PARISH BLUES

Various sightings of note to report over the last few days with the highlight being the sight on Monday 9th of the first two avocet chicks to have ever been born on the Island. This would've seemed really exceptional maybe ten years ago but now they are turning up all round the Essex coast to breed. Two pairs of avocets have frequented some saltmarsh pools near the East Mersea Point for the last couple of months and the nests were tucked away on some small sea lavender islands. Five pairs of avocets nested on Reeveshall three summers ago but the nests failed.

Andy Field counted 5 green sandpipers, ruff, two spotted redshanks, greenshank at Reeveshall on Monday.

On Monday late at night whilst driving back into the park, I had to slow down to allow a badger to cross the road safely. It jogged quickly across less than ten metres in front of the car. It has been a long time since I have seen any badgers at night crossing the road.
On the subject of crossing the road, I had to slow down as I approached West Mersea on Tuesday evening to ensure I didn't run over a hedgehog. I stopped the car and the alert little chap momentarily stared into the car headlights and decided to return back into the verge. This was just as well as a car at this moment came racing past, followed shortly after by a bus.

Still on the nocturnal theme, my sister in law was horrified to discover a monster of an insect occupying her bathroom one evening, causing her much frustration as she could not use the bathroom. Finding courage in the morning to capture the flying-beast, she delivered a shoe-box with beastly contents to me. Like finding a birthday present delivered by the postman, This present on my doorstep turned out to be the very large privet hawk-moth, although it looked very worn and faded.

Three sandwich terns called out to each other with loud grating calls as they flew close inshore at high tide on Wednesday morning. A short while earlier a group of 15 common terns and about 10 black-headed gulls hovered above a shoal of small fish-fry, only about 50 metres offshore. The birds swooping down every so often to try and pluck one of the fry out of the water.

Unusually a male yellowhammer has continued to frequent the park and its rather disjointed song "little-bit-of-bread-and-no-cheese" has been broadcast from the tops of bushes. Another declining farmland bird that is still clinging on is the turtle dove and it was nice to hear a second bird singing near the park entrance.

Whilst chatting to two regulars beside a hedgerow in the park, we watched in amazement as a flock of 37 long-tailed tits fly over, round, between us and in one case smack head-first into the window of the tractor cab. This group is probably made up of at least three different families that have come together as it will be safer for them foraging in numbers. We weren't expecting such a huge flock and there has never been one this size seen here before. Each little fluffy ball with a long tail, all following a leader, gave lots of close and confiding views with some perching only a metre away from us.

The warm weather has brought one or two adders out in their usual spot in the park with up to three have been basking in the sun.


There has been the wonderful colourful sight over the last fortnight in East Mersea of acres of blue fields, in some places in every direction you look. At first glance the crop looks like the familiar borage that has been grown here for the last few years. However a closer look at the flowers and the range of colour varieties within the crop reveal this is actually echium, or bugloss, a close relative of borage.

Like borage it has great health benefits through the rich omega oils and for aromatherapy usage. The flowers seem to be popular with many insects especially the local bees and apparently if the crop was left as stubble in the winter would provide valuable feeding for birds. I was surprised to flush a pair of grey partridge from the crop within a few metres of one of the field corners.

These are the two flowers for comparison with echium above and then the star-shaped flowers of borage below. There are one or two borage plants flourishing along the Bromans Lane verges.