Hirundinidae passing through

A warm sunny day with a light NW wind

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Yesterday's ringing report by Alan

Just two nets set at Middleton this morning resulted in 20 birds captured.

Wren  1

Robin  3

Blackbird  1

Cetti's Warbler  2 + 1 retrap

Grasshopper Warbler  1

Sedge Warbler  2

Blackcap  1

Chiffchaff  3

Willow Warbler  1 + 1 retrap

Blue Tit  1

Great Tit  2

 

Two/three pairs of Swift plus a small number of Swallows feeding high over the reserve and one Swallow flew south fast and low past my ringing station, presumably an early passage bird.

 

A moth trap set the previous night that was clear and cool caught only a modest 17 moths of 11 species.

Janet checked today

Juvenile Sand Martin

Sand and house Martin 

Swallow shaking itself dry after a bath

Sedge Warbler

Gatekeeper

Meadow Brown

Emperor 

Black-Tailed Skimmer

No sign of the Copper-tip Longhorn moths today

South shore

This aptly named White Satin Moth
was resting on the sea wall this afternoon - Kevin.

I checked the shore out from the saltmarsh this evening (Malcolm).

Many small gulls were anting again but a large group was resting on the mud.

Gulls resting on the mud out from the saltmarsh 

Mediterranean gull 31 including 2 juvenile and 15 x 2nd calendar year. Most were sat on the mud for most of the time, but eventually I managed to see a good proportion of their legs, revealing only one to be colour ringed, and that was the Belgium ringed bird seen on Friday.

Mediterranean, two Black-Headed and a Common gull

Swallow 3

There was a good variety of butterflies in the Nature Park

Meadow Brown several

Gatekeeper several 

Ringlet 2

Large White 2

Small White 3

Speckled wood 3

Red Admiral 1

Small Skipper 1

Comma 1

Brimstone 1

Brimstone 

Brimstone and a Buff-tailed Bumblebee 

Brown Hawker 1

Some nice aerial shots

A warm sunny day with a light westish breeze.

Heysham skear - low water 11:50 (Malcolm)

Little Egret 7

Little Egret feeding below the Honeycomb worm reefs on the north side of the skear

Little Egret feeding amongst the lower Honeycomb worm beds on the south side

Eider 2 both resting on an exposed reef.

Eider and a young gull

Red-breasted Merganser 1 female type

Great Crested Grebe 3

Great Crested Grebe

This cormorant has caught a flounder that is too wide to pass through its gape, it eventually discarded it. 

Oystercatcher c400

Redshank 60

Turnstone 3

Curlew 40

Curlew and Redshank 

Swift 1 south

Middleton Nature Reserve (Janet)

Grey Heron

Reed warbler 

Swift

House Martin

Swallow and House Martin 

Immature Swallow still with a gape

Black-tailed Skimmers

Common Darter

Common Blue

Small White

There were several lots of gulls anting over the recording area this evening. These ants were emerging from Janet's garden.

Most waders for a while

The day didn't start off promising for "Irish sea day" at Half Moon Bay, with early showers and overcast. But it brightened up and ended up warm and sunny.

Half Moon Bay (Malcolm)

Just an hour mid morning

Grey Wagtail 1 came in off from the west

Pied Wagtail 5 feeding on kelp fly maggots in the wrack on the tideline.

Grey Heron 2 - 1 north and 1 chased east by territorial gulls

Little Egret 1 feeding

South shore (Malcolm)

Couldn't get to Red Nab early enough in the afternoon to watch the tide approach it, so I went out on the mud from the saltmarsh, expecting the Peregrine or holidaymakers to flush the Red Nab gulls. It didn't happen!

Mediterranean gull just 1 adult rested with the Black-Headed and Common gulls on the mud

This Lesser Black-Backed gull took exception to me!

Common and Black-Headed gulls stretching their wings

Curlew only 30 seen heading south, but it was late in the tide and most would already be at their high water roost.

Whimbrel 3

Whimbrel 

Lapwing 2

Swallow 1 south

Heliport wall - Near Naze (Malcolm)

I just stopped by on my way home, and miraculously, there was no disturbance. It was almost high water and the Near Naze and Heliport wall were full of waders.

Just Oystercatcher on the Near Naze

But a nice cosmopolitan mix on the sloping heliport wall.

Best estimate of numbers

Oystercatcher 930 (Near Naze and sloping wall)

Redshank 200

Knot 37

Turnstone 24

Redshank, Knot and Turnstone 

Oystercatcher and Knot

So, seven species of waders today. I'm going to check out the skear in the morning, it will be interesting to see what waders are there.

Mainly insects in the sun

A dry sunny day with a light west wind.

South shore (Malcolm)

Just a quick check of Red Nab as the rising tide approached.

Mediterranean gull 5 - 4 adult and a 2nd calendar year.

2nd calendar year Mediterranean gull

Fortunately, one of the adults was a white ringed bird, ringed in Belgium in 2018, it showed here last July, hopefully it will have been seen elsewhere since. Update awaited.

This juvenile Little Egret has pronounced yellow legs!

Peregrine Falcon 2 were being disruptive again.

Middleton Nature Reserve 

Janet checked this morning

Common Darter

Broad-Bodied Chaser

Green-Veined White

Small Skipper and Six-spot Burnet

Yellow Shell

I checked mid afternoon, by that time it was quite warm (Malcolm)

Wildfowl unchanged 

Blackcap 2 singing

Reed Warbler 1 half-hearted singing

Chiffchaff 3 calling, one summoning its young.

Emperor 3

Female Emperor ovipositoring 

Brown Hawker 1

Female Brown Hawker ovipositoring 

Broad-Bodied Chaser 1 male

Blue-Tailed Skimmer 1 male

Male Black-Tailed Skimmer

Common Dater several

The above were on and around the main ponds on the north side. I went to the south side to check the grass meadow where the Copper-Tipped Longhorn moths were located (see map and video 24/07/24). When Janet checked in the morning she couldn't see any, but the afternoon heat had brought them out and I located 4.

Copper-tip Longhorn - Nemophora cupriacella 

There is one on each of these three ragwort, the fourth was only a few metres away.

This is the location of the ragwort. Line up the wooden cross beams
 (middle distance) with the pylon behind 

Also in this area

Ringlet 3

Green-veined White 1

Meadow Brown 3

Strangely no sign of yesterday's abundant Skippers

Jay 2