Dunlin return in numbers

A warm sunny day with a light west wind.

South shore (Malcolm) 09:30 - 10:30

I checked Red Nab and the shore out from the saltmarsh as the tide was rising. 250 Black-Headed gulls, but no Mediterranean gulls seen today.

Curlew 150

Little Egret 6

Wheatear 1 - the long staying juvenile was near the slipway again.

Juvenile Wheatear 

It is clearly finding plenty to eat.

Yesterday, I said that I would share my theory of why the saltmarsh is currently growing. Here we go......

This is the shot from 2017 again

This was as close as I could get to the same location today

This is the point further south where they laid the processed water pipe from the water 

treatment plant by Middleton Nature reserve, the infill mud created a depression as it 

compacted leaving a shallow secondary creek to the south of the main creek. Presumably 

just enough protection, by disrupting waves, to allow the marsh plants to consolidate, as 

the whole area between the two creeks is now saltmarsh. The slight gradient of the 

secondary creek is enough for it to help drain the outgoing tide which in turn keeps the 

shape of the creek. Of course, one good storm could destroy all this.

This is the more telling reason for the expansion in other areas. These are
the holes made by Harbour Ragworms. As little as fifteen years ago I couldn't 
find a single hole, which struck me as odd as this is the ideal terrain for Harbour 
Ragworms and they are plentiful along the Lune Estuary at least as far as
Sunderland Point. (the name "Harbour" ragworm refers to medieval harbours which
were just saltmarshes with a creek to float in on the tide). The ragworm's network
of holes, perhaps counter intuitively, does consolidate the mud, mainly by the mixing
of the various textures from lower in the mud. And, although a storm may destroy some
of the new saltmarsh it wouldn't destroy all the worms so the damage can be repaired,
expect continuing growth of the saltmarsh - Malcolm

Heysham skear (Malcolm) 15:00 - 16:00

Eider 2 female with at least 8 young were drifting with the outgoing tide.

Great Crested Grebe 1

Little Egret 3

Gulls 350 by the time I left, but no ringed birds seen

Oystercatcher 500

Curlew 50

Redshank 36

Juvenile Redshank, trying not to be there

Dunlin 80 in one flock. They arrived from the west and left to the south.

Dunlin

Sand Martin 2 came in off the sea then flew northeast.

Not many Meds today

Dry, but mainly overcast after early morning showers. A light west wind.

Heysham Nature Reserve (Pete)

Swift 5 together south

South shore 

Pete checked Red Nab and the mud out from Ocean Edge 09:30. Red Nab was deserted and there were just two Mediterranean gulls sitting on the mud.

I checked out from the saltmarsh 10:00 - 11:00 (Malcolm)

Eventually there were 250 gulls on the mud and saltmarsh, mainly Black-Headed but including 3 adults and a 3rd calendar year Mediterranean gull. Almost certainly including Pete's earlier Meds

Mediterranean and Black-Headed gulls

Some of the gulls in front of the saltmarsh 

Eider 2 female/immature north

Eider

Little Egret 6

Oystercatcher 30

Curlew 60 

Redshank 8

I mentioned the other day that the extent of the saltmarsh is increasing most years.

This shot is from August 2017, there is hardly any vegetation to the south
of the creek. Even so it was just beginning to take hold, that's why I took
this shot. Virtually all the mud you can see in this shot is now covered in
Marsh grass and Samphire.

This is the same area today

This is looking from further south, this finger of saltmarsh reaches to
Potts corner and beyond. I think I understand why we are seeing this
expansion, I'll get some shots to demonstrate tomorrow.

Kevin Eaves checked this afternoon 

Wheatear, the juvenile was still around the slipway.

Small Copper on the saltmarsh edge

The solitary chick on the middle platform continues to thrive despite 
not having a nest. Looks like it is good at pestering Mum.

I went down a little later to watch the beach by the wooden jetty become exposed (Malcolm). Unlike yesterday just a handful of Black-Headed gulls turned up to feed. The only Mediterranean gull seen was an adult resting between the outfalls.

First two newly fledged Lesser Black-Backed gulls

Cormorants and a Grey Heron on the wooden jetty

Egrets instinctively know how to fish. But they have to learn to be fearful. Unfortunately, we soon teach them.

A warm, dry and sunny day. A light west wind.

South shore (Malcolm)

I checked twice today, in the morning as the incoming tide was reaching Red Nab, and this afternoon as the ebbing tide was uncovering the beach by the wooden jetty.

Mediterranean gulls 9 - this morning there were just two adults. This afternoon seven adults, a 2nd and a 3rd calendar year ended up on the beach by the jetty.

