WOODPECKER FAMILY

The green woodpeckers have bred at the country park this year and the family are often seen around the site. One of the streaky youngsters was hopping over the ground near the park buildings.

The female green woodpecker was showing the youngster how to look for ants in the grass.


On Thursday 5th at the park, at least three kestrel chicks looked ready to leave the nestbox at the back of the grazing fields. Along the dyke were two tufted duck broods of six and seven, and also two pochard broods of seven and eight. Two little egrets roosted at the pond and a reed warbler was singing here, also a house martin flew over the fields.


Along the park foreshore as the tide receded on Thursday evening near the Point, 6 avocet, 75+ black-tailed godwits, 13 golden plover, 6 dunlin, 8 ringed plover, 2 lapwing and 15 turnstone were seen along with a few curlew and redshank. Also 2 common terns, common gull and 2 Mediterranean gulls seen.


The exotic fluty calls of a bobwhite were first heard around the park on Sunday 1st and then again in the car park on the 4th. It's a very distinctive call of "bob-white" and caught the attention of several passers-by but it was very shy. A Mediterranean gull was over the park on both Sunday 1st and again on Wednesday 4th.


A little owl flew off an East Mersea roadside telegraph pole at dusk near Meeting Lane on Wednesday 4th, also ten swifts over Firs Chase that evening.


Two sparrowhawks flew over Bromans farm on Saturday 30th and a lesser whitethroat was singing at the park.

The sunny evenings recently have been very good for watching the purple hairstreak butterflies active over the oak trees at the park. About 25 were seen in the evening of Thursday 5th and then 20 on Friday 6th. Most stayed high in the tree tops but this faded male showing a hint of purple, settled a bit lower.

A faded female purple hairstreak rested on an oak leaf in the evening sun, every so often flying up when another hairstreak passed by.

A male ruddy darter was also resting in the evening sunshine on Thursday 5th near the park clifftop.

A productive mothing evening on the night of Thursday 5th saw 400 macro moths of 60 species come to the trap at the park including this colourful rosy footman. A species that only gets recorded two or three times a year.

A newish moth to the park scene is the rapidly spreading boxworm moth, first seen three summers ago and again last year. Two individuals were in the trap by the end of the night.

The nationally scarce ground lackey made its first appearance of the summer.

The dainty bordered white only shows up once a year - if that.

The strangely marked buff arches is a common moth in the summer.