Hungry Meds show well

High water roost on mudflats tideline south of Ocean Edge (PM)
Grey Plover 124 summer plumage
Mediterranean gulls - 41 - including 14 juvenile plus 8 x 2cy and adult green ringed German bird ASRE.

Low water feeding area between wooden jetty and No.1 outflow (MD)
Rock pipit 1
Mediterranean gulls - 56 - including 9 juvenile plus 3 x 2cy
There is certainly a lot of overlap, but the overwhelming liklihood is that today's birds would have totalled more than previous high count for the area.
The timing of today's (and tomorrow's) neap tides means that this feeding area is only exposed once in daylight. The gulls were hungry and a few were waiting on the rocks below jetty for mud to be exposed.

They landed on beach as soon as the mud was exposed, and numbers grew quickly. Unfortunately, the sand mason worms are currently keeping their heads down when not in water, so the birds are following the tide out and feeding in the shallows.

The mud will start to be exposed at 14:30 tomorrow, if anyone wants to check for rings and help with count.

Heysham Nature Reserve
Grasshopper warbler - 1 juvenile ringed along with 10+ Willow warbler

Middleton Nature Reserve
Red-veined Darters - 3 males easily located, despite cool temperature (16C). West bank of main pond and peninsular
Little Grebe 1 adult with two small chicks.
Gadwall 7
Coot 1

Little Gull gets its new feathers battered

The returning adult Little Gull looked a bit battered around its re-growing primaries when photographed by Malcolm today

Little else of note seen other than at least six juv Meds and a few waders on the shore south of Ocean Edge just after high tide:

Bar-tailed Godwit - 24
Grey Plover - 10
Dunlin - 90
Sanderling - 1

Saturday storm

The most significant statistic from Saturdays two hour watch on the incoming tide from the back of the harbour was a steady stream totalling 672 Curlew heading south close inshore, cutting over the inner end of the wooden jetty.  Obviously we get big counts from Red Nab during summer/early autumn, but a lot of these counts represent a 'roll-over' with birds leaving to roost further south as others are arriving, implicitly underestimating the total.  Any consultants involved in bird surveys in this area on a 'winter wader survey remit', especially if turbine-related, are missing a major potential impact on a currently well-publicised key species - an inshore blade-height flightline, peaking late June to late August and largely consisting of moulting 2CY or + birds

Seawatching and outfall watching late afternoon
Visibility was often awful during this two hours and the only remotely clear period enabled a gang of Manx to be seen, otherwise limited to close inshore stuff

Common Tern - at least four juveniles with two out further offshore and one getting blown backwards and forwards in the harbour-mouth and another blown into the harbour itself.  Possibly more than two inshore
Arctic Tern - at least one close inshore, appearing late in the watch, then joining the Common Tern on occasions blogging off the harbour mouth
Black Tern - juv in shipping channel during a brief clearer interlude earlier in the day, then it or another flying 'out' just beyond the end of the wooden jetty late afternoon
Little Gull - 2CY out, adult on outfalls
Sandwich Tern - adult out
Manx Shearwater - 3 in
Med Gull - up to 20, mainly on Red Nab and including 8 juvs
Rock Pipit - juv by seawatching point at back of harbour for a short time

Grey Seal - one harbour mouth
Brown Rat - one run over by the car on the way to the sea-watch - a bringer of more rain and poor visibility than luck!

Med day

At least 18 different birds at low tide including returning German adults ASRE and ANLT and also 8 juvs

Sandwich Tern - one surprisingly on Red Nab at low tide

Rock pipit south harbour lighthouse
Wheatear 1 female type near lighthouse

Sallow NFY in moth trap

A bit of ringing in the only suitable weather

The forecast suggested the CES would be problematic on a later date, so had to go for it in the dreaded north-westerlies this morning.  Sometimes this can work after a windy spell and two new Reed Warblers out of habitat have been caught by Heysham NR office so far and a new juvenile Cetti's Warbler on the Middleton CES

Wednesday 7th

No reports - outfalls/red nab not checked - any sightings from visitors please?

Canary Shouldered Thorn in moth trap indicating how autumnal its getting!

Sandwich terns

Not quite strong enough at the wrong state of tide to prompt any proper seawatching so just an outfalls and red nab scan from a soggy Ocean Edge foreshore

Sandwich Tern - 4
Little gull - ad
Med - at least 32 with at least 5 juvs

Back to the westerlies

Lot more birds on the outfalls now the distraction of flying ants has ceased

Med gull - 41 in a quick sweep, mostly SW end Red Nab
Little Gull - ad the outermost bird on Heyshsm two
Arctic Tern - ad Red Nab

Coal tit in song Moneyclose Lane

Early morning ringing

Rather unexpected to find Chiffchaff the highest ringing total of the warblers so early in the autumn.  10 were ringed, followed by 9 Whitethroat and low single figures of other species

Cetti’s Warbler - a recently fledged juvenile in the central marsh at Middleton was the most interesting individual capture

Tree sparrow - one plus at least two south over Heyshsm and at least two with a gang of House Sparrow on heyshsm heliport site

Dark Spinach in moth trap at Middleton

Yellow Wagtail

Middleton NR early session
Nothing better early on than a single Garden Warbler and an early (or secretively breeding) Water Rail - also present, but not logged on 26/7.  Surely single secretive breeding pair at this irregular known site, albeit with no evidence of success. 

Yellow Wagtail - one south at 1133hrs
Swallow - at least 80 south/feeding for a short time (25 ringed)
Sand Martin - 1 south
House Martin - 2 south
Not a great deal of obvious landbird migration for an easterly with a bit of cloud cover but still a respectable trickle of warblers ringed, a majority (11) being Whitethroat, as usual in early August

Red veined Darter.  At least five males and a female abs almost certainly another pair in cop but the latter not seen quite well enough to eliminate Common Darter (thanks Janice)

Harbour lighthouse area (SD35Z) MD
ESE breeze again brought insects in off at low water.
Butterflies:
Only Painted Lady and Small White were seen coming in, at a rate around one a minute. But there was an increase of Common blue on the scrub to 5, plus a Peacock and, first here this year, Gatekeeper.
Moths:
Silver Y - 4
Dragonflies:
Unfortunately the tide was rising before the time likely for dragonflies to arrive. But one flew overhead at 11:20 (tide was already up to outflows), almost certainly a darter with red abdomen.

Wheatear - 1 female type
Grey Seal - 1 male