DISPLAY OF ORCHIDS

The colony of green-winged orchids continues to flourish in Dave Chadwick's garden on Victoria Esplanade and I was grateful to him for inviting me to call round to admire them on Tuesday 1st. These flowering spikes appeared much more purple than the others nearby.

There are probably about 400 flowering spikes of the green-winged orchids in the back garden, with another 25 spikes in the front garden.

This colony has been thriving for many years and is the only place left on the Island where they grow, other than an occasional plant in the nearby Willoughby car park. They seem to thrive in the damp springtime soils.

Several common-spotted orchids also grow in the garden although their flowers will peak about a month later than the green-winged orchids.

Earlier on Tuesday a red kite was seen drifting over the Strood channel as it headed slowly towards Peldon. A male marsh harrier hunted over the Strood fields, a buzzard and sparrowhawk were also seen during the walk along the Strood seawall. A cuckoo was calling from overhead wires, a red-legged partridge was near Feldy View and forty swifts were in the skies over the houses.

Songsters beside the seawall were three reed buntings, three reed warblers, corn bunting while two whitethroats were also heard and five yellow wagtails noted.

The first common blue butterfly of the summer was seen in Feldy View on Tuesday.

Later on Tuesday Steve Entwistle reported seeing at the Strood reservoirs a cuckoo, a pair of mute swans while two reed warblers and a Cetti's warbler were heard singing.

Andy Field walked the Reeveshall seawall on Tuesday morning and reported pair of marsh harriers over Broad Fleet, four buzzards, two common terns, 21 grey plover, brent goose in the Pyefleet, a pair of gadwall, pair of corn buntings, two yellowhammers and a chiffchaff. Insects on the wing noted were six orange-tip, four small heaths and a cinnabar moth.

Ben sat patiently beside me on the Reeveshall seawall on Monday 31st while I waited to see if any owls showed in the last hour of daylight. A barn owl was eventually seen but in the distance on Langenhoe, while a pair of marsh harriers, kestrel and sparrowhawk were seen on Reeveshall. A cuckoo flew past, a pair of gadwall, pochard, five shelduck, brent goose, two hybrid greylag / barnacle geese and a common tern were also noted.

Driving along Shop Lane back towards home, the tawny owl perched over the road and a bit later a little owl was beside the East Mersea road on top of a telegraph post near Bocking Hall farm.

A song thrush enjoyed the bank holiday sunshine basking in the Firs Chase garden on Monday 31st.

In the Waldegraves area on Monday morning a corn bunting was perched on a hedge, a yellow wagtail called from overhead wires, four young coot chicks were being fed by parent on a fishing lake where a reed warbler was singing too, a sparrowhawk and kestrel were noted as was a cuckoo, yellowhammer, five blackcaps and seven whitethroats singing. 

Eight house martins were flying around the Old Rectory house near Weir Farm, in East Mersea, while in West Mersea Shaun Bater noted a swift over his house in Estuary Park road.

Michael Thorley reported seeing a large grass snake in his garden near Meeting Lane.

Lots of orange-tips were on the wing on Sunday 30th with this one photographed in the Firs Chase garden late afternoon.

Five gadwall flying over Firs Chase noisily quacking to each other was an unusual sighting, also a buzzard and a whimbrel flew over the garden on Sunday.

There was the unwelcome sight of a grey squirrel seen briefly in the Timns Firs Chase garden on Sunday morning.

Steve Entwistle saw the cuckoo perch on wires near Feldy View and also saw orange-tips here on Sunday.

A couple of large red damselflies were seen beside a ditch to the west of Meeting Lane on Sunday morning. A dozen small heaths were flying over a grass field near Shop Lane and a green hairstreak made a brief appearance in Dairy Lane near Shop Lane.

Birds noted during a walk between Shop Lane and Meeting Lane on Sunday morning were 14 singing whitethroats, six blackcaps, four Cetti's warblers, four lesser whitethroats, five chiffchaffs, a pair of cuckoos, yellowhammer, buzzard, also great spotted woodpeckers attending nests in Meeting Lane and in Manwood Grove and the pair of marsh harriers seen over Reeveshall. A brown hare was seen near Weir Farm and another near Shop Lane.

A common sandpiper was seen in a saltmarsh creek near Bower Hall farm on Saturday 29th during a walk along the whole north side of the Island from East to West.

Two cuckoos were heard calling, meadow pipit, yellow wagtail, two house martins, a pair of red-legged partridge and a covey of five escaped helmeted guineafowl were at Bower Hall.

Along the Strood seawall on Saturday were a corn bunting, two pairs of yellow wagtail, two common terns and two reed warblers.

Walking the Maydays seawall on Saturday provided views of eight great crested grebes in the Pyefleet, a lapwing, yellowhammer, two reed warblers and two reed buntings. At Reeveshall were a pair of gadwall, pair of marsh harriers, three pairs of oystercatchers, two pairs of Mediterranean gulls flying over, three common terns and a singing corn bunting.

A Cetti's warbler was singing by the Oyster Fishery while by the Golfhouse were eight avocets and three chicks on the saltmarsh, also three redshank and a common gull here. On the nearby mud were 15 ringed plover, five dunlin, with a cuckoo noted too.

This deformed male emperor moth was found resting on the grass on the Maydays seawall on Saturday afternoon. The wings hadn't developed properly and the body was half the size of a healthy male emperor. A few years ago after rearing a batch of emperor eggs through to adult stage, a couple of adults sadly emerged with crumpled wings and were more like a large bumble bee than a large moth, lacking the wide wingspan and a powerful flight. It seems some deformities do occur whilst caterpillars pupate.

Shaun Bater walked the Cudmore Grove circuit round the seawall on Saturday morning and noted two cuckoos, three chiffchaffs, blackcap, whitethroat, sedge warbler, reed warbler, Cetti's warbler, little grebe, eight avocets and three chicks, lots of sand martins, swallow, great spotted woodpecker and green woodpecker.

On Friday 28th along the Strood seawall were seen two marsh harriers, six buzzards, two male cuckoos calling, an avocet, five singing reed warblers, five yellow wagtails and singing corn bunting and Cetti's warbler at the Strood reservoir.

Later over Firs Chase were two buzzards and also two sparrowhawks seen too.

At Maydays on Friday, Martin Cock reported two marsh harriers, sedge warbler, reed warbler, Cetti's warbler, whitethroat, four yellow wagtails, an avocet and also a small heath butterfly.