Ruddy Darter still around

Another hot sunny day, but a fresher ENE breeze offered some relief.

Middleton Nature Reserve - southern section - Janet

Male Ruddy Darter in the same spot as yesterday 

This is the area by the south side pond where the Ruddy Darter was seen

Male Common Darter

South shore - Malcolm 14:30 - 16:00

Nature Park

Red Admiral 21

Peacock 1

Painted Lady 2

Large White 2

Brimstone 1 male

Small White 8

Plus, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Small Skipper and Common Blue

Painted Lady and Red Admiral

Red Admiral

Brimstone

Hawker sp flew across the Park, likely a Southern Hawker

Butterflies seen coming in off the sea in a 20 minutes walk along the sea wall

Red Admiral 9

Painted Lady 1

Small White 13

Small White and its shadow racing along the sea wall

They were still coming off the sea at the roundhead, but whether it was the wind being fresher or there being more north in it but very few were hanging around. There was nothing on the scrub near the lighthouse and not a lot along the brambles to the waterfall.

Red Admiral 7

Peacock 1

Painted Lady 2

Meadow Brown 4

Small Tortoiseshell 1

Quite a faded Painted Lady

Small Whites and Red Admirals were coming in off at a similar rate as I walked back.

Male Linnet

Mediterranean gulls 22 were resting on the mud between the outfalls and next to the wooden jetty

Mediterranean gulls between the outfalls

Mediterranean gull

Juvenile Peregrine Falcon patrolling the sea wall

Another good dragonfly

Another dry day there was some light cloud cover in the afternoon and the freshening SE breeze made it feel cooler, but it still peaked at 28.6°C

Middleton Nature Reserve - Janet

These shots from the main pond

Red-veined Darter at least two males

Common Darter

Common Darter

Black-Tailed Skimmer

Small Red-eyed Damselflies 

Common Blue Damselflies 

Meadow Brown

These shots are from the southern section of the reserve where a new pond has just been created, it hasn't much water in it at the moment.

Ruddy Darter 1 male. One was seen here last August and that was the first record since 2007!

Male Ruddy Darter 

South shore - Malcolm

I walked along the sea wall twice today 10:45 - 12:00 and 15:30 - 17:00

Red Nab was virtually deserted this morning with all the gulls and waders
on the mud. More on this later

As I walked out this morning there was a steady procession of butterflies coming in off the sea, despite the breeze briefly shifting to the west when I was half way along.

Small White 14

Red Admiral 3

In the scrub near the lighthouse 

Meadow Brown 15

Small White 8

Peacock 1

In the brambles between the lighthouse and waterfall 

Meadow Brown 7

Small White 13

Small Tortoiseshell 4

Painted Lady 3

Peacock 2 

Red Admiral 1

This is the line of brambles and Willow Herb between the lighthouse and waterfall 

This afternoon the mix of butterflies had changed. Walking out:

Red Admiral 7

Peacock 2

Painted Lady 1

Small Tortoiseshell 1

Small White 2

In the scrub near the lighthouse 

Peacock 9

Painted Lady 2

Small White 5

Meadow Brown 8

I didn't go down to the waterfall this time, but there were more Peacocks and Red Admirals seen

Peacock 

Mediterranean gull 27 scattered around this afternoon, but most on the feeding beach by the wooden jetty.

These were on the feeding beach

This is the Med with the lower half of its right leg missing.
Resting with Black-Headed gulls between the outfalls

Rock Pipit 1

Peregrine Falcon 2

I'm not certain what is happening here, but it is clear why the gulls are so often flushed from Red Nab. I think the larger bird on the ground must have made a kill and was refusing to share it. This is as I set off this afternoon.

This is the Peregrine on the ground

When I got back to Red Nab this afternoon the gulls had returned and were having a cooling bath in the freshwater runoff. There is at least one Mediterranean gull amongst these.

In the Nature Park it was predominantly Small Whites in the morning, only a few Small White this afternoon but more Peacock and Red Admirals. Other butterflies seen: Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Large White, Common Blue, Small Skipper and Speckled Wood

Small Skipper

Large White

Peacock

Redeyed Damsels arrive.......at last!

 The early morning east breeze died to nothing before switching to a light NW breeze. Wall to wall sunshine saw temperatures raise to 29.8°C by late afternoon 

Middleton Nature Reserve - main pond

Pete checked first this morning:

Small red-eyed damselfly at least two scoped in the middle defending bits of emergent vegetation from common blue. This is the first record for the recording area. Eventually saw at least 5 but likely more nearer the margins

Lesser emperor chased off by two male Emperor. 

Just one worn male Red-veined darter and an ovipositing female to begin with then a pair in tandem

I checked early afternoon (Malcolm)

There were at least six male Small Red-eyed Damselflies close to the edges on what little floating vegetation there is on this pond (the record highlighted in bold red to signify that these are new to the area, but they weren't unexpected. Pete has been monitoring their sightings as they edged closer and closer to us at sites to our south. They will likely soon be relatively commonplace here).

male Small Red-eyed Damselfly 

male Common Blue Damselfly 

Lesser Emperor 1 male flew right past me as soon as I arrived. Too close and quick to get a shot.

Emperor 3 males and a female 

Brown Hawker 1 male and 1 female

Female Brown Hawker

Black-Tailed Skimmer 5 males

Common Darter 1

Swift 2

Swallow 1 

House Martin 1

Reed warbler 1

Cetti's warbler 2

Blackcap 1

Stock Dove two flew south

Little Grebe in the middle of the pond, the damselfly on the right is a 
Small Red-eye

I had a quick look on the "no swimming'" pond, there is a much larger area
of the floating vegetation the redeyes like....

....but I only saw one. To be fair I only checked a small area of the pond, and
my original plan to check the other ponds too was postponed for another day.
It was just too hot!

Janet managed a quick, but successful check of the main pond this evening.

Female Redeyes had joined the males and at least two pairs were ovipositoring.

Where there is no surface weed, a feather is something to reflect on

 male Black-Tailed Skimmer

South shore - Malcolm

A walk along the sea wall 10:30 - 12:00

The early east breeze had already stopped and a light west breeze was developing. There were still a few butterflies drifting in as I walked out

Small White 2

Red Admiral 2

Painted Lady 1

The Painted Lady stopped for a top up on this clump of Sea Mayweed

A lot of the earlier arrivals has stayed to feed in the scrub and brambles between the lighthouse and waterfall.

Meadow Brown 6 (possibly residents)

Small Tortoiseshell 4

Small White 9

Painted Lady 1

Red Admiral 1

Willow Warbler trying to cool down amongst the brambles

The Herring gull adults were trying to get the juveniles on the harbour platform to test their wings

Cormorants panting on the wooden jetty. A white butterfly is coming in
to the right of the right hand side Cormorant 

This ferry is leaving port, just as the tide is about to expose the feeding beach
by the wooden jetty. This shot demonstrates the two main reasons why this beach
is ideal for Sandmason worms. First it is clearly protected from damaging waves
on three sides. But a rock bar between the end of the outfall and the end of the jetty
also provides some protection on the fourth side. The other reason is the gentle wash
that both departing and arriving ships create over the beach, providing the worms
with a regular supply of nutrients. An early arrival Mediterranean gull is arrowed

This is the arrowed Mediterranean gull. This clip demonstrates the wash provided up the beach by the leaving ferry.

Only four Meds turned up today

And there were no gulls on either of the outfalls

They were all away anting. This was one of three Mediterranean gulls anting
with Black-Headed gulls over my house at 14:00

East breezes forecast for the next few days, we could get more interesting insects arriving!