FINCH ON FENCE

A goldfinch perched on a fence beside the Firs Chase caravan park on Friday 15th. A whitethroat was singing beside the caravan park, with green woodpecker and great spotted woodpecker seen in Feldy View, while three swifts were flying over nearby houses.

In the Strood channel on Friday were two great crested grebes, 25 brent geese beside Ray Island and two common terns. A cuckoo was heard calling from Ray Island and a great spotted woodpecker was seen flying over to Ray Island.

A couple of sedge warblers were singing along the Strood dyke on Friday, also two reed warblers, lesser whitethroat, a marsh harrier over the fields, 25 linnets feeding in the fields and a sand martin flying north over the Strood channel with two swallows. 

A great spotted woodpecker was in Carrie Horwood's garden in Fairhaven Avenue on Thursday 14th.

One of the Syrphid species of hoverfly was photographed on corn marigold by Michael Thorley in his East Mersea garden on Thursday.

Dark foreboding sky to the west of the Island on Thursday just after mid-day.

Birds seen during a brief visit to the Strood seawall included ten brent geese, great crested grebe, two common terns, cuckoo and a great spotted woodpecker flying back from Ray Island carrying food in its bill.

Two buzzards circled over Bower Hall farm, three stonechats were beside the Strood dyke, as were three sedge warblers singing, three reed warblers singing, lesser whitethroat and 36 linnets in the field.

A buzzard and marsh harrier flew over Firs Chase in the afternoon.

A song thrush was seen in the Firs Chase garden and another one also seen in Ron Harvey's garden in Whittaker Way.

On Wednesday 13th an osprey fishing off East Mersea was filmed by Jodie, one of the coastal rangers with the Bird Aware Essex Coast team. It was seen just before mid-day heading north up the Colne towards Fingringhoe.

Andy Field walked the Reeveshall seawall on Wednesday and saw 3 avocets, 7 gadwall, 2 Canada geese and 2 mallard on the pool near the seawall. Three marsh harriers were seen over the Langenhoe Ranges.

Martin Cock saw a hobby flying over Chapmans Lane on Wednesday, while Rob Lee reported a lot of cuckoo activity at Barrow Hill

An oystercatcher was sitting on its nest in the old dinghy near the Dabchicks sailing club on Tuesday 12th. In the Strood channel were ten brent geese, five shelducks, three great crested grebes and two common terns. A cuckoo was heard calling from Ray Island.

The female stonechat perched beside the Strood dyke on Tuesday as it kept an eye on three recently fledged youngsters that were feeding along the seawall. The male was also in attendance too. Four sedge warblers, two reed warblers, lesser whitethroat and a whitethroat were some of the singing males along the dyke.

A wall brown and a painted lady flew along the Strood seawall, while in Feldy View there were orange-tip, holly blue, red admiral and small white butterflies seen.

Fifteen swifts were seen over the houses on Tuesday. Andy Field reported that the other half of his swift pair arrived back to his swift-box in High St North.

A blue tit was seen on its nest in Carrie Horwood's Fairhaven Avenue garden on Tuesday.

Blackbird with one eye being fed in Carrie's garden.

A painted lady was photographed by Carrie in her garden on Monday.

Rob Lee also photographed a painted lady at Barrow Hill on the Tuesday.

A green hairstreak was photographed at Cudmore Grove by Carrie on Tuesday.

A recently fledged robin in the Firs Chase garden on Tuesday - one of two that fledged from one of the two nesting pairs.

Lea from the Bird Aware Essex Coast roped off two ringed plover nests on the beach at East Mersea Point on Monday 11th. The nest by the old blockhouse fort had three eggs in it.

A whitethroat was singing beside Feldy View on Monday 11th. A brief visit to the Strood revealed two bar-tailed godwits on the mud, five brent geese, common tern, two great crested grebes, 3 shelduck and a cuckoo on Ray Island. A great spotted woodpecker crossed back over the Strood channel carrying food. Also noted were a buzzard, stonechat and a flock of 30 linnets in the field.

A cuckoo was heard calling in Fairhaven Avenue on Monday by Carrie Horwood.

A song thrush spent time on Sunday 10th in the Firs Chase garden.

The song thrush was feeding on snails in the Firs Chase garden.

A confiding blackbird joined me in the garden compost heap.

Birds noted along the Strood seawall on Sunday 10th included the nightingale heard singing on Ray Island, 5 brent geese, 2 greylag geese, 6 shelduck, pair of shoveler, great crested grebe, common tern, four reed warblers, two lesser whitethroats and three stonechats.

A cuckoo was heard by Carrie Horwood, calling east of the West Mersea bowls club on Saturday 9th.

Andy Field photographed this lapwing chick in the Cudmore Grove grazing fields on Friday 8th. There were at least 13 or 14 chicks seen but likely more hiding amongst the long grass.

As well as this lapwing chick flapping it's short wings photographed by Andy, also a redshank chick maybe two chicks in the park fields. Five common terns in the Colne but no little terns seen during the morning visit. A Wall Brown was seen along the seawall to the park.

Steve Entwistle visited East Mersea Point on Friday early afternoon and did see a little tern fishing just off the Point, catching a fish and then heading back out to sea. Twenty-five dunlin, five grey plover and four common terns also seen by Steve. A song thrush and greenfinch were seen near the Golfhouse and a painted lady on the path near there too with brimstone near steps at the seawall corner.

Early Friday evening, Steve visited Maydays and reported 2 yellowhammers, lesser whitethroat, 2 house martins in Haycocks Lane and a painted lady.

An orange-tip butterfly was in the Firs Chase garden on Friday 8th.

An azure damselfly was resting beside the Firs Chase caravan park on Friday.

Birds noted during a short walk to the seawall included a whimbrel, cuckoo, common tern, grey heron, two kestrels, two brent geese, reed warbler, two whitethroats, nine swifts over the houses, while a goldcrest and song thrush were singing in the Firs Chase garden.

On Thursday 7th a barn owl was seen by Shaun Bater in the evening flying over the East Mersea road heading towards the fishing lakes.

Two Iron Prominents were noted in the Firs Chase garden moth trap on the 8th.

LITTLE TERN TREAT

A close view of a little tern fishing off the East Mersea Point on Thursday 7th was an unexpected treat. It spent at least thirty minutes in the area with two periods of fishing with a break in the middle where it was seen resting on the edge of nearby mudflats.

The little tern was circling round over the waters off the Point as the tide came in, dropping down to fish every so often and then going round again. It was last seen heading out of the estuary and not seen again that day. There had been six little terns seen on the opposite side of the Colne earