and probably the last) Common White Wave of the year! The prolific 2nd brood of Early Thorn continued (15) with Double-striped Pug (16) the 'top' moth.

Elsewhere
Ad Yellow-legged Gull Lune Estuary

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).