More dragonfly weather

Heysham Obs
Quick visit to the model boat pond & short walk by Malcolm on the IE

Middleton IE model boat pond
Red-veined Darter - 2 probably 3 males - one 'on territory' along the western edge, the other 1-2 wide-ranging over the rippled water
Black-tailed Skimmer - 3 males and ovipositing female
Emperor - five on other ponds
Small Heath - 5

Birds
2 singing male Grasshopper Warbler Middleton IE. Stay on the concrete roads, please.

Beasties
Grey Squirrel - one along Moneyclose lane near the traffic lights
Red-eared Terrapin - showing well on the model boat pond

Elsewhere
Couple of Quails in the area - worth trying to find your own I guess in upland hayfields as well as any cereal which still exists in this area

Creepy crawlies start to emerge

Thanks to Colin Adams for these excellent pictures.

Heysham Obs
Middleton IE
Coverage by Colin & Colin revealed a rather belated emergence of Black-tailed Skimmer & Emperor
Black-tailed Skimmer - 4 males, 2 females and 5 tenerals
Red-veined Darter - at least 2 males and one of these attempted to mate with a teneral Common Darter
Common Darter - 2+ teneral, 2 imm males
Emperor - 4-5 males
Large Skipper out

Moths

The first really decent moth night this year included the first Freyer's Pug for here, 2 Shaded Pug and the increasingly local Double Dart. Heart and Dart & Shoulder-striped Wainscot dominated

Harbour
Very unproductive early morning (dropping tide) birding saw just one Black Guillemot in the harbour mouth

Elsewhere
A couple of Quail just south of the recording area this afternoon - a good evening to check any cereal fields in the area - ARE there any?!

Arctic Tern now a "surprise"

Heysham Obs
The demise of the Lune colony has led to a dearth of Common/Arctic Terns after the spring passage has finished

Outfalls area
Arctic Tern 1 S2 outfall
Med Gull 2 adults + 3 2CY but not including the black hood/white forehead & crown bird. All between S1&2 or end S1 outfall.
Black Guillemot 1 harbour mouth

Where are they?

Heysham Obs
Maybe the recent Painted Lady/Clouded Yellow influx has given a false impression of high summer, when in fact we are still in early June, but to visit Middleton in temperatures hovering around 19C and NOT see Black-tailed Skimmer or Emperor dragonfly is very odd. The Black-tailed Skimmer crash is the most dramatic; maybe the Red-eared Terrapin has had a field day with the larvae, maybe the edge has become a bit overgrown, but perhaps more likely has been the "permanent" patrol of the favoured western edge by 12 Jackdaws plus a few Pied Wagtail scoffing emergent/teneral/torpid dragonflies. Emperors might just be a bit late

Ocean Edge/outfalls
Med Gull - adult summer and 2nd CY but very heat-hazy and difficult

Middleton IE assorted insects
Red-veined Darter - one mature male showing very well over the 'rippled' water in the eastern sector of the model boat pond 1115-1130hrs but not again by 1200hrs
Darter spp - a (very) teneral specimen by the fence pond
4-spotted Chaser - 85 counted on the new scrape, fence pond, no swimming pond but forgot to check the favoured central marsh!
Mother Shipton - 2 seen by Brian Hancock
Clouded Yellow - one flew west across the model boat pond at 1145ish hrs

Heysham NR moths
Shaded Pug - one in actinic in SD45E, one in the hut trap

Elsewhere
Hobby - secondhand report of a reliable observer seeing one at close range near Slyne flying in the general direction of Warton Crag mid-morning

Itsy bitsy coverage

.......all the work-related incoming calls were when I slipped out to check the gulls! I'm usually the only observer on Thursday.

