MERSEA WILDLIFE: PARK LITTLE OWLS

On Wednesday 13th two little owls were seen by Andy Field at Cudmore Grove Country Park, both of them by the barn owl box behind the pond. One of the little owls pictured here by Andy. Two chiffchaffs were also noted by Andy, one of them singing, also, a goldcrest, buzzard and a Cetti's warbler showing in front of the hide.

Shaun Bater visited the Shop Lane seawall on Wednesday and reported little egret, two gadwall, 30 teal, eight Canada geese, five red-breasted mergansers, four great crested grebes and a buzzard.

Earlier in his West Mersea garden Shaun saw nine greenfinches and a male blackcap.

The female blackcap was at the fat balls again in the Firs Chase garden on Wednesday - visiting most days recently.

Along the Strood seawall on Wednesday morning birds noted included 600 brent geese, 73 shelduck, 100 wigeon and twenty golden plover along the channel. Two marsh harriers, two buzzards were seen, a pair of shoveler was on a pond at the back of the fields, 15 corn buntings, 40 linnets and five reed buntings were in the fields with a Cetti's warbler near the caravan park.

A couple of small clumps of yellow brain fungi were spotted on an old elm branch, along the path beside the Firs Caravan park on Wednesday.

Michael Thorley photographed this black-headed gull at Coopers Beach on Tuesday 12th, also there five turnstone, oystercatcher and 45 wood pigeons.

This common gull was also photographed by Michael at Coopers Beach on Tuesday.

Feeding in the arable field to the south of East Road opposite Meeting Lane were 1000 brent geese.

James Taylor walked the Reeveshall seawall on Tuesday and saw a male marsh harrier, red-breasted merganser, Mediterranean gull, four little egrets, six teal, 20 wigeon and some brent geese too.

A brief walk near the Firs Caravan park on Tuesday morning in the drizzle, revealed a singing blackcap in Firs Road cemetery, also female blackcap again in the Firs Chase garden, Cetti's warbler singing at the top end of the path by Feldy View, song thrush here too, two great spotted woodpeckers, green woodpecker, 36 curlews feeding in the grass field, great crested grebe and 600 brent noted along Strood channel.

The monthly Wetland Bird Survey was carried out along the north side of the Island on Monday 11th. The highlight was a spoonbill seen flying east over Reeveshall and heading out of the Pyefleet to the Colne. Along the Pyefleet channel were 45 pintail including 30 feeding at Pewit Island during the high tide, 44 black-tailed godwits, bar-tailed godwit, leucistic redshank, two snipe, five great crested grebes. A great white egret was at Reeveshall, a pair of stonechat was at Maydays, five marsh harriers including on Langenhoe, 12 Canada geese, two greylag geese, 84 curlew, 28 lapwing, 1500 starlings were on Reeveshall.

Continuing the WeBS count at Cudmore Grove on Monday afternoon a barn owl was hunting the back of the fields and the pair of kestrels was on the kestrel tree. At least 600 wigeon were feeding on the fields, also 62 teal, 21 shoveler, 8 greylag geese, 52 black-tailed godwits with two pochard and 8 tufted ducks on the dyke. Six gadwall were at the park pond, while in the Colne were 32 red-breasted mergansers, six great crested grebes.and the leucistic oystercatcher flying upriver.

Charlie Williams doing his WeBS count on Monday saw a merlin perch on the Bower Hall saltmarsh, fifty corn buntings on the Strood fields and a great northern diver off Seaview.

Martin Cock visited Cudmore Grove on Monday morning and reported five pochard, two goldcrest, Cetti's warbler, also a little owl roosting in a holly tree and a muntjac deer.

A great white egret was seen by Daniel Woollard fly over his Cudmore Grove house on Monday afternoon, and earlier six little egrets were reported by Caroline White near the Golfhouse Pools, also an unconfirmed report of a cattle egret seen here by Jim Spalding.

Ron Harvey was pleased to see the first hedgehog of the year in his Whittaker Way garden captured on his trail camera.

On a wet Sunday 10th Caroline White watched the barn owl hunting over the fields by the country park pond and it also visited the barn owl box, also a muntjac deer, two green woodpeckers and a little owl in the kestrel box.

A brief visit to the Strood seawall on a wet Sunday morning produced 70 golden plover, great crested grebe, two corn buntings flying over, great spotted woodpecker and a Cetti's warbler.

Sunshine on Saturday 9th saw this small tortoiseshell flying about near the East Mersea vineyard.

A siskin was quietly feeding on the cones in the alder trees next to the Vineyard on Saturday.

On the nearby Rewsalls marshes 80 brent geese, three little grebes, two oystercatchers, 70 redshank, 30 curlew, 30 turnstone, four snipe, kestrel, Cetti's warbler, five linnets were noted with a great crested grebe offshore.

A little splash of yellow of the lesser celandine flowers added some colour by Mersea Outdoors on Saturday.

At Cudmore Grove the Cetti's warbler and reed bunting were noted at the park pond by Daniel Woollard on Saturday.

A comma butterfly was seen by Caroline White in her Dawes Lane garden on Saturday.

On Friday 8th two red kites were seen slowly crossing over Ray Island and the Strood channel as they headed north-east. Three snipe were flushed off the Ray saltings by one of the kites as it passed over, also 100 brent geese were flushed off too. Only other birds noted during the high tide period were a kestrel, little egret and also the singing Cetti's warbler and song thrush by the caravan park.