Quick check incoming tide

Heysham Obs
Ocean Edge foreshore & area
Med Gull - 2 adult & 1 juv
Whimbrel - 1

Moths
Fen Wainscot, Southern Wainscot & Dingy Footman headed a decent moth catch. 25 Silver Y the only migratory evidence

A struggle..................

Heysham Obs
..................but there could have been a massive Willow Warbler fall at pre-rain dawn as the only coverage was over the 1000ish tide!

Red Nab/Ocean Edge/outfalls
Med Gull - just one juv with most gulls heading for wet fields on arrival
Redshank - 210
Turnstone - 59
Whimbrel - 1

Moths
A very small catch did include the first Fen Wainscot of the year

Butterflies
The HN reserve is really good at the moment - even though sunlight was at a premium today, in the high humidity there were loads of Common Blue, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, Small Skipper & single Comma & Small Copper on just a short walk

Elsewhere
4CY Yellow-legged Gull off Fishnet Point area, Glasson along with 3 x Ad, 1 x 2CY Med Gulls at nearby Cockersands LAST night (3CY Med recently). See Fylde site for several Med records from Lune Estuary over the last week.

Black Tern new in

Heysham Obs
Red Nab/Ocean Edge/Outfalls
Black Tern - moulting adult on Red Nab (nearly overlooked!), then shoreline
Med Gull - just one juvenile and one adult seen

Passage 0915-0945
Swallow - 23 south
Sand Martin - 16 south
Wheatear - one OE foreshore

Moths
Contrasting aesthetically, but equally notable, were Dingy Shears and Bordered Beauty. First Golden Rod Pug of the autumn. Just one migrant (Silver Y).

Disappointing

Heysham Obs
Not a lot this morning with the two 'glued-together' juv Med Gulls seemingly disappearing and an unfavourable wind direction making life difficult viewing resting birds on Red Nab

Ocean Edge to Heliport
Med Gull - Czech-ringed adult & one other adult & one juv.
Little Egret - 1+ OE saltmarsh creek
Black-tailed Godwit - 1
Knot - 2
Whimbrel - 2
Nothing offshore

Heysham NR
The pair of Sparrowhawk, nesting at an inaccessible site, fledged three young today. At least four Coal Tit in mixed flock - early for this species on here

Butterflies
Excellent on Heysham NR, given the wind, with at least 27 Gatekeepers, 8 Painted Lady, 3 Red Admiral, Brimstone, Small Copper, 3 Comma, Grayling, plenty of Small Skipper & Meadow Brown. Highlight was an unprecendented c30 Holly Blue and similar numbers of Common Blue

Little Egret invasion & late afternoon Storm Petrel

Heysham Obs
Ocean Edge/Red Nab/outfalls quick visit 0745-0800, then c1730-1810
Little Egret - 3 in OE saltmarsh channel am
Med Gull - 3 juvs, 2CY & 2 ads Red Nab/OE foreshore/outfalls evening
Whimbrel - 4 am
Black-tailed Godwit - 14 Red Nab am
Storm Petrel - one between the dredger and the red buoy, flying backwards and forwards at about 1750hrs, then a big yellow thing emerged from behind a cloud and it became impossible to view the area.

Moths
A really odd catch - only 10 moths but graced by Dun-bar (first of year & scarce here), Flounced Rustic (first of year & not scarce here!), Southern Wainscot (not common away from the wetlands) & Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet (not particularly common here)

Elsewhere
Note there were 16 Storm Petrel off Walney yesterday

Excellent early morning variety

POSTED THIS TOO EARLY FOR THE DATE TO CHANGE - THIS SHOULD BE FRIDAY 31ST! Anyone know how to alter dates?

Heysham Obs
Picking up the early morning tide seemed far more sensible than staring into the sun in late afternoon.........and there was a quite unexpected mish-mash of interesting odds and ends. More early morning pre-dog neap high tide watching would seem a good idea.


Red Nab/Ocean Edge/outfalls
Greylag - the most unexpected - 18 sat on the mudflats just off Ocean Edge
Little Egret - first of the autumn in OE saltmarsh creek, TWO mid-pm
Greenshank - adult OE saltmarsh creek
Med Gull - THREE juvs, 2 adults and a 2CY [& many of the BH gulls were out of range along Middleton sands]
Black-tailed Godwit - 51 feeding on the muddy bits between the rocks on Red Nab
Bar-tailed Godwit - adult with above
Knot - adult with above
Dunlin - one metal-ringed adult with above
Turnstone - 14 outer edge of Red Nab
Whimbrel - 4 Red Nab
Common Sandpiper - one Red Nab
Kingfisher - one Red Nab
Sandwich Tern - one feeding offshore

'Tame' juvenile Kestrel along the foreshore

North harbour wall 0840ish
The time period to check for the two Storm Petrel seen off JBP was thwarted by attending to an angler who had run out of fuel & had no mobile
Med Gull - two different adults from Red Nab area - one the Czech-ringed bird = 8 in total for this area today
Sanderling - adult summer flew out
Manx Shearwater - one 'ambling' across and out

Elsewhere
Two Storm Petrel watched for a reasonable period off JBP before making their way out of the Bay 0815ish [feeding on seaward end of Heysham outfalls overnight and flying in with the tide??]

Report-writing & little birding

THURSDAY 30TH JULY
Heysham Obs
North harbour wall early(ish) morning
Med Gull - what appeared to be the Czech-ringed adult flew past once
Turnstone - 53 - good number for late July (c50 last night)

Red Nab/Ocean Edge late afternoon
Bad light, bad angle of birds so some stuff probably missed
Med Gull - juv & 2CY & Ad
Whimbrel - 4
Black-tailed Godwit - none

Moths
A surprisingly good catch - indeed so unexpectedly good, the door was carelessly opened and quite a few went straight out of the window, seemingly mainly the lively and sometimes abundant Shaded Broad Bar. Of note were 6 Silver Y, a Diamond-back Moth, a second brood Cochylis atricapitana, a single Barred Rivulet and 3 Herald. Straw Underwing (17) still outnumbering reduced numbers of the usual plague species

HNR office buddleia
2 x Small Tortoiseshell, 1 x Peacock, 1 x Red Admiral, 3 x Large White (sheltered during westerlies)

Elsewhere
Ruff & juv Med Gull Conder area. Ruddy Shelduck EM Pool

This has been on the cards a long time

Heysham Obs
Ocean Edge/Red Nab incoming tide
Black-tailed Godwit - By far and away the largest ever count for this area....but it has been expected c/f periodic large flocks on Morecambe foreshore and the EM Pool at Leighton is "out of action" by all accounts due to the water level (600+ counts routine there these days). 229, mainly moulting adults & all examined were islandica, were on the shoreline near Red Nab, then flushed & rose really high in the sky over Potts Corner before returning to feed on the shore off Ocean Edge west field
Med. Gull - 2 juveniles together, 2 adults and a 2CY. None ringed.
Whimbrel - 6
Dunlin - one juvenile
Didnt have time to check Ocean Edge shingle etc. with all the excitement (see yesterday)!

North harbour wall high tide
Med Gull - Ad & 2CY & juv - these were all almost certainly different birds to those on Red Nab
Whimbrel - 3

Moth trap
Absolutely dreadful catches at the moment, with Straw Underwing the only species up to scratch & nothing of remote interest the last three nights

Elsewhere
Ruddy Shelduck still EM Pool

Ocean Edge plover fest

Heysham Obs
Ocean Edge saltmarsh and shingle beach
An adult Little Ringed Plover was a complete surprise today as it flew from the inshore shingle at Ocean Edge and inland over the caravans. Also on the shore tideline were 7 Ringed Plover (not including the hoped-for returning colour-ringed bird yet) and an almost fledged chick!

Red Nab & outfalls
Med Gull - TWO juveniles and a 2CY [no adults seen] - some minor disturbance by pedestrians may have shifted some of the gulls towards Sunderland

Elsewhere
Ruddy Shelduck still EM Pool

The drought is ended

Heysham Obs
After a considerable gap, unthinkable as recently as five years ago, the first tern species appeared since 3rd July. The problem is the demise of the Lune colony. Meds seemed down today, given a search at optimum time, but a touch of the Catherine Tate's re-searching shimmering sleeping gulls at the wrong angle for 2CYs etc.. Typical behaviour by the juv Med; 'sleeping' on Red Nab, then returning to feed on Heysham 2 outfall after all the other gulls have gone into total roost mode at high tide. Youthful enthusiasm?

Red Nab/Ocean Edge latter stages of incoming tide
Sandwich tern - adult Red Nab
Med Gull - FOUR: 2 adults, one 2CY & one juvenile
Whimbrel - 5
No obvious sign of any Storm Petrels but a much longer seawatch needed

Insects
First collection on the office buddleia which is sheltered from SW/W winds: two Small Tortoiseshell (the most I've seen together since 2007), Red Admiral and 2 Large White. Grayling car park. First Wall on a census for three years - hopefully more will be seen this autumn

Elsewhere
Ruddy Shelduck still being high-profiled at EM Pools