STROOD CORN BUNTING

A corn bunting was singing from a bush beside the Strood seawall on Tuesday 11th - for the second morning running. Also noted from the seawall were a female pochard in the dyke, four lapwing, golden plover flying over, whimbrel, ten curlew, nine black-tailed godwits and 100 redshank along the channel. Two sand martins were flying west off the island, 12 swifts over the houses, reed warbler, whitethroat, two yellow wagtails and ten linnets were also noted. Three brown hares were seen in one of the fields.

Butterflies noted in the Feldy View area were brown argus, small skipper, Essex skipper, meadow brown, gatekeeper, small white, red admiral and comma.

At least two barn owl chicks were staring out of the nestbox beside the country park pond in the evening of Tuesday. Despite the repeated calls from the young, neither of the two adults appeared in the last hour of daylight, maybe a bit breezy.

A water rail called from the reeds at the pond which is an unusual record for July here. Two kestrels, two green woodpeckers, two whitethroats, ten swifts and five swallows were noted, also at least ten Mediterranean gulls flying over the park pond near dusk.

At dusk a badger crossed Bromans Lane, a little owl perched on a tree just west of the Dog and Pheasant and another little owl perched on a roof on the house at the top of Waldegraves Lane.

On Monday 10th along the Strood seawall, the corn bunting was singing from a bush-top, lapwing, two black-tailed godwits, marsh harrier, buzzard, three sand martins flying west, sedge warbler and two reed warblers singing, two yellow wagtails and three brown hares in the fields.

Two female pochard were briefly in the Strood dyke on Sunday 9th. 

Four Sandwich terns flew noisily up channel and headed east in the direction of Bower Hall. Also noted from the seawall were two common terns, eight lapwing, six golden plover, 110 redshank, sparrowhawk, sedge warbler, three reed warblers, flock of twenty house sparrows, five yellow wagtails, four linnets and ten swifts. Four brown hares were chasing each other around in one of the Strood fields.

A barn owl was heard calling as it flew over Firs Chase in the early hours of 1.30am on Sunday morning, whilst the garden moth trap was being emptied. 

Michael Thorley photographed this small skipper on Sunday at Cudmore Grove.

Another picture by Michael of the small skipper feeding on knapweed.

There was some seal pup activity seen in the Pyefleet Channel from Maydays on Saturday 8th, with three common seal pups lying beside and presumably feeding, from their mothers on the mud, while a fourth pup nearby was calling out but with no sign of the mother in attendance. The tide was still coming in and hopefully the mother would be arriving shortly.

Two adult shelduck were trying to keep an eye on their four young and very mobile ducklings in the Pyefleet, also great crested grebe, seven black-tailed godwits, five redshank, common tern along the channel. Six little egrets, four marsh harriers, displaying meadow pipit, Cetti's warbler, six reed warblers and three house martins were over the farmhouse.

David Nicholls was pleased to see and photograph this male Banded demoiselle by his pond in his Queen Anne Road garden on Saturday - a rare visitor to the island with less than one sighting a year.

Two little gulls were reported by Zane Sargeant from the Esplanade on Saturday 8th.

In Shop Lane Martin Cock saw one white-letter hairstreak, while in the Pyefleet were six black-tailed godwits and six common terns.

Thirty swifts were seen by Steve Entwistle flying over his house in Empress Drive on Saturday.

On Friday 7th at Cudmore Grove, the barn owl chicks were seen in the morning by Martin Cock in the nestbox and an adult was asleep in the nearby kestrel nestbox.