SPRING SNAKES

This grass-snake was watched sliding through the undergrowth at the country park on Saturday 1st. It's the first sighting of a grass-snake at the park this year - and judging by previous years, this sighting might be the only one this year here.

Happy to soak up the sun at the park on a warm Sunday 2nd was this very brown looking female adder. The adders have been very scarce at the park this spring, maybe with all the attention in recent springs, they're getting a bit camera-shy these days.

A handful of teal including this male were feeding on the saltmarsh pool inside the old fort near the East Mersea Point on Sunday. Further round the saltmarsh 12 avocets were noted on the pools below the Golfhouse.

A snipe was resting on the grazing fields and a grey heron was standing by the central ditch in the grazing fields on Sunday. A common buzzard flew west over the car park on Sunday afternoon.

Thirteen black-tailed godwits were on the park pools on Saturday, many starting to develop their summer russet plumage.
Also present on the fields were 15 shoveler, 40 wigeon, 50 curlew, 50 redshank and 20+ lapwing. On the pond were two pairs of pochard and 16 tufted ducks. A marsh harrier flew west along the park coastline.

A fox was seen sleeping near the back of the park pond on Sunday morning, lifting it's head up briefly for a quick look around before nodding back off again.

Two small tortoiseshell butterflies and 5 peacocks were on the wing during Sunday at the park.

A female red squirrel made a brief visit to the bird bath for a drink in the Firs Chase garden on Saturday morning. She had just spent ten minutes at the feeder in the other corner of the garden. The female has been absent from the feeder for over a week, although the paler male has still been making early morning visits each day, including an hour and a half before this female visited on Saturday.