BASKING ADDER

This male adder was basking in the sunshine at the country park on Wednesday 11th. It stayed tightly coiled up at the base of a bramble bush and tucked out of the breeze. This male was first seen at the park on Sunday, still in the same spot.

Also enjoying the sunshine was a brimstone butterfly seen fluttering around some bushes out of the breeze at the east side of the main part of the park. Three muntjac were browsing under the trees at the back of the park pond.

On the pond were two pochard, five tufted duck and four gadwall while a stock dove was at the owl box near the pond. Ten little egrets were roosting on the flooded pools in the grazing fields, as were 200 redshank and at least 24 snipe were tucked among the rushes in the field too. In the far grazing field 200+ black-tailed godwits were gathering for the high tide roost and 300+ brent geese were feeding. A Mediterranean gull flew over the fields calling.

The wintering male blackcap in the Firs Chase garden has started singing in nearby bushes, although it is still a bit of a sub-song at the moment. The female is still visiting the bird feeders every day too.
The first slow-worm in the garden this year was seen in the compost heap on Wednesday.

An adult Mediterranean gull was resting amongst some black-headed gulls in the field next to Feldy View on Monday 9th.

The main highlight of the walk along the Strood seawall on Monday was seeing a pair of bearded tits in the reedbed in the borrowdyke at the south-west end nearest the caravan site. The pair was on show swaying on the reed-stems and heard "pinging" as I walked past quite close to them. The male with its pale grey head along with a brown-headed female.
 In total the bearded tits were seen on and off for about half an hour, rising high into the air on four occasions whilst calling but each time returning back to the reeds because the wind seemed too strong for them to fly across the Strood channel.
It has been several years since bearded tits were last seen here along the Strood borrowdyke - and none were seen on the Island last year.

Other birds seen along the Strood seawall were the pale-bellied brent goose with 100 brent geese on the saltmarsh in front of the Firs Chase caravan site. A male marsh harrier was flying low over the Ray Island saltmarsh and a common buzzard was seen over the Strood fields.

At East Mersea the two female eiders were seen on Monday by Martin Cock in the Colne near Langenhoe Point.

A male greenfinch was singing by the Feldy View cemetery in the sunshine on Monday.

I joined Andy Field on Sunday 8th to count the waders and wildfowl for the monthly count along the Pyefleet Channel on the north side of the Island. Two female eider snoozing in the Colne was one of the highlights, also a peregrine on Reeveshall, common buzzard and 5 marsh harriers over Langenhoe. Four red-breasted mergansers, 6+ great crested grebes and a common seal were along the Pyefleet, while a pair of Canada geese at the back of Reeveshall was a new species for the year on the Island.
At Maydays farm a brambling, 8+ yellowhammers, 18 corn buntings and 20+ chaffinches were feeding along Haycocks Lane. A couple of golden plover flocks of 250+ birds were roosting in the fields.

Charlie Williams noted two whimbrel and a kingfisher near the Strood, also three corn buntings on Sunday whilst doing his wildfowl count.

There was a nice variety of waders and wildfowl on the park's grazing fields on Sunday, still enjoying the flooded fields. Still 800+ black-tailed godwits were seen, some in the fields although some were seen flying off. A wisp of 15 snipe flew over the fields and seemed to land hidden among the rushes.
On the park pond four pochard, eight gadwall were seen along some of the 15 tufted duck seen here and in the dyke. The pale leucistic starling was with 400 starling in the grazing fields, possibly the same bird also seen earlier in a small flock at Reeveshall near some sheep.

In Shop Lane Steve Entwistle saw two red squirrels and a peacock butterfly on Sunday by Fishponds Wood. At the end of the day a pipistrelle bat was seen by the bus turning circle.

The little egret and a pair of red-legged partridge were in fields either side of Chapmans Lane on Sunday morning.

The pale-bellied brent goose, seen here on the right beside two dark-bellied brent geese, was on the mud by the old jetty near the Firs Chase caravan site on Saturday 7th. Two great crested grebes were in the Strood channel, four buzzards were over the Strood fields, four Mediterranean gulls roosted in the wet field while a kestrel and rock pipit were also noted along the Strood seawall.

At East Mersea four great northern divers were offshore from Mersea Outdoors while eight Mediterranean gulls were next to the new boating lake on Saturday 7th.

On Friday 6th a red kite was seen by Martin Cock flying west over fields near Chapmans Lane and thanks his phone call to me, it was seen ten minutes later from home flying west along Victory Road and over the Victory pub mid morning. A goldcrest was singing in the Firs Chase garden.
The Marshalls reported a red squirrel in their Firs Chase garden on Friday.

The pale-bellied brent goose was feeding by the West Mersea Hard on Thursday 5th.
A chiffchaff stopped off briefly to feed in the Firs Chase garden on Thursday and the pair of blackcaps were busy at the feeders too.
A red kite was seen on Thursday by Martin Cock flying west over his West Mersea garden.

A close-up shot of the top of a kingfisher taken by Martin Cock as it perched below him on the sluice in the Maydays seawall on Wednesday 4th. The great white egret was seen again on the Maydays saltmarsh.
A brambling was seen feeding on spilt grain along Haycocks Lane along with 12 yellowhammers while two corn buntings, 30+ chaffinches, 40+ house sparrows also present.

A little egret was standing in the saltmarsh at St Peters on Tuesday 3rd. Also in this area were six Mediterranean gulls, two stock doves, six mallard while ten great crested grebes were offshore.

In the Firs Chase garden the coal tit, pair of stock doves and a pair of blackcaps were at the feeders, while a red squirrel was seen at the nut feeder on Tuesday.

On Monday 2nd a Cetti's warbler gave a loud single blast of a song from a bush in the dyke along the Strood seawall. It stayed hidden and wasn't heard again. Also in the area were 30+ meadow pipits, 2 rock pipits, 11 linnets and two buzzards while in the channel were 3 great crested grebes, 11 little grebes, 150 wigeon and 100 teal.
A goldcrest was singing in Firs Chase on Monday and the blackcap seen in the garden.

A Cetti's warbler was also heard on Monday at the back of the country park pond by Andy Field who also reported five pochard along the park dyke.