CHILLY BUT SUNNY AT FELDY

There was still a chilly northerly breeze on Tuesday 11th. This holly blue had found a sunny spot in Feldy View out of the wind. A small heath and two ruddy darters were also seen here.

The ox-eye daisies are adding some colour to Feldy View. Two common buzzards slowly headed north-west past Feldy View being mobbed by carrion crows. Forty swifts were also heading north-west off the island during the late morning walk.

An oystercatcher has a nest high up on small cruiser boat in the Strood channel.

Along the channel on Tuesday were four avocets, four redshank, seven curlew, two shelduck, two common terns. A cuckoo was calling from Ray Island.

At Cudmore Grove on Tuesday, Lea Merclova found a new small ringed plover chick on the beach near the tarmac ramp, also two eggs in a new nest round the back of the Point - now roped off. 

On Monday 10th thirteen avocets were in the Strood channel, along with two common terns and twenty swifts passing north-west off the island.

In Firs Chase a song thrush was seen singing in the garden, first for a couple of months, and a red admiral rested on the house in the sunshine.

There was an unusual sight on Sunday 9th of two corn buntings tussling on the mud next to the Dabchicks with at least one bird singing the distinctive jangling song. Both birds stood on the mud for several minutes whilst singing, followed by a bit of chasing each other round a boat! Seemed a strange habitat to be seen squabbling over!

Also on Sunday by the Dabchicks the nesting oystercatchers have now got young to feed with the parents carrying lugworms to the chicks still in the dinghy. Fifty swifts passed west off the island, two avocets and two little egrets in the channel.

At Maydays on Saturday 8th a spoonbill was feeding along the north side of the Pyefleet channel.

After being watched for about ten minutes feeding, the spoonbill took off west towards the Strood, showing black wing-tips in flight of a subadult bird.

Also at Maydays were two great crested grebes, 15 shelduck including a brood of nine small young, two avocets and four common terns. Five marsh harriers and a buzzard were seen, while a cuckoo was calling, twenty swifts flew over, the pair of stonechats was seen feeding at least one young, while four reed warblers, three Cetti's warblers and a sedge warbler were all heard singing.

Two adders were basking five metres apart on top of the Maydays seawall near the sluice, also a brown hare, two meadow browns and a small heath seen.

 

Two buzzards were seen on Friday 7th during a walk along part of the Strood seawall, also a male marsh harrier quartering the Strood fields. Along the channel were two shelduck, redshank displaying, two curlew, two common terns and four lapwing passing over. A cuckoo was calling, two sedge warblers and three reed warblers also noted. Three brown hares were in a field, two emperor dragonflies were along the dyke and two small heaths in Feldy View.