CHAT CHICKS

Three fledged juvenile stonechats were perching on bushes along the Strood seawall on Sunday 18th. The young appear to have been fledged for a several days, judging by the confident nature of their flying about.

The male stonechat was keeping a watchful eye over the chicks from the edge of the borrowdyke on Sunday. This is the first time stonechats have bred along here. The adults seem to have been around through the winter and stayed into the spring to breed.

Also from the Strood seawall on Sunday were seen 2 whimbrel, redshank, common tern, 2 marsh harriers, two house martins, 5 sedge warblers, 5 reed warblers, whitethroat, yellow wagtail pair, 12 linnets, cuckoo over the fields and another on the Ray, also a nightingale singing here, 30 swifts over the houses, two brent geese in the channel and five on Packing Shed Island.

Five brown hares were running about the Strood fields on Sunday.

Large red damselfly was seen along the footpath between Firs Chase and The Lane on Sunday.

Azure damselfly also along the Firs Chase to The Lane footpath.

A badger was seen checking out the bird-food tubs by the front door in Firs Chase just after midnight on Sunday

A spotted flycatcher was seen at Cudmore Grove Country Park on Sunday by Mollie Kirk. It was seen near the overflow car park mid morning and then it flew to the play area but not seen after this.

On Friday 16th a hobby was seen by Mollie Kirk flying west over the country park pond in the evening.

Martin Cock reported seeing a buzzard, sparrowhawk, the usual warblers and a green hairstreak during his Wednesday 14th morning walk between Meeting Lane and Shop Lane.

A male broad-bodied chaser was photographed by Michael Thorley in his East Mersea garden on Wednesday 14th. The female broad-bodied chaser was seen ovipositing in his garden pond.

A green hairstreak was photographed by Andy Field at Cudmore Grove on Tuesday 13th. Two were also seen by Daniel Woollard in the garden of the park's bungalow.

Three pochard on the country park pond on Tuesday, photographed by Andy. Other birds seen during his Cudmore circuit included cuckoo, sedge warbler, reed warbler, five common terns, ringed plover still sitting on a nest, ten lapwing chicks with one of the broods of four now in the Golfhouse paddock, also four house martins over the bus turning circle.

Chiffchaff singing at the country park on Tuesday, photographed by Andy.

A Wall Brown was photographed by Michael Thorley in his East Mersea garden near Meeting Lane on Tuesday 13th. A painted lady also seen in the same garden.

Michael also reported seeing five brent geese, 8 shelduck and five oystercatchers from the Shop Lane seawall on Tuesday.

Two tufted ducks and three pochard were seen by Shaun Bater on the pond at Sanderling Reach on Sunday 11th.

The first sighting in the Firs Chase garden of a broad-bodied chaser on Friday 9th.

Ed Bateman saw lots of terns off Langenhoe Point on Friday, including two Sandwich terns but no little terns.

Some mallard ducklings were reunited with their family on a pond at Barrow Hill by Rob Lee.

A clump of thrift growing along the seawall by the Strood channel on Thursday 8th.

An oystercatcher nesting in the roughly cultivated field by the Strood on Thursday 8th.

Also seen in the area were a pochard flying, mute swan, brent goose, cuckoo, redshank, three common terns, two Mediterranean gulls, buzzard, three sedge warblers, five reed warblers, two whitethroats, pair of stonechat, pair of yellow wagtails, also 12 swifts over the houses.

The cuckoo was heard calling by Daniel Woollard at Cudmore Grove early on Thursday morning.

A coxcomb prominent at the Firs Chase moth trap.

Pale Prominent