DIVER CLOSE-IN

This great northern diver is almost in its summer plumage, showing the white spots on the back and a hint of a striped band on the neck, seen about fifty metres off the Monkey Beach on Saturday 25th.

The great northern diver was diving repeatedly and coming back up with a crab to eat.
A second great northern diver was seen off the Esplanade on Saturday, as was a common tern, two great crested grebes and a common seal. Earlier on Saturday 38 brent geese and a pair of common tern were seen at St Peters by Steve Entwistle.
A brood of at least five mallard ducklings were on a pond at Waldegraves caravan park. Two great northern divers were seen offshore from Waldegraves by Jonathan Bustard, also a lesser whitethroat and blackcap near here.

The little owl, a pair of mistle thrushes, 13 linnets and a pair of Mediterranean gulls were at the Youth Camp on Saturday. At the nearby boating lake there were ten redshank, ten turnstones, dunlin, two little egrets, six shelduck, two meadow pipits, reed warbler and two yellow wagtails. In fields to the west of the East Mersea church were two yellow wagtails, pair of reed buntings, yellowhammer, 3 singing whitethroats and a lesser whitethroat.

This rusty looking swallow was photographed by Jonathan Bustard along the dyke behind the Dabchicks sailing club on Saturday.

The underparts have a rusty/ orange tint to it, the male swallow perching nicely for Jonathan to photograph on wires near the Dabchicks. This orangey swallow also caught my eye at the far end of the Strood seawall about three days earlier.

Andy Field noted along the Strood seawall on Saturday lesser whitethroat, 5 reed warblers, sedge warbler, cuckoo, five yellow wagtails, male marsh harrier over the fields, 8 Mediterranean gulls, 6 whimbrel, 4 swallows and a greenshank heard calling. Four house martins were seen over the High St North garden that day.

Eight black-tailed godwits were feeding along the Strood Channel on Friday 24th, as were a bar-tailed godwit, grey plover, 12 whimbrel and two common terns. Alongside the seawall were a singing sedge warbler, four reed warblers, 8 yellow wagtails, calling cuckoo, 3 lesser whitethroats, two swallows while flying over were a marsh harrier, two common buzzards, kestrel and two Mediterranean gulls.

Two swifts seen to the north of Andy Field's High St North garden on Friday is the first swift sighting for the Island this spring. Three whimbrel were heard calling over Ian Black's Mersea Avenue garden in the evening.

A singing garden warbler was a nice discovery beside Feldy View on Thursday 23rd - the first garden warbler sighting at the west end of the Island for thirty years at least! It was quite showy whilst singing at the top of bushes during the morning but wasn't seen in the afternoon.

Along the Strood seawall on Thursday were sedge warbler, two reed warblers, two yellow wagtails, 2 calling cuckoos, four pochard flying down channel, four Mediterranean gulls, 3 common terns and 20 whimbrel. In the afternoon four yellow wagtails, lesser whitethroat and a swallow were noted along the Strood by Andy Field who later saw two Mediterranean gulls fly over his garden.
A buzzard and a pair of Mediterranean gulls flew over the Firs Chase garden on Thursday afternoon.

The male stock dove peers down from the squirrel nestbox where it's mate is nesting, high up in the cedar tree in the Firs Chase garden. Occasionally the stock dove comes down to the ground to feed under the bird feeders or to have a quick drink.

A brimstone butterfly flew quickly across the Firs Chase garden on Friday 24th, the second visit within the last three days. Other butterflies in recent days in the garden have been holly blue, small white, large white, orange-tip, peacock and comma.

David Bullock in East Mersea sent me this photograph of a pair of wren clutches six inches apart, nestled on a bed of moss under an upturned flower pot in his garden. Not sure what's going on here, whether it is two females with eggs or one female with two clutches!