SUNNY START TO SEPTEMBER

Sunshine on Saturday 1st September brought out a good variety of life, most enjoying the warmth as they sheltered from the cool northerly breeze. This comma was one of several butterflies on the wing, the first day for some time that it has been warm enough for them. Others seen included common blue, small heath, small white, green-veined white, speckled wood, red admiral and peacock.

Dragonfly numbers are getting to their peak here in the park with good numbers of common darters basking or resting on bushes, fenceposts, paths etc. Several of the larger southern hawkers were also seen and migrant hawkers too along some of the sheltered paths.

Two adders were seen in their usual spots in the park while my only view of a common lizard was in the collecting jar of one of the young local budding naturalists, young Finn aged about 7. He proudly showed me the young lizard before he gave it back its freedom.

One of the eye-catching bushes at the moment is this guelder rose with its very poisonous red berries.

The expanse of long grass in the park is ideal for many grasshoppers and crickets especially this very common Roesels bush cricket. This female with its long scythe-shaped egg-laying ovipositor, came into the house for a change of scenery. This little bush cricket is responsible for adding some life and atmosphere to any walk along the Mersea seawalls in summer with its constant buzzing sound like a sewing machine. The sunnier the day, the more these little buzzers sing.

One of the less showy crickets is the dark bush cricket which seems to come more to life at dusk especially along the hedgerows where it sits and chirps from the thickets of brambles and nettlebeds.



Locating bird activity in the evening was slow but the time passed in the hide watching the cows and their young calves munching their way across the pond-field. The nearby hedges and bushes during the day had only a few whitethroats and lesser whitethroats seen along with a chiffchaff and willow warbler too.

The little egret roosted above the pond during the high tide while below teal numbers increased to ten. Many of the 25 mallard are still moulting and nearby tufted duck, ruddy duck and shoveler were also present.

Up to 50 swallows, house martins and one or two sand martins flew around the park and neighbouring fields. Some sand martins were seen still feeding young in the cliff.

Two foxes were out on the prowl as the light faded with both of them appearing from the same corner of the field. After emerging into the grass field they stopped to survey the scene for rabbits as well as monitoring where the herd of cattle were heading.

Two moth traps were run through the night and for once the cloud cover didn't break and the breeze lightened. Over 120 moths of about 25 species was a lot better than recent cool nights produced. Despite the haul no new moths for the season were recorded. This suitably named blood-vein pictured above often turns up and is quite a widespread moth.

One of the most noticeable moths at the moment is the light emerald pictured below, with its washed out pale green colour. Along with the brimstone moth they are one of the easiest to see in the torchlight as they rest on the grass near the trap.
Other moths seen included frosted orange, burnished brass, canary-shouldered thorn, rosy rustic, latticed heath and a pair of spectacles.