Minimal coverage so far

Heysham Obs
Birds
Swift - 7 south in 30 minutes at lunchtime
Med Gull - 2CY with black head off Ocean Edge

Moths
Common Emerald new for the year, also Coxcomb Prominent caught

Butterflies
2 Red Admiral north at lunchtime (but no Painted Lady)

Red-veined Darters still present

Middleton IE
Two male RVD on the model boat pond during quick lunchtime visit (thanks to Pete Chappell)

race round

** Its going to be a 'hot week' in the moth trap (for the first time for three years?!). Suggest early morning rota for checking or we will lose half the catch. I can do Thursday but definitely not Wed or Fri (Pete). Please tip-toe past the door if you are entering the hut but cant check the trap!!

Heysham Obs
First ever visit without going into the office, I suspect, as a mobile phone call changed the direction of the day!

Red Nab
2 x 2CY Meds, one with almost black head

Middleton model boat pond (nowhere near enough time)
Red-veined Darter - 2 on eastern side, one western side, 2 x darter spp (One prob RVD, the other prob Common D), 1+ Common D along south shore

Elsewhere
2 x Hobby north over Bolton-le-Sands mid-am.

Webs rush round & CES & a few insects

Heysham Obs
WeBS
No Black Guillemot at high tide in calm weather
One 2CY Med on the remnants of Red Nab
Swift - c40 between HNR & Middleton but swirling around rather than moving

CES
6 young Dunnocks, an unringed female Lesser Whitethroat & even more surprising, an unringed male Bullfinch

Moths
Reasonable catch included Small-clouded Brindle, Rivulet, Double Dart, Map-winged Swift and the micro Eucosma campolilana

Middleton
Red-veined darter - 3 males on the model boat pond early afternoon - one on the rather windy eastern side & two on the more sheltered western edge

Elsewhere
3 Green Sandpiper Aldcliffe area

All at sea!

Heysham Obs
North Harbour Wall 8am
Mediterranean Gull - 1 adult and 3 1st summers
1st summer Kittiwake
1st summer Little Gull
summer plumaged Red-throated Diver - very unusual for this time of year
Insects
Red-veined darter - 2 males on the model boat pond at least lunchtime

More to come e.g. Midd IE WeBs from Malcolm

Ragwort isnt just for Cinnabars

Heysham Obs
Outfalls area low tide
Med Gull - Ad summer plus 1 x 2CY

Moths
Dark Arches and Treble Bar new for the year. Also Shaded Pug
Eucosma campolilana, a local ragwort feeder, made its first appearance of the year and can be seen below (thanks John).

Elsewhere

Spoonbill - still in the Sunderland Point area. Same? at Leighton early morning only. Osprey Leighton

Too northwesterly

Heysham Obs
.........but only just, creating false anticipation for seawatching (and continuing the negative headlines)! An early morning seawatch was limited to 'seagulls'. Shag most unusual for June but have been odd recent records from Walney

North harbour wall
Shag - 1st summer on the sea, then flew round the wooden jetty at about 1005hrs
Fulmar - 2 out and across
Black Guillemot - one flew offshore from the harbour entrance

Outfalls area
Med Gull - 2CY
Little Gull - 2CY

Elsewhere
Spoonbill EM Pool early morning at least. 3 skuas, thought to be Poms. but not completely certain, off JBP heading towards Grange at c0945-0950hrs

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.