STROOD SHORT-EARED

 A short-eared owl was found in fields beside the Strood seawall on Thursday 14th. Jonathan Bustard managed to take several photos as it flew around.

 The short-eared owl was first seen in the middle of the day as it hunted over one of the big grass fields. After dropping down into a ditch, it flew a short distance and landed in a wheat field.

The bird was still in the area in the afternoon when Jonathan took these pictures.

This is the first sighting here for many years of a short-eared owl in this part of the Island. There was a short-eared owl seen early last year from the Strood seawall as it hunted around Ray Island.

As well as the short-eared owl in the area on Thursday, a male and a female marsh harrier were seen flying over, as were three buzzards and a kestrel. The wheatear was still in the field near Strood Hill and a sedge warbler singing near here was a new arrival. At least eight yellow wagtails were noted, also two calling cuckoos, five swifts, whimbrel, an avocet and two common terns in the Strood channel.

A firecrest was heard singing briefly near the Firs Chase caravan site by Andy Field, while at St Peters fifty-five brent geese were seen off the beach on Thursday by Steve Entwistle. Eighteen whimbrel flew over Martin Cock's house while earlier in the day he reported a hobby at East Mersea.

A hobby flashed low over houses at the bottom of The Lane on Wednesday 13th and a few minutes later it was seen returning carrying its prey. In the Mersea Quarters six common terns, two Mediterranean gulls and two great crested grebes were seen, also a whitethroat singing at St Peters.
Jonathan Bustard saw a male marsh harrier seeing off a peregrine from the Hard, also a marsh harrier on a bush.

At East Mersea a hobby was seen flying over to the Point on Wednesday by Steve Entwistle, also seven whimbrel seen and nine avocets seen on the saltmarsh pools. In the country park grazing fields one lapwing, ten greylag geese and two Canada geese were noted while tufted duck and reed warbler along the dyke, eight sand martins over the fields with at least three sand martins using holes in the park cliff. Twenty swallows, little grebe, two little egrets, whitethroat, lesser whitethroat and blackcap were also seen at the park.

A juvenile robin was feeding independently of its parents in Feldy View on Tuesday 12th.
Later on the walk along the Strood seawall the wheatear was still in one of the fields, six yellow wagtails noted, two sedge warblers and five reed warblers were singing, while over the houses were 30+ swifts and 20+ house martins. The male marsh harrier and two common buzzards were in the air, while along the channel were seven avocets, two common terns and two pairs of Mediterranean gulls.

Later on Tuesday afternoon Michael Thorley saw a little tern and common tern along the Strood Channel, also two yellow wagtails, 51 carrion crows and a pair of oystercatchers mating.
A willow warbler was found singing on Tuesday by Steve Entwistle at St Peters. Two Mediterranean gulls flew over Ian Black's house in Mersea Avenue.

A wheatear was the main bird of note along a windy Strood seawall on Monday 11th. Also six yellow wagtails, eight swifts, one sedge warbler, common buzzard, two avocets and a flock of sixty carrion crows in the fields with ten birds showing white wing-bars. A hobby raced low over the far side of the Mersea Quarters into Salcott creek.
Ian Black reported a large female peregrine over Cobmarsh on Monday.

On Sunday 10th along the Strood seawall, two common buzzards, two avocets, whimbrel, common tern and two cuckoos were noted. Also singing sedge warbler, a corn bunting and five reed warblers, while six yellow wagtails along the dyke and over the fields.

At Firs Chase a female cuckoo passed over the garden doing its bubbling call, also four Mediterranean gulls overhead.

At East Mersea on Sunday, Michael Thorley reported five house martins at Weir Farm and two at Rewsalls, also a brown hare here in the lane. Two whitethroats and a lesser whitethroat were at Weir Farm and a buzzard was over fields to the east of Rewsalls farm.

The beady eye of a robin peers through the ivy leaves while it sits on her nest in the Firs Chase garden.

The robin nest is well concealed in the middle of this picture on the ivy covered wall. Any ivy trimming at this time of year is always suspended as various blackbirds, wrens and robins seem to have nests hidden in the ivy about the garden.

The resident pair of stock doves has been feeding outside the kitchen window under the bird feeders in the Firs Chase garden.
A goldcrest was singing in the garden bushes and trees on Tuesday.

A noteworthy sighting in the Firs Chase garden was welcoming a foraging flock of ten starlings onto the lawn - the first such garden sighting here for many years!

Jonathan Bustard photographed the male swallow with the rusty underparts, nesting beside the Dabchicks sailing club.

Andy Field was lucky to photograph this red squirrel feeding on a lawn, as he walked down The Lane on Thursday 15th.

A red admiral basked in the morning sunshine along the footpath folly at the top end of the Firs Chase caravan site.

The Feldy View green hairstreak was resting on bushes in the sunshine on both Sunday 10th and Tuesday 12th when it was pictured here on a rosemary bush.

This female orange-tip butterfly was pictured by Steve Entwistle in his Empress Drive garden.