North wall
Black Guillemot - not sure what is going on. One bird on the water & flew up to the hole twice "sticking its head in" then flying back down again. Definitely not feeding another bird therein. I suspect the second bird has gone but would obviously like to be proved wrong - if it hasnt gone, it is presumably sitting on an egg.
Great Black-backed Gull - still sitting on the nest on top of the old Fisher's building (some of the LBB and HG have tiny young but most also still sitting)
Manx Shearwater - flock of 3 across the mouth of the bay in 10 minutes seawatching.....before a phone call!
Gannet - 2 across the mouth

Ocean Edge/outfalls/Red Nab
Med Gull - adult summer (unringed) plus at least 2 x 2CY

Moths
Shaded Pug headed a reasonably varied catch as the wind (at last) stopped blowing into the trap window (always very poor catches during easterlies)

Elsewhere
Red Kite east over Salt Ayre tip at 1050hrs. Was this a missed "seen from" the Obs?! Great White Egret still in the Leighton main dyke as visible from the Griesdale Hide to 1045 at least but NNEW since (to 1600hrs)

Welcome pager messages!

Heysham Obs
North wall/outfalls/Ocean Edge
Med Gull - 3 x 2CY plus one adult summer off Ocean Edge
Little Gull - 1 x 2CY
Black Guillemot - one in harbour

Moths
Small Clouded Brindle in trap

Elsewhere
Great White Egret Leighton Moss Lower hide area. (2 x Grey Scalloped-bar trapped on Trough (of Bowland) road last night - first in Lancs since 2004 and new for SD65. Just the sort of species which could be flushed by moorland birders, especially in rocky areas or areas of recent heather burn).

Gulls take a nosedive

Heysham Obs
........sileage cutting?

Ocean Edge/Red Nab incoming tide
Black-headed Gull - 280 only
Common Gull - 137
Little Gull - 1 2CY
Med Gull - 2 2cY (including the distinctive 'red-billed' bird)
Gannet - one distant 'across the mouth' - no systematic seawatching

North harbour wall 0930-1030

Black Guillemot 1 on wooden jetty

Med Gull 2cy black hood apart from crown & forehead

Painted Lady 1

Moths
Mother Shipton found after 'two minutes' by visiting entomologist today near the office!

Elsewhere
2CY Hobby near Furnessford bridge late afternoon

Black Guillemot pair visit the hole in the jetty!

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall/outfalls
Black Guillemot - Obvious pair of adults visiting the hole on the wooden jetty. All previous female records have been 2CY (i.e. pre-breeding age)
Med Gull - TWO adults and at least one 2CY but check made a little too late in tide cycle

Insects
First Emperor of the year for Middleton plus just one Bk T Skimmer in very marginal conditions

Elsewhere
NNEW on waders on EM Pool (even by 1145hrs)!

TWO Black Guillemot!

Heysham Obs
........and we havent checked that area for three days.

Coastal areas
Black Guillemot - male trying to call a second bird of unknown sex, but almost certainly an adult, on to the 'nest' site on the wooden jetty
Med Gull - probably the same three 2CY as yesterday plus what appeared to be an additional bird. Also adult in the afternoon
Little Gull - 2CY
Common Tern - 2-3

Moths
A Mother Shipton twitcher finally found one after a few hours in breezy cool conditions (northern end of nature reserve)!

Elsewhere
Red Kite over Dolphinholme area heading for Harris End Fell mid morning. Uncertain whether same bird as in Roeburndale East as upperwings, therefore wing-tag presence, not discernable. Temminck's Stint and mobile Pectoral Sandpiper on the Eric Morecambe Pool this late afternoon/evening

More gull grilling

Heysham Obs
Yesterday was amazing. Entered the office from the great outdoors about 12oohrs, but did not leave until 1600hrs. The temperature difference reminded me of the same time last year boarding a plane at Oslo and disembarking into an icy blast at Kirkenes. The current air is surely from similar arctic climes. Today it was simply 'cool' and the lack of heathaze very welcome

Red Nab/outfalls/Ocean Edge foreshore
Med Gull - a careful look revealed 3 x 2CY: one with a 'basic 1st W' mask, one with an extensive black covering the mask area & the sides of the head but neither joining round the rear nor extending on to the crown and the 'virtually black-headed' bird seen previously (but the most difficult to pick out today). The middle one of these three had quite a red bill for a 2CY and not a bird I had previously seen. None of them were ringed
Black-headed Gull - 1,540 - amazing for so early in June and 95% 2CY
Common Gull - 226, including the adult summer
NO tern species at all - very sad as it reflects the demise of the Lune colony

Presume the Bk Guille still in residence but havent checked that side. has anyone else?

Elsewhere
Osprey lingering Leighton Moss