SKIPPERS IN THE SUN

The sun shone all day on Saturday 26th at the country park, ideal weather again for many butterflies such as this Small skipper, pictured above. Both the Small skipper and the Essex skipper occur on the Island and both look similar to each other. One of the ways to tell them apart is to check the antennae tips which are orange in the Small but black in the Essex.

These two skippers are commonly found at the park especially during July. They love the grasslands where they lay their eggs but they also feed on any flowers in the area such as thistles, brambles, ragwort and clover.

Other butterflies seen included red admiral, peacock, comma, meadow brown, hedge brown, speckled wood, small white and large white. One or two six-spot burnet moths were also seen.

The path around the north side of the park provides a mix of sunny spots, shady areas and shelter from the breezes. Where the bramble is flowering, many of the butterflies could be found.

Not many birds were noted around the park in the hot conditions although 25 sand martins flew around the cliff, 50 black-tailed godwits were out on the mud, a pair of goldfinches fed on thistles and a stock dove were all noted. A sparrowhawk flew past the car park carrying some prey to the cliff-top so maybe they are nesting near here after all.

Later in the day a group of us were ferried out to Packing Shed Island on Saturday evening for a very worthwhile fundraising function and was able to enjoy the Mersea Quarters as the sun went down. The photo above shows the old oyster pits on the Island in the foreground, looking back towards Coast Road in the background.

The gulls were very noisy with a few herring gulls presumably nesting on the shell and shingle banks. Towards Salcott Creek were lots of the black-headed gulls nesting on Sunken Island. A distant marsh harrier could be seen over Old Hall marshes, while a little egret fed along the water's edge. Several noisy oystercatchers flew past.

Martin Cock visited Reeveshall and saw on the Pool a little ringed plover, greenshank, 8 green sandpipers while a ruff was seen on the nearby mudflats.

Andy Field and Richard Hull visited the nearby Langenhoe MOD ranges and noted wood sandpiper, 10 green sandpipers, 5 common sandpipers, 4 whimbrel, 18 greenshank, Cetti's warbler, 28 little egrets, hobby and 9 marsh harriers.