GARDEN ORCHIDS

Made the annual visit to the West Mersea garden of Dave Chadwick's on the Esplanade to admire the impressive display of wild green-winged orchids on Sunday 13th.

The display of green-winged orchids was as good as ever with a few hundred spikes on show in the back garden with a further thirty on the front lawn too.

By chance the timing of the visit seemed to coincide with the flowering peak of the green-winged orchids. Last year I visited too late. Dotted about the lawn were also the spotted leaves of several common spotted orchids which will be flowering in a month's time.

Birds seen at the country park on Sunday 13th included 3 sanderling, 4 ringed plover and 2 turnstone at the Point, while a cuckoo was heard calling to the north of the park.
On Saturday 12th a hobby raced across the busy car park at tree height heading west, also a greenshank and three whimbrel flew over the park calling. At the park pond were 4 pochard and a reed warbler singing.
Along the Strood three yellow wagtails were seen by Andy Field on Saturday 12th.

Two common buzzards flew over the park on Friday 11th and the cuckoo was heard calling from trees near the pond. At West Mersea 3 swifts were over Upland Road area and a house martin was back nesting at Queens Corner.
On Wednesday 9th six common buzzards were in the air together just to the west of the park. It appeared a couple of local birds were displaying to some migrant birds that were arriving from the south-east. Nine swifts were in the skies over Kingsland Road on Wednesday, with the summer sound of screaming heard.

Butterflies at the park over the weekend have included brimstone on 12th, also speckled wood, orange tip, holly blue, large white, small white and green-veined white. Adders seen were 2 on the 13th, one on the 12th and one on 8th.

Eighteen species of macro moth visited the trap at the park on the night of Friday 11th. This nicely marked pebble prominent was the most interesting one for the night.

The swallow prominent is a regular visitor to the trap.

The well camouflaged pale prominent is another moth often seen during the season.

A latticed heath was resting on a blade of grass early in the morning.

The first clouded silver for the season, another common moth at the park.

The Chinese character moth, looking like a bird dropping.
Other moths noted were buff-tip, shuttle-shaped dart, pine beauty, angle shades, least black arches, maidens blush, white-pinion spotted, scorched carpet, common quaker, brimstone, common carpet, oak hook-tip, lychnis, cabbage and knot-grass.