HARRIER SUCCESS

I wasn't exactly alone when I went for my early evening walk along the north side of the Island on Sunday 15th, however the only conversations that these four-legged friends were engaged in, involved a lot of mooing and baaing! I did see one other human on my stroll, someone with a lot of time on his hands as he stood by his small yacht which had run aground on the Pyefleet Channel mud during the early afternoon high tide. His near twelve hour ordeal will probably last into the early hours of Monday morning, when it's high tide again.

The afternoon had been sunny and warm but it became hazy and cooler in the last two hours of the evening. It was nearly still and so all the various bird calls brought this remote Channel to life. In the deteriorating evening light, it was useful being able to locate certain species by their calls. Walking beside the saltings, the sound of the afternoon's high tide still draining off the marsh could be heard as it trickled away. As in the photo below the marsh was still saturated.
The big excitement on the walk was seeing two young marsh harrier chicks briefly in the air with the mum and dad flying nearby. The young birds are dark brown all over but with a cream coloured crown. It was a view lasting only a few seconds but occurring above the part of the reedbed where we believe the nest was located, this seems good breeding confirmation. This is the first successful breeding of marsh harriers on Mersea Island, although it has been on the cards for a few years. The neighbouring Langenhoe army ranges have had breeding harriers for about ten years now with a handful of pairs each year.
A close view of the male harrier was had earlier in the evening as it passed low over Shop Lane, hunting the grass fields near where I had parked the car.

On the Reeveshall pool, four green sandpipers, grey heron, little egret and a lone swan were the only birds of interest. Walking to the suitably named "spotted redshank stile", there were five spotted redshanks feeding in their usual part of the Pyefleet on the north side. Lots of waders could be seen on the mud right into the distance of which most seemed to be redshank. A silhouetted group of 70 black-tailed godwits could be made out against the hazy sun. Two greenshanks called out loud while one common sandpiper was seen crossing the Channel as it too called out. Five avocets gathered on the edge of the water, some having a quick snooze. Five grey plover and ten dunlin were the only other waders different from the regular curlews, oystercatchers and redshank.

In the Channel, two great crested grebes was a notable record for mid summer here as they don't breed anywhere nearby, so maybe they're a non-breeding pair or a failed pair. A couple of little terns could be heard plopping into the water as they fished.

In the large grass field two corn buntings sang to each other from the tops of thistles while along one of the reed filled ditches, a reed warbler sang lazily away and the bright male yellowhammer flitted between bushes.

At the end of the walk a hobby flashed across the Pyefleet in determined mood and as I followed it through the telescope, it was making for the evening sand martin roost. About 300 birds were gathering over Langenhoe Point and this hobby was definitely after a late night snack before bedtime. Through the fading light in the distance, the hobby made repeated attempts to chase down some of the birds without any luck.
A barn owl was seen in the distance over the Ranges and as I made my way back to the car, a couple of little owls duetted to each other.


The first part of the evening was lovely and sunny and a brief walk along a path near Shop Lane provided good views of lots of butterflies typical of hedgerows and grasslands. Virtually the same selection as yesterday except one or two large skippers were different. The large colourful peacock pictured above always steals the show though.
Black-tailed skimmer and ruddy darters were the dragonflies noted along the field edge.
Singing turtle dove and two singing yellowhammers were the birds of note here.

Earlier in the day I was rewarded with a view of the hyperactive hummingbird hawkmoth feeding on lavender flowers in the garden in Firs Chase. It spent less than 30 seconds in the garden before flying fast and high away to the neighbouring garden. Hopefully we will be treated to more views this summer as in recent years it has become a familiar sight.

Other local news comes from Andy Field and Richard Hull who visited the nearby Langenhoe Ranges and counted 5 young marsh harriers, successfully breeding stonechats, 5 greenshank and a ruff.