FIRST FROSTS

The first frosts of the autumn were encountered yesterday morning and today - Friday 16th. The clear skies during the night continued through the day with a bright sun to take the chill off the air. At the park pond at Cudmore Grove, a group of 7 little egrets were easy to spot as they perched up in the willow tree waiting for the tide to turn.

On the pond some of the 25 mallard and 25 teal seemed very anxious about something near the edge. A closer scan revealed a fox curled up basking in the mid-day sun, very close to the water's edge. Also on the pond were several gadwall, shoveler and a couple of tufted ducks.

Beside the car park a mixed flock of tits worked their way through the bushes and trees. Amongst the long-tailed tits, great and blue tits were a couple of goldcrests calling out to each other with their high pitched calls.

Many trees have already dropped their leaves although some like the oak trees still have many leaves showing the full range of autumnal colours. Lots of yellows, browns, greens and many colour shades in between, can often be seen just in a single leaf, as above.

Rowan berries can still be seen on some of the trees round the park which seems unusual for mid- November considering how tasty the berries are for the birds. They have stripped most other rowan trees but this small tree has so far escaped the attentions of the local mistle thrushes, chaffinches, blackbirds and starlings.

Along the East Mersea road, the male sparrowhawk perched high in a poplar tree as I passed beneath it. In the large winter wheat fields, lots of lapwings and golden plovers were seen in small flocks with the main group of 700 birds feeding beside Chapmans Lane.

The main birds of note seen in recent days has been 2 long-tailed ducks first seen by Martin Cock at West Mersea Hard on Tuesday along with 15 red-breasted mergansers and 20 great crested grebes. Martin noted the long-tailed ducks again on Thursday and also three common scoters in the Hard. Bruce Brown also saw the long-tails near the Dabchicks on Wednesday along with an eider, while at the Esplanade there was a Mediterranean gull. Michael Thorley saw the first great northern diver for the winter off the Esplanade on Wednesday as well as a red-throated diver.

Richard Brown saw a water rail and a jack snipe in a pool beside the Coopers Beach caravan park on Wednesday.
Hugh Owen was able to watch six short-eared owls flying over the old coastal grazing marshes of Langenhoehall, to the north-east of the Pyefleet Channel. The owls appeared to be flying about in three pairs in different parts of the marshes.