HEIGHT OF SUMMER

It really feels like the height of summer with clear blue skies on a hot Saturday 4th. Here at East Mersea Point at high tide the only activity to watch in the afternoon was the human variety messing about on the water. On the saltmarsh pools near the Point, the two pairs of avocets were still present although their chicks must've been having a siesta amongst the vegetation as they couldn't be seen. Four lapwings and two golden plovers were the only other waders seen here.

Bird activity is often very subdued on the park when the weather is very hot and it's often difficult to see many birds. However a willow warbler called for a second day which is of interest as this bird has only recently arrived at the park for a stopover on its long journey south. Autumn migration has already begun! A yellow wagtail passed over calling and it too may've been on the move south as well. A little egret rested at the park pond while waiting for the high tide to recede on the mudflats.

Dotted along the grass path inside the seawall are several large clumps of slender birdsfoot trefoil. It is adding a real splash of colour at the moment as much of the surrounding grasses are dying off and turning brown. As the name implies this variety of trefoil has thinner leaves than the common birdsfoot trefoil. Both plants are present on the park and both are popular with the butterflies and the bees.

Golden samphire is at its peak at the moment along the back of saltmarshes and also on the side of seawalls just above the high tide-line. The plant is well distributed around the Island, as it is around many of the saltmarshes of the Essex coast but it's actually a nationally scarce plant, growing here on the northern edge of its European range.

Making the most of the bright yellow flowers were lots of painted lady butterflies. On one clump on the park seawall were about a dozen painted ladies, which made an attractive sight. There seems to be lots of painted ladies around at the moment and their fast powerful flight with flickering orange wings were catching the eye all over the park. There could've been up to fifty seen around the park today making it another good season for the painted ladies.

An evening stroll along one of the footpaths near the Firs Chase caravan site revealed this very innocuous clump of Japanese knotweed hiding along a hedgerow. We should be grateful here that this pernicious alien is only on the Island in less than a five metre section of hedge. It is a real pest in many parts of the UK where it has colonised many areas especially riverbanks, squeezing out the native plants.

A large group of about 300 black-headed gulls circled high over the fields feasting on the swarms of flying ants that have taken to the skies in the warm weather. One gull seen flying around with very white translucent wings was a Mediterranean gull, which was noteworthy.

West Mersea does sunsets very well and it provides a scene that you can never tire of admiring. This is the view from the Hard of the sun dropping below the horizon with some of the boats moored in the Mersea Quarters.
Also admiring the scene was Denis Smy who told me that he had recently watched a grass-snake climb off the mud in front of the Coast Road car park and slither away along the pathway!
You never know what unexpected delights you're going to come across on Mersea!