DAYTIME BARN OWL

A barn owl was photographed by Andy Field as it flew in front of the bird hide at Cudmore Grove in the morning on Tuesday 30th. The barn owl had been seen leaving the owl box behind the pond and then hunting the grazing fields, then doing a couple of fly-pasts close to the bird hide.

Other birds seen by Andy at the park included three sedge warblers, three reed warblers, two chiffchaffs, lots of whitethroats, little tern, four common terns, ringed plover with four eggs on the Point, 12 avocets, kestrel taking a vole back to its box, two barnacle geese flying west, seven pochard and twenty swallows.

A fox was sitting in the sun beside the park pond and photographed by Andy Field on Tuesday.

A muntjac deer was photographed by Shaun Bater on Tuesday, as it fed in the Golfhouse paddock in East Mersea.

Birds seen by Shaun on a Cudmore circuit included whitethroat, swallow flock over dyke, sparrowhawk, three kestrels, seven pochard, Cetti's warbler, green woodpecker, reed warbler, blackcap, oystercatcher, skylark, shelduck, six linnets, two mute swans, little grebe, little egret, nine avocets, redshank, lapwing, five sand martins, barn owl hunting the Golfhouse end of the park late morning, two greylag geese, stock dove and a cuckoo.

A wheatear along the Strood seawall seemed a bit late in the month to see a bird stopping off here on Monday 29th.

The wheatear was seen feeding along the outer side of the Strood seawall as well as on the path on top.

A male yellow wagtail was singing from a small bush beside the Strood seawall on Monday, two other yellow wagtails were seen too.

A sedge warbler was singing from the borrowdyke reeds and bramble bushes on Monday. Also four reed warblers singing, a corn bunting, whitethroat and two cuckoos chasing each other along the dyke.

A buzzard, four common terns, two Mediterranean gulls, 14 curlew, grey plover were along the channel, while thirty swifts were over the houses and 16 house martins were hunting over Firs Chase.

On Saturday 28th Steve Entwistle was lucky enough to see a white stork and a great white egret fly over his Empress Drive garden. Thanks to Steve's wife, Kate, she alerted Steve to a big bird circling high south-west over the back garden which turned out to be a white stork. Some missing feathers in the feathers suggest this is same bird seen at Abberton reservoir recently. A few minutes later Kate spotted another large bird flying over which turned out to be a great white egret going low west to east.

Earlier on Saturday Steve visited the Strood seawall and saw a pair of gadwall, pair of shoveler, pair of reed buntings, two little egrets, common tern and eight swifts.

A little owl perched on posts alongside a paddock at Maydays farm on Saturday 27th.

A male yellowhammer was seen on a bush at Maydays on Saturday, also a sedge warbler, four reed warblers, four whitethroats, two yellow wagtails, two cuckoos on the Mersea side and another two calling on Langenhoe. A Cetti's warbler was singing at Haycocks farm and also one heard on Langenhoe - where a loud chorus of marsh frogs carried over on the northerly breeze.

A little egret and a grey heron stood on the Maydays seawall on Saturday.

Four marsh harriers and three buzzards were noted. A pair of greylag geese on Reeveshall had three goslings beside them.

A pair of gadwall on the Pyefleet channel was unusual for the spring season, another four birds were seen chasing each other earlier. Three great crested grebes, a common tern, four Mediterranean gulls and ten lapwings were seen mainly on Pewit Island. Three common seals were resting on a saltmarsh at the top end of the Pyefleet at high tide.