MAYDAYS MARTINS

At least twenty five house martins were flying around the farmyard at Maydays farm on Sunday 3rd.

Many of the house martins were gathering mud from a corner of the yard, to help make their mud nests on the nearby farmhouse.

A colourful male yellowhammer singing his "little-bit-of-bread-and-no-cheese" song from a bush by the Maydays seawall.

Four singing male yellowhammers were singing in Haycocks Lane and along the Maydays borrowdyke bushes. One reed bunting was singing by the dyke here, also a corn bunting on the main Reeveshall grass field and 3 reed warblers singing along the dyke.

It stayed sunny for most of the mid-day period on Sunday along the Reeveshall seawall, although from there, it looked like sea mist had come onto some of the southern side of the Island.
A male marsh harrier displayed high overhead as it crossed from Langehoe to Reeveshall, also the female seen hunting the fields here. A hobby crossed from Reeveshall to Langenhoe to hunt dragonflies there. A cuckoo was heard calling from the ranges.

The Pyefleet channel was devoid of birdlife despite plenty of mud on show. Apart from a few gulls, 6 ringed plovers was the only wader flock, one or two oystercatcher the only other wader other than a redshank on the saltmarsh. Three lapwings were on the Maydays fields. Two common terns, 3 pairs of shelduck and a gadwall were noted in the Pyefleet.

Four common blue butterflies were on the wing.
The most notable butterfly was a restless clouded yellow flying along the Reeveshall seawall.

The small heath was the commonest butterfly with 50+ seen along the Maydays and Reeveshall seawalls, also small white and a holly blue seen.

A few moths were seen during the day along the seawall, with this thistle ermine flushed from some grass. Two cream-spot tigers were a colourful sight, also seen were cinnabar, Mother Shipton and silver-Y. At least ten four-spotted chasers were flying up and down the Maydays dyke.