SEA OF RED

There's a colourful sea of red poppies across a field to the east of Seaview Avenue, as seen on Sunday 14th.

Some areas of the field have thicker concentrations of poppies than other parts. The red flowers swaying in the hot summer breeze.

The field is sadly due to be developed with housing and this display of poppies won't be seen here again.

This colourful poppy scene should continue for a few more weeks for the nearby residents to enjoy from their back gardens.

A meadow brown butterfly rested in the Firs Chase garden on Sunday, an occasional visitor here in recent years.

Two yellow wagtails and two whitethroats were seen near the Feldy View field on Sunday morning.
Twenty swifts were circling over the houses near Queen Ann and Oakwood Avenue area, also a sparrowhawk landed in a tree.

On Saturday 13th in the Rewsalls farm  / boating lake area were four yellow wagtails, 15 swifts, a pair of tufted ducks, two pairs of shelduck, three oystercatchers, meadow pipit, reed warbler, little egret and six house martins with some gathering mud beside the borrowdyke. Three buzzards circled over fields near Weir Farm.

In the Reeveshall / Shop Lane area on Saturday, Andy Field reported a pair of marsh harriers over Broad Fleet, a pair of sparrowhawks nesting in Fishponds Wood, singing corn bunting and yellowhammer, also thirty gadwall near Pewit Island. A cream-spot tiger moth was flushed by Andy from the grass on the Shop Lane seawall

A buzzard, sparrowhawk and seven swifts were seen over Steve Entwistle's Empress Drive house on Saturday, while a hobby and sparrowhawk were over Ian Black's Mersea Avenue house and more unusually a meadow pipit in the garden. Three swifts were over Shaun Bater's house in Estuary Park Road.

Along Coast Road on Friday 12th, a marsh harrier was crossing over the moorings near the Dabchicks, while at St Peters, three common terns and four great crested grebes were offshore while a meadow pipit and reed bunting were singing on Cobmarsh Island.
A peregrine was seen over Steve Entwistle's house in Empress Drive on Friday.
A family of great spotted woodpeckers finished nesting in the Cock's garden in Seaview Avenue, also a grey squirrel seen here on Friday evening.

Two avocets were feeding along the Strood Channel on Thursday 11th, also common tern and three curlew noted along the channel and a redshank calling over Ray Island. Two cuckoos were heard calling, four yellow wagtails were noted while at least ten skylarks and a corn bunting were singing.

A common tern perched on a polder beacon in the Strood Channel on Wednesday 10th with the Great Wigborough church in the background.
Circling over fields on the Peldon side was a flock of 100+ swifts, fewer than the 200 seen the day before on Tuesday in the same area. Also noted on Wednesday were a common buzzard, three cuckoos, four yellow wagtails, a passing sand martin while on Ray Island were two redshank.

At Cudmore Grove on a drizzly Wednesday morning, Andy Field reported a few swallows and house martins feeding in the rain and also the kestrels appeared to be nesting late in the nestbox this year.

On Tuesday 9th along the Strood seawall was the regular male marsh harrier over the fields, also four common buzzards, a sparrowhawk and kestrel noted too. A cuckoo was heard also four reed warblers and a corn bunting while five yellow wagtails were seen as were three common terns along the channel.

A cluster of spiky black caterpillars of the peacock were feeding on several nettles along the path beside the Firs Chase caravan site on Tuesday.

At Coopers Beach on Tuesday Martin Cock reported a young stonechat was seen for the first time and other young ones heard near to the two adult stonechats. The first successful stonechat breeding on the Island. A meadow brown butterfly also seen here.

Steve Entwistle visited the orchid garden of Dave Chadwick's beside the Esplanade and photographed the common spotted orchids there on Saturday 6th.

The moth trap has been operating on a few recent nights in the Firs Chase garden and one of the highlights was finding two small elephant hawkmoths in the trap on Thursday 11th. Also in the trap that evening were three elephant hawkmoths and a pine hawkmoth. A lime hawkmoth appeared on the 12th, while three pine hawkmoths and three elephant hawkmoths were seen on the 13th.

A blotched emerald was seen on Thursday 11th - not always recorded each year here.

The once scarce beautiful hook-tip has now become more widespread in recent years.

The cream-bordered green pea was seen on Friday 12th, only one or two individuals are seen each year here.

A white satin made an appearance on the 13th.