DUCKS AT DUSK

Martin Cock had me scurrying down to the Reeveshall pool for the last hour of daylight on the evening of Wednesday 11th to have a look at a drake garganey. Armed with telescope, it didn't take long to locate the bird but I was pleasantly surprised to find it resting alongside a second drake garganey. Both ducks eventually got in the water to feed and the photo above shows two distant brown lumps (garganey), either side of the swimming gull. Both birds still had the fine white stripe above their eyes and also the long drooping scapular feathers hanging over the side of the grey flanks.

Garganey are one of the rarest breeding wildfowl in Essex and some of these birds are only brief visitors to Mersea in some springs. Most of the few Mersea records over the years have come from Reeveshall but birds never stay around long and breeding has never been confirmed.

There was a nice selection of birds on the pool with 3 wigeon, 2 pochard, 3 teal, 2 gadwall, 2 shelduck, 4 mallard, 6 avocet, 10 redshank, 8 lapwing, green sandpiper and two little egrets. A singing corn bunting was heard from a nearby grass field.

Marsh harriers seemed to be all around both over Reeveshall and over the nearby Langenhoe ranges. Most of the ten birds seen seemed to be adult birds looking very tatty with one count being 8 birds in the air together over Langenhoe well after sundown.

Also on Langenhoe was a barn owl hunting, cuckoo singing, 300 starlings gathering to roost as were 30 sand martins.

Not much seen along the Pyefleet despite the tide ebbing fast. Ten curlew were the only waders waiting for the tide, although avocets kept swopping the mud for the nearby Reeveshall pool.

Martin Cock had watched a hobby on a Reeveshall gate on Tuesday, the first sighting this summer for the island. Michael Thorley counted six avocets back on the saltmarsh pools near East Mersea Point on Tuesday.

Earlier on Wednesday at the park, the nightingale continued to sing by the car park and hawking over the park were some swifts, house martins, swallows and the only park hirundine residents - the 20 or so sand martins.

The noisy great spotted woodpecker chicks are still in their nest hole alongside Bromans Lane but must be ready to leave soon. The pair of little owls were both by the Lane at dusk on Tuesday evening, with one perching over the road on some wires. A couple of birdwatchers who hoped to hear the grasshopper warbler went home disappointed although they heard the Bromans Farm turtle dove singing.

Recent sunny weather has brought out the first common blue butterfly and the first meadow brown of the summer. Speckled woods and small heaths are the only other two regularly encountered at the park at the moment.

The moth trap has been running over the last few nights with several hawkmoths being found, including this lime hawkmoth dressed in its desert camouflage. Like the good haul last Saturday, elephant, poplar and eyed hawks have continued to show although cream spot tigers have petered out. Thirty-four species during Sunday night, 27 during Monday and 24 during Tuesday night.

Other moths have included the shark, light brocade, lychnis, cabbage, light arches and dark arches, buff-tip, green silver lines, pale oak beauty, common white wave and broken barred carpet.