FIRST SWALLOW (OF SORTS)

It's cheating a bit but this picture represents the first swallow seen at the country park this summer - a Swallow Prominent moth! More about this individual later.

Thursday 12th started off on a great note - a very musical one, with the welcoming song of one of the nightingales newly in from Africa during the night. At 8am the loud and rich song carried 200 metres across the car park where I was able to pause and admire the energy the little bird has when it has just got in from its long haul flight. This male turned up on April 23rd last year and bred successfully along with a second pair near the park pond. It is great to see this bird return back to the same corner of scrub to set up its territory again. I even managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of this small shy brown bird as it flew across a path and into another thick bush.

Elsewhere the sweet song of the willow warbler could still be heard and there was also the faint call of a yellow wagtail as it passed high over the park.
Swallows have arrived in small numbers with a pair seen near the village shop and three on wires near West Mersea. Newly arrived blackcaps were heard in Firs Chase and Mersea Avenue.

Local birder Richard Hull logged wheatear, sandwich tern, yellow wagtail, blackcap and chiffchaff along with a pair of Mediterranean gulls, on his walk along the beach from West Mersea to East Mersea.

In the evening Steve Entwhistle had good views of the nightingale, a badger near the hide but could only hear the resident tawny owl. Several pipistrelle bats were hunting the park.
The moth trapping session was disappointing with only 20 moths of 4 species - two swallow prominents being the most notable. The photo above shows the swallow-tail shaped wing profile and a keen eye may spot the little "prominent" tuft where these wings meet.