HIGH AS A KITE

Two red kites flew north-west over the Firs Chase garden on Friday 27th. The local carrion crows alerting me in time for me to see the kites passing over.

One of the red kites passed quite low before circling up high where it then followed another red kite already really high up and appearing just as a tiny speck in the sky.

 

The local carrion crows chased after the lower red kite, making it climb higher into the sky.

A hobby and a cuckoo were seen from Andy Field's house in High St North on Friday, while a sparrowhawk, buzzard and five swifts were seen over Steve Entwistle's Empress Drive garden.

A boat trip with Stacey Belbin on her Lady Grace boat with Steve Hunting helping the RSPB count breeding birds on the shingle islands revealed four pairs of lesser black-backed gulls nesting for the first time on Packing Marsh Island. Lots of herring gulls nesting on Cobmarsh and Packing Shed, as well as several oystercatchers and a three ringed plover pairs.

Other birds noted included a pair of Egyptian geese and two brent geese on Cobmarsh, three great crested grebes, 10+ common terns fishing, dunlin and 9 ringed plover on Packing Marsh. No little terns seen anywhere.

A barn owl perched nicely for Andy Field to photograph beside the Cudmore Grove pond on Thursday 26th in the morning. It had been hunting the pond meadow before perching on the post to eat something. It's probably nesting in the nearby nest-box in the tree behind the pond - viewable from the bird-hide.

Also seen by Andy at the country park were the female kestrel in its nestbox, lots of whitethroats, six reed warblers, sedge warbler and lesser whitethroat.

The knot was seen again at the Point on Thursday and photographed by Andy Field.

Steve Entwistle visited the Point on Thursday and saw a little tern, sanderling, common tern and also three Sandwich terns passing close to the Point as they flew up-river. A female marsh harrier hunted the Golfhouse dyke, five sand martins also, while a red-legged partridge was in Bromans Lane.

Shaun Bater also visited Cudmore Grove on Thursday morning and noted cuckoo, three pochard and coot with a chick on the park pond, on the dyke were a pair of mute swans, three sand martins, six swallows, mallard and four ducklings and a coot with two chicks, also six avocets on the Golfhouse pools and a large flock of swallows.

A common blue butterfly was feeding beside the East Mersea boating lake car park on Thursday 26th.

On the Rewsalls marshes and side lake were a pair of avocets, three little egrets, whimbrel, pair of shelduck, also a cuckoo heard, buzzard, three whitethroats and eight common terns offshore.

A Cetti's warbler was singing on the north side of Waldegraves, from Cross Lane were three sparrowhawks, six swifts, five house martins along with two blackcaps and two whitethroats singing in the area on Thursday morning.

On Wednesday 25th at Cudmore Grove a lapwing was watching anxiously over a young chick in the long grass in the grazing fields. Another lapwing chick from another pair was being watched over on the saltmarsh pools by the Golfhouse, a slightly older and bigger chick than the one in the fields.

Eight avocets were on the Golfhouse pools including a pair watching going through the prolonged mating ritual, also two redshank present. On the nearby mud by the Point were five sanderling, a knot, 12 ringed plover, ten dunlin, four turnstone, while in the Colne a little tern flew up river and two common terns seen.

A pair of pochard was on the park pond and a pair of tufted duck too but no sign of the greylag goose that had been sitting on a nest. A pair of greylag geese flew east over the park. The kestrel was perched in the tree at the back of the fields, a reed warbler, sedge warbler, two Cetti's warbler were heard but only six sand martins seen.

At Coopers Beach Steve Entwistle on Wednesday watched a mistle thrush taking beak-fulls of worms to a nest in a tree among the caravans. Three avocets flew over Rewsalls marshes and two linnets seen.

Steve Entwistle photographed some of the green-winged orchids still in flower in the Chadwicks garden on the Esplanade on Tuesday 24th. Several common spotted orchids were also in flower too.

A painted lady was seen along the Strood seawall on Tuesday 24th.

Birds noted were cuckoo, five whimbrel, three curlew, house martin, sedge warbler, three reed warblers, four yellow wagtails, buzzard, a sparrowhawk and ten swifts over the houses, also a nightingale heard singing in the distance from the bushes on Ray Island.

Andy Field reported his pair of swifts nesting in the box on the side of his house in High Street North had laid their second egg on Tuesday morning.

A maiden's blush moth was in the Firs Chase moth trap on 25th May.