WILLOW EMERALD REAPPEARANCE

A Willow emerald damselfly made a surprise appearance in the Firs Chase garden on a blustery Friday 16th. It found a sheltered corner of the garden to spend a few minutes resting on some clematis stalks. This is the second sighting in the garden following an earlier one a month ago. The willow emerald has quickly colonised the south-east of England since it first arrived from the continent ten years ago.

Above the Firs Chase garden on Friday were five swifts in the early evening and a passing sparrowhawk.

A juvenile goldfinch was perched up over a path near the Firs Chase caravan site, the rest of the family nearby on Friday 9th. A willow warbler was seen feeding in bushes down the side of the caravan site and a swift flying over the field near the houses.
Along the Strood seawall were 160 golden plover, ten Mediterranean gulls, whimbrel were in the channel, also 200 black-tailed godwits near the Dabchicks sailing club. Also from the seawall were 20 linnets, 2 yellow wagtails, common buzzard and two grey herons.

A hornet rested on a bush near the Firs Chase caravan site on Thursday 8th.
Three common buzzards were circling high over the Ray Channel while on the mud near the Dabchicks were 100 black-tailed godwits. Two painted ladies were seen near the seawall.

Four willow warblers were feeding and calling from a silver birch tree in the Firs Chase garden on Thursday 8th, also a sparrowhawk passed overhead.

On Wednesday 7th three recently fledged avocets were on the Pyefleet mud near Reeveshall.
 Twenty Mediterranean gulls were resting on the mud with the black-headed gulls, five young shelducklings were with their two nanny adults and 100 black-tailed godwits were on the mud near the Oyster Fishery.

There is still water in the Reeveshall pool and the avocet family with four young were still present on Wednesday 7th. Also over Reeveshall were three circling common buzzards and 200+ swallows hawking over the fields.
A speckled wood butterfly was seen in Adrian Amos's East Road garden on Wednesday.

It was nice to see the big flock of 250+ house sparrows still feeding in the ripening wheat field along the Strood on Tuesday 6th. The sparrow flock has been here most days for the last month or so in varying numbers. Also in the wheat field a whinchat was flying about and perching on the stalk-heads, as were two reed buntings. Two willow warblers were feeding in the bushes down the side of the Firs Chase caravan site.

Five greenshank were feeding at low tide along the Strood channel on Tuesday 6th, also five little egrets, a Mediterranean gull and a common tern.
Two sand martins flew over the Firs Chase garden on Tuesday afternoon, also here were two painted ladies and a brown argus butterfly.

A Mediterranean gull perched on a post along the Strood channel on Monday 5th.
Also along the Strood channel were 5 greenshank, 3 grey plover, a golden plover, common tern while 100 black-tailed godwits near the Dabchicks.
In the fields were 100 linnets, 200 house sparrows with 8 yellow wagtails also noted nearby.

At Maydays farm, five common sandpipers were seen on Monday by Martin Cock.

Three painted ladies were seen in Adrian Amos's East Road garden on Friday 2nd with two the following day.