LATE SUMMER SUN

The fine weather of the last week continued on to Sunday 21st, with the Island enjoying more of this late summer sunshine.

The various rows of flowers at the East Mersea Pick Your Own field such as the Helichrysums above and the Stachys below, added some late summer colour. Lots of small white and large white butterflies fluttered around the flowers with comma and peacock noted too. One or two goldfinches were heard near the row of ripening sunflowers.

Spent an hour in the early afternoon on the Reeveshall seawall, where the tide was coming in along the Pyefleet Channel. The picture below shows the seawall section just north of Shop Lane. Very few small birds seen although a chiffchaff called from a small bush by the dyke and another from the Shop Lane wood. A little owl was heard calling from a hedgerow near the wood.

The main waders noted on the Pyefleet mud were 30 avocets close in, along with 125 black-tailed godwits and 25 knot. Redshank, ringed plover, dunlin and grey plover were also seen in small numbers. In the channel were 60 shelduck, a mix of adults and youngsters. Five grey herons and 10 little egrets were also noted along the edge of the Pyefleet Channel.

On the Reeveshall pool 2 greenshanks, little egret, teal and 2 pairs of mute swans were the only birds seen here. Little else seen over the large expanse of Reeveshall except a kestrel and a flock of rooks and jackdaws mobbing a sparrowhawk in flight.

The recent mowing of the grass inside the seawall has benefited the slender birds-foot trefoil with lots of the big yellow clumps catching the eye. Several small heath butterflies were seen and a couple of small whites.

Martin Cock on his walk earlier in the day past the Oyster Fishery, saw stonechat, kingfisher and a chiffchaff.

Richard Hull and Andy Field visited the nearby Langenhoe Marshes on Sunday and recorded common buzzard, peregrine, hobby and 3 kingfishers. Richard Hull's last visit to Langenhoe with Richard Brown on the 14th turned up 8 spotted flycatchers and pied flycatcher.

Glyn Evans with friends doing the monthly wildfowl and wader count around the Island on Monday 15th, noted short-eared owl, hobby, marsh harrier, 2 wheatear, whinchat mainly all along the north side as well as 2 little stints on the East Mersea Flats. An unidentified buzzard species was watched over Brightlingsea.

Andrew Thompson could not find the red-necked phalarope on Sunday 14th at Coopers Beach(the bird having been present for the last eight days), but was rewarded with views of a honey buzzard and two common buzzards during his visit to East Mersea.