Missed most of the boat?

Heysham Obs
Jon's Pomarine Skua was just missed (flying out at the Stone Jetty at 0840hrs after circling around for a bit wondering what to do). It was a light morph with broken/half-grown blunt-ended tail projections - typical of late spring passage birds and presumably a "sub-adult". Quite a bit of stuff on the early dropping tide off Heysham but it was mostly rather distant "across the mouth" of the bay.

Seawatch 0900-1010hrs, mostly from Ocean Edge foreshore
Manx Shearwater - 27 out, including a straggling line of 18
Fulmar - 2 out
Gannet - 5 out (one 'flock')

Outfalls/Red Nab
Little Gull - a 3CY was new-in and unusual at this time of year (Leighton Moss bird?) and was accompanied by presumably the long-staying 2CY (but could have been one of the Leighton 2CY?)
Med Gull - few gulls on red nab but included one 2CY Med
Black Guillemot - one offshore from the north harbour wall

Elsewhere
Pom Skua off the Stone Jetty 0840hrs

Nothing seen, nothing heard, nothing caught

Heysham Obs
.............and no moths prior to a concerted effort to find a postable item at 1600hrs. 'Alleluia' in the form of an adult Med Gull on the mudflats off Ocean Edge

Elsewhere
Spotted Flycatcher calling outside the window at High Tatham as I am typing this. No young Long-eared Owls calling on Leck Fell whilst returning from moth trapping at about 0015hrs. Dead elsewhere.

Criticism accepted

Heysham Obs
............re-not enough detail for visiting dragonfly enthusiasts on how to 'connect with' Red-veined Darter.

Here goes on the darters:
Location
The model boat pond is the first on the right after driving into Middleton Industrial Estate/Heysham Business Park. Park in the small car park after going under the height restriction barrier. cSD418590

The western edge of the pond has a small inlet about half way along, just beyond where a line of rushes extends out into the water (rushes, not Reed Mace). Stand on the corner by these rushes and wait and watch the open water and/or check waterside stones for basking individuals. Also check the rippled water in the centre of the pond - these insects can spend quite a lot of time 'in the middle'.

Timing
This is where a lot of people go pear-shaped! The best time is not during the late afternoon high temperatures when the species can be very hard, if not impossible, to locate. Time your visit on a sunny day for about 1130-1330hrs. Avoid wind speeds of more than F2 and beware of sunny but chilly north/north-westerly airstreams which may only lead to a temperature high of about 15 C. This is often not enough and 17-18 C minimum seems to be necessary to guarantee this species' activity at this site. Therefore you have about one hour as the conditions in the next few days are not suitable!

Identification
Obviously the usual pale-centred pterostigma plus red venations (best seen when insect facing in flight - see photos from two days ago taken by Chris Adams) & all the other stuff as per text (eyes etc). However many people may need to sort out the odd Red-veined from a few additional Common and this is where flight/jizz awareness comes in. These are based on many hours of watching this species at this site:

a) They do not gain height whilst hovering (Common usually do)
b) Whilst patrolling the water invariably keep to the same low height (Common vary)
c) Often change direction far more acutely than Common Darter and this again is done at the same low height (Common vary their height regularly, especially when changing direction)
d) Spend longer over the water than Common

Obviously, jizz is not 100% foolproof, but it may help to get on to likely candidates which can then be carefully checked for "plumage features"

Apologies for the sea buckthorn along the western edge - problems with clearance due to Great-crested Newt legislation

Middleton IE 1120-1145
Red-veined Darter - three on the model boat pond, one very active
Black-tailed Skimmer - 4+ on the model boat pond

Elsewhere
Great White Egret still hiding in the main dyke at Leighton Moss. Single Osprey seen at Leighton. ?Returning fsp Spotted Redshank Conder Green. Ad Med Gull Kent Estuary.

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