STROOD SONGSTERS

Managed a couple of walks along the Strood seawall on Monday 17th and the generally sunny conditions seemed to encourage many of the birds to sing, especially in the early evening. Along many sections of the seawall there are big patches of the hoary cress with their white flowers on show at the moment, as in the photo above.

Songsters along the seawall included 4 corn buntings, 4 reed buntings, 5 skylarks, sedge warbler and the cuckoo too. Also noted were 2 pairs of yellow wagtails, male marsh harrier, little egret, 3 grey herons (including a youngster), 3 whimbrel, 4 little terns, common tern and 2 sand martins heading north.

It was a surprise to see this dainty female large red damselfly resting on some nettles on a path near the Feldy cemetery on the edge of West Mersea, a bit unexpected as there's no obvious watercourse nearby. In time it will no doubt head to a pond or ditch to pair up and lay eggs. Although the large red damselfly has only recently turned up on the Island at the eastern end two years ago, this is the first sighting for the west of the island.

The sunshine also saw lots of orange-tips, small whites, green-veined whites, large whites, speckled woods and holly blues in gardens and along the seawall.

Also enjoying the sunshine was this common lizard found basking amongst the long grass beside the Feldy cemetery. It's nice to see these little creatures right on the edge of West Mersea.