TAME TURNSTONES

This tame group of turnstones were enjoying the sunshine whilst roosting on the side of the Rewsalls seawall at high tide on Friday 26th. It has been a regular roost site in recent weeks with 70 birds noted today and all very confiding, just five metres away.


There was a good number of wheatears seen amongst the big bales on the Rewsalls marshes with nine birds noted. Probably the highest spring number in one group that I've seen on the Island, with about a third of the birds were brightly marked males. The big bales were handy look-out perches which they kept flying back up onto.

Also noted during the mid-day visit was a yellow wagtail, 2 little egrets, 4 shelduck, 4 swallows, willow warbler, lesser whitethroat and 5 whitethroats.

During a brief visit to the country park a cuckoo was heard calling to the north of the park, over a week since the last one was heard calling. Two adders were resting at their usual location in the morning.

Plenty of warm sunshine on Thursday 25th made it feel almost muggy at times. Spent some time in the field by the park-pond, pictured above, getting the area ready for the arrival of cattle for the summer season. A sedge warbler was singing briefly from a thicket of brambles beside the water and there was also a very brief song from a reed warbler too from the reedmace.

On the water 4 pairs of pochard and 10 tufted ducks were still present and one of the swans was sitting on the nest, although probably no eggs yet.

Walking back to the car park early evening, I recognised a call of a redstart coming from the hedgeline along the central track on the park. A careful look alongside the bushes was rewarded with a flash of a bright orangey-red tail of a female redstart. The bird was watched for a few minutes as it perched on the bush, dropping down to the ground to feed. The bird stayed around in the evening for Andy and Steve to admire the bird too.

Other birds noted during the day was a male marsh harrier hunting low along the field adjacent to the car park, there was the increasingly scarce sound on the Island of a male red-legged partridge calling from the same field. The first swift for the park this spring raced low over the car park as it sped westwards.
Two yellow wagtails flew over the park as did the usual small number of swallows and sand martins.

 

This common lizard seemed brave enough to stay put when I began to move some wooden posts one of which he was using to sunbathe on, near the park pond. He was left to carry on after this picture was quickly snapped.


Six adders were out in the regular spot not far from the car park. Butterflies noted were green-veined white, comma, 5 peacocks and 2 small tortoiseshells.

The moth trap operated during Wednesday night at the park and this pretty shoulder-stripe was one to catch the eye. Just over fifty moths of about a dozen species were noted although just one new species for the season recorded, pictured below.

This frosted green was the first one of the season and often turns up in ones and twos during the spring.