Gross incompetence!

Heysham Obs
A quick post-tide check saw a 2CY Med Gull bearing a green left leg colour ring and an above-tarsus right leg metal ring still on Red Nab.  The Dong compound for the windfarm cable meant I couldnt get as close as I would have liked and..............aaaargh, no 50 x lens in the car, so the critical digits on the colour ring remained unread.  This bird has quite a distinctive 'peppered' head with no obvious mask & no flight-feather moult discernable other than greater coverts

An attempt to retrieve the situation with a scope & zoom from another car by the office was rewarded with superb views of the bird as it flew off to the south towards the Fylde where much more competent ring-readers lurk......... 

Also one adult Med Gull on Red Nab

"Lots" of Sedge Warblers on Middleton IE

Moths
The third Elephant Hawk-moth of the year was just about it in the interest stakes due to a strong SE wind blowing into the window

Sun and wind and mist nets

Heysham Obs
...........are not a good combination.  The short early-morning weather window was accompanied  by full sunlight and this neutralised the best of the Middleton net sites with zero birds caught in it compared to about 40 yesterday.  A short ringing session at Middleton and the Heysham NR CES were highlighted by another juv Grasshopper Warbler (Middleton) and the first Treecreeper of the year (& perhaps the last?) at Heysham NR.  Most Treecreeper records at Heysham involve wandering July juveniles or birds with tit flocks in autumn.  A few years ago, it appeared to be joining Jay as a maturing-tree-related coloniser of Heysham NR with at least one ringed bird in residence, but the last two years have seen a return to former (scarce) status

Coastal stuff
Whimbrel - one north harbour wall
Med Gull - 3 x adults/3CY Red Nab & area (wingtips not seen on two of these)
Redshank - 65 Red Nab/Ocean Edge
Moths
The rare micro Phtheochroa inopiana made an appearance in the hut trap.  About half a dozen previous from here/Middleton plus one from Stanah, Wyre Estuary = the VC60 status.  Other notables/new for the year were:  Garden Tiger, Bordered Beauty, 5 x Double Dart, Ph. coronata, U. lutealis and Limnacaecia phragmitella

Quite a bit to post from this last few days - this will happen soon, including Janet's pics!

Good week for the Spanish (or Basque)

Heysham Obs
Middleton IE CES & additional nets
Quite a good number of birds on the move this morning and the catch thankfully retrieved the situation with the foreign-ringed Reed Warbler which escaped as I was fiddling about with new reading glasses on the last visit.  This was the second consecutive ringing effort involving a Spanish-ringed bird, with the nesting female Sand Martin bearing a Madrid ring being retrapped at Crossdale, upper Hindburn on Saturday evening

The Reed Warbler was a breeding female (with a significant stage 3 brood patch) and the ring was from the San Sebastian Ringing Scheme (ESA), S.C. Aranzadi, Alto de Zorroaga 11, E-20014 Donostia-San Sebastian Basque Country.  About 100 birds were caught in total and these included 6 each of Grasshopper Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat and  two young Great Tits from the Heysham Nature reserve (2010) nestbox scheme.  11 unringed & two previously ringed Willow Warbler was a good  total for this site.  The most significant thing, however, was negative.  NO Reed Bunting, despite a large breeding population and two singing males within earshot this morning.  There must have been a complete first brood failure as a catch of this size at this site should have included 10-15 Reed Bunting.  Other sightings:

Kingfisher - one around (first of the autumn)
Swift - c30 south
Reed Warbler - probably four breeding pairs this year
Grasshopper Warbler -  two singing males still and an unringed adult female trapped in the central marsh along with two ringed adults and three juveniles in the western marsh

Insects
Male Black-tailed Skimmer in a mist net in Middleton IE central marsh!
Straw Underwing new for the year in the moth trap with the second Dingy Footman of the year

Wheeling dots

Heysham Obs
A seriously guillotined seawatch produced the following in 15 minutes off Ocean Edge
Manx Shearwater - 3
Fulmar - 1
also a "possible Gannet" broke the horizon for a millisecond

Late stages of incoming tide
Med Gull - 2 (separate) adults Ocean Edge saltmarsh then displaced south, one of them losing summer plumage on head
Redshank - 16
Dunlin - 5 adults

Elsewhere
Med Gull adult Bank End, nr Cockersands

Go away, see you next spring

Heysham Obs
Red Nab/Ocean Edge incoming tide
Med Gull - 3 adults:  Mobile pair with the noticeably smaller female following the male, which immediately flew as soon as she approached and eventually headed off high to the south into the drizzle with the female trailing some distance behind.  Another adult losing its summer plumage on the head roosted on Red Nab
Common Sandpiper - one heard
Mallard - two female/imms Red Nab (unusual!)

Moths
A very poor catch included a Plain Golden Y (surprisingly rare here!) and one of the occasional visits from the fairly common saltmarsh 'grass moth' Pediasia aridella

Mysterious food source

Heysham Obs
Ocean Edge/Red Nab
Med Gull - 2 adults with c300 Black-headed Gulls dip-feeding on a smooth area of shallow water off Ocean Edge - possibly a concentrated emission from one of the outfalls
Greenshank - adult in Ocean Edge saltmarsh creek - the only wader!
Whimbrel - one Red Nab
Swift - 5 south in 15 minutes

Moths
Rather a lot of worn Uncertain & Rustic to sort out & nothing obviously new for the year, although Herald is quite unusual in July

Good ratio of Meds

Heysham Obs
Red Nab/Ocean Edge
Med Gull - first juvenile of the "autumn" along with an adult and an adult/3CY (wing-tips not visible) amongst ONLY 18 gulls!
Whimbrel - one

Moths
White Satin new for the year continuing the theme of irregularly recorded species of presumed coastal origin in the south-westerly winds (commonest moth in the Walney Obs trap at the moment)

More Manx

Heysham Obs
Ocean Edge 0900-0930
A 20 minute scan for Storm Petrel around the 'red buoy area' & off the end of the outfalls revealed 5 or 6 distant Manx Shearwater flying "in and across", perhaps not visible from the north wall

Med Gull - adult on the receding tideline; not ringed below the tarsus, but couldnt rule out Czech bird

Moths
A White-line Dart was the first (and perhaps the last - not common here) of the year

Baby Wrens

Heysham Obs
The first belated baby Wrens of the year were ringed by the office along with single Lesser Whitethroat and Whitethroat juveniles

Whimbrel - one north wall (thanks Lou)

Moths were numerous but without any highlights; Marbled Beauty appeared to be new for the year and there were the 'routine' four Double Darts

Target seawatching and a blast from the past

Todays Archer's Dart - thanks John

Heysham Obs
Seawatch 0815-0844
Manx Shearwater - two distantly out at 0844 - the target met

Red Nab area dropping tide
Arctic Tern - one (ad)
Med Gull - one Ad

Moths
The fourth Archers Dart for the hut trap (two 1980s, one 1997) was presumably a result of a strong wind traversing the bay from known regular haunts in the Walney area?