It is an unusual time of year to see a bearded tit on the Island, as they've mainly stopped off previously during the autumn. One wintered in the Strood dyke three winters ago, while the last breeding on the Island took place in 1988 in the Maydays borrowdyke.
Three marsh harriers were seen hunting at various times over the Strood seawall on Thursday morning with this male passing over the corner reedbed where the bearded tit had gone into hiding. This male had paler underwing coverts compared with an earlier male, also a female seen over the wheat field.
The male marsh harrier circled up high and then drifted over the Strood channel to Feldy marsh while a distant buzzard was circling too and a sparrowhawk flew over the Strood fields.
Two whitethroats were singing along the Strood dyke with another one singing in Feldy View on Thursday. Three sedge warblers and three reed warblers were along the dyke as were four singing reed buntings.
A male yellow wagtail was watched puffing out all its feathers in a bright yellow display to a nearby female, on the seawall behind the Dabchicks sailing club on Thursday 11th. The male was strutting about with quivering wings and bill pointing skywards.
The female yellow wagtail didn't seem to be taking any notice of the male and carried on collecting nest material!
There was a fine display of green-winged orchids in Dave Chadwick's garden on the Victoria Esplanade when I called in with Dave's permission for my annual visit. In total there were probably about 500 flowering spikes most in the back garden but some in the front garden too. It seems as if the wet spring has provided ideal growing conditions for the orchids and they seemed as profuse as before. Several common spotted orchids are also coming into leaf and will be flowering in a couple of weeks time.
At least fifty flowering spikes of the green-winged orchids were on show on the front lawn too.
There was the pleasing sight of a solitary green-winged orchid in the Willoughby car park in the same place where one was seen three years ago but which didn't appear the last two years.
Andy Field welcomed a pair of swifts both back inside the nestbox on his house in High Street North on Wednesday 10th. The first swift had been seen inside the box the previous evening.
In Firs Chase two green hairstreaks were seen spiralling madly together at times around a lilac bush in the garden on Wednesday, also a speckled wood, orange-tip, holly blue, small white and peacock noted.
A speckled wood was flying about beside the Firs Caravan park on Wednesday.
On Tuesday 9th there were two kestrels hunting along the Strood seawall, also two buzzards over the fields and a sparrowhawk by the caravan park. The loud song of a nightingale was being carried in the slight breeze 500m from Ray Island over to the Strood seawall. One was heard singing on Ray Island last spring too.
On the flooded fields by the Strood seawall a pair of lapwing was flying about displaying, with one bird dropping down to the water's edge while the other flew off, possibly to the Peldon side. Ten shelduck, a male gadwall, grey heron and two little egrets were seen in the fields.
A reed warbler was flitting through the reeds by the Strood seawall on Tuesday, four of them heard singing, also sedge warbler, Cetti's warbler by the Strood reservoirs and another one on Ray Island, as was a blackcap heard singing loudly too. A lesser whitethroat, three yellow wagtails were seen and six swifts were flying over the houses.
Six linnets were noted during the walk along the Strood seawall on Tuesday, mainly in their pairs.
Along the Strood were nine avocets, 18 whimbrel including one flock of 15, five lapwing flying, eight black-tailed godwits, pair of redshank, five common terns, great crested grebe and ten turnstones near the Hard. In the fields were a gadwall, four shelduck and 20 stock doves with eleven swifts over the houses and a cuckoo calling from the Peldon side.
In Firs Chase two swifts flew over and butterflies seen in the garden included holly blue, orange-tip, small white and peacock.
A green hairstreak and a holly blue were seen in Martin Cock's garden in The Coverts.
The nightingale was heard singing from Ray Island for the second day.
Along the Strood channel were nine avocets, four whimbrel, four black-tailed godwits, redshank, common tern, two great crested grebes while ten brent geese were seen by Cobmarsh island. Five buzzards, sparrowhawk, two sedge warblers, three whitethroats, two yellow wagtails were noted from the seawall, a cuckoo was calling near the Strood Hill and another on the Peldon side.
A whimbrel was seen flying east in the afternoon over the Firs Chase garden calling as it went.
At Maydays on Wednesday Martin Cock reported three gadwall, three pochard, three great crested grebes, six whimbrel, two marsh harriers, yellow wagtail, two cuckoos, three common terns, reed warbler, sedge warbler and lesser whitethroat.
Caroline White visited Cudmore Grove on Wednesday evening and reported yellow wagtail on the Golfhouse track, avocet on the saltmarsh pools, swallows by the hide area and a soundtrack of reed warbler, chiffchaff, blackcap, song thrush and whitethroat. There was a brief view of the barn owl as it headed out from the nestbox behind the pond.
At Michael Thorley's East Mersea garden near Meeting Lane on Wednesday, a buzzard circling overhead was being mobbed by carrion crows, a peregrine diving down and then rising up again several times in some sort of display, also four goldfinches, chaffinch, wren, whitethroat, blackcap and robins with food.
Along the Strood Channel were six avocets, three whimbrel, eight black-tailed godwits, two turnstone, common tern, while the sound of a cuckoo was heard from the Peldon side.
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