Three Manx, three Meds and a probable juvenile Yellow-legged Gull

Heysham Obs
Early morning coverage in grottier weather than forecast saw three Manx Shearwaters flying out during a short period of offshore clarity and an adult Med Gull next to Heysham 2 outfall.  No sign of any terns, but a poor stage of the tide for the outfalls

Afternoon coverage (& Tom Walkington)
Med Gull - 2 adults & presumably the same 2CY although the legs were not seen for rings
Arctic Tern - 3 adults Heysham 2 outfall
Common Tern - one adult off north harbour wall

Last minute check of the outfalls area near high tide
This produced a 1CY large gull which flew in off the sea, then circled around Heysham outfalls, but unfortunately did not land on the remains of Red Nab, but headed north over the wooden jetty.  It looked a very good candidate for juvenile Yellow-legged Gull, quite a pale-headed individual but the level of individual feather detail required was not possible

Moths
More than expected, but no great surprises with the best (for this site) being Plain Golden Y, Latticed Heath, Dingy Shears and Southern Wainscot and a local speciality, Straw Underwing, reaching double-figures

Cetacean
Dead Harbour Porpoise photographed at Half-moon Bay

Terns

Heysham Obs
Very variable weather today! 

Ocean Edge/outfalls/offshore
Sandwich tern - a single flying out far offshore
Common Tern - adult outfalls & also one in non-breeding plumage for a short time
Arctic Tern - 2 adult outfalls
Whimbrel - 1
Great-crested Grebe - unseasonal bird offshore
Med Gull - 2 adults Red Nab, one almost in winter head plumage

Heysham N Reserve circuit
Very good for butterflies early afternoon, despite the wind.  15+ Gatekeeper, c80 Small Skipper, 3 Comma, 20 Common Blue, 15 Meadow Brown, 2 Large White, 3 Green-veined White, 2 Small Copper, 20 Speckled Wood, 1 Large Skipper plus a Silver Y moth

Deskbound

Heysham Obs
Report time and despite arrival at just ofter 0600hrs, the only sightings today were two Moorhen running about on the grass outside the office window, three Lesser Whitethroats in the nearby bushes and an adult Med Gull on Red Nab on the incoming tide

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)