3rd calendar year Med waiting on the sea for the feeding beach to be exposed

Two adult and a 2nd calendar year Mediterranean gull
You can see that the Sandmason worm tubes are more prominent 

The only ringed bird was the one seen on Thursday, we now have an updated 
history. It has been seen since it left us last year, at Asturias Spain in January.

Surprisingly, there was no Peregrine disturbance today

This Black-Headed gull hs some sort of infection on its foot - looks painful!

Curlew 100+ scattered around this morning, 240 headed to north side this afternoon 

Just a few of the Curlew 

Common Sandpiper 1 flew across Red Nab this morning 

Rock Pipit 2 adult above the lighthouse nest site

Rock Pipit

Wheatear - the juvenile was seen by the saltmarsh on both visits.

Juvenile Wheatear looking more mature each day

Little Egret just 2 today. This immature bird hasn't learned to be wary of people yet, I was less than 10m away but it waked closer to me. But it knew how to catch shrimps, three in quick succession at the end of this clip.

A small Shrimp disappearing into a Little Egret

There were plenty of butterflies around the saltmarsh 

Common Blue

Small Tortoiseshell 

Gatekeeper 

Also: Small White and  Ringlet. Plus several Silver Y which were also seen along the sea wall.

In the Nature Park.

This Blackbird seemed to be enjoying the afternoon sun. I wondered if it was anting, but I checked when it moved on and there were no ants.

Young Robin and a Dunnock collecting grit from a freshly laid path

Chiffchaff 

Butterflies included:

Speckled Wood, Common Blue, Ringlet, Comma, Meadow Brown and the first Peacock seen for a while.

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

Just a quick afternoon check of the main pond

Little grebe

Grey Heron, Mallard and an unusually tolerant male Mute Swan

Red-Veined Darter probably two

This one was near to where the swans rest on the west bank

Probably another patrolling over the pond

Common Darter 2

Black-Tailed Skimmer 2 males

Emperor 1 male

Butterflies included:

Speckled Wood, Large White, Small White, Green-Veined White, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper and Red Admiral.

Little gull, for a little while

A dry, largely sunny day with a freshening NW wind

South shore (Malcolm)

I went 08:00 this morning as the tide was reaching Red Nab. On these tides, at this time of year, normally lots of small gulls roost on Red Nab (these neap tides are not high enough to cover the rocks so they can rest there over the tide). But with the recent Peregrine activity I wasn't optimistic. Sure enough, before I got in position a Peregrine flushed all the small gulls from Red Nab. Fortunately, some returned, including one very small gull....

Little Gull 1 2nd calendar year

Little Gull with Herring Gull

Not a lot of gulls had returned, but there were Meds amongst them

Mediterranean gull 7 adult plus 1 3rd calendar year 

This adult Med (left) has already lost its hood

I couldn't see any ringed birds, but before I had managed to see every leg the Peregrines cleared all but the large gulls again.

Gulls and Curlew chased from Red Nab. The Little Gull is amongst them,
but you can't really make it out. If you want to try it is one of the lower birds
to the left of centre (but you will have to open the image)

The gulls scattered and ended up resting on the mud, but being dry many
sat down, like this Mediterranean gull. No chance of checking for rings

Osprey 1 "resting" on the post at the seaward end of No.2 outfall. It was late in the tide for fishing, possibly it had caught something earlier and had eaten it while on the post. I'm sure it would have loved to rest a while, but the gulls weren't for having it. This clip from Red Nab.

The next time I looked it had moved on

Curlew 150+

Little Egret 9

Three Little Egret on the saltmarsh 

This shot from the edge of the saltmarsh shows how the roots of Samphire and
 Marsh grass consolidate the mud. Not enough to stand up to a serious storm.
But enough to allow the saltmarsh to extend slightly further in most years.

Juvenile Wheatear by the saltmarsh, looks to be the same as yesterday's bird

Painted Lady on the saltmarsh 

Heysham skear ((Malcolm) 14:45 - 15:45

The skear was just becoming exposed as I started.

Gulls - there were none to begin with, but they were arriving all the time, the following numbers are maximums:

Herring 300 - including one new ringed bird

Lesser Black-Backed 20

Mediterranean 2 adults - they just stopped off for a drink and a freshen up before continuing north. They look to be drinking seawater, but they were in a freshwater runoff and the water would have been brackish 

Black-Headed 10

Waders:

Oystercatcher 400

Curlew 45

Redshank 24

The Redshank flocks are getting larger

Also:

Eider 2 - a male in eclipse and a separate female

Female Eider

Little Egret 1

Heysham Nature Reserve- Kingfisher - I recorded one perched by dipping pond and then flew off 

Kevin Eaves had this moth in his overnight trap.

A rather uninspiring looking Crescent-striped in the trap last night. A local and nationally scarce species, the larvae of which feed on sea grasses. 

It does show a nice silky sheen from a certain angle and in a certain light.