Back from a short break where I was able to soak up some tropical sunshine. Seems like there's been a variety of weather during the last fortnight here ranging from heavy rain, some wind as well as some real spring warmth.
This common frog pictured above, was sitting on the pavement in Victory Road in West Mersea on a drizzly 22nd February. This is the first amphibian I've seen this year and although there was a second one seen nearby, there were no toads noted in Firs Chase that night.
A brief walk round the park in the afternoon on the 6th March produced two little owls sitting in a tree calling to each other just north of the park. A male sparrowhawk raced across the car park towards dusk and scattered the 50+ roost of goldfinches, all of which managed to escape safely.
On the park pond 6 pochard and 12 tufted duck were present as were 12 very vocal gadwall displaying to each other. Wildfowl were thinly dispersed on the flooded fields with only 100 teal and about 100 wigeon noted along with a few shoveler. A noisy flock of 300 brent geese flew over the car park calling loudly in the afternoon.
Alan Reynolds took these two photographs above and below of a Mediterranean gull he saw on the West Mersea beach on 2nd March. The Med gull is on the right in the picture above, whilst below it is the left-hand bird.
Martin Cock saw a water rail and a peregrine at the country park on March 5th whilst at Maydays Farm he saw a hen harrier hunting the fields. The little owl was seen in its favourite willow tree by the Youth Camp entrance on 29th February.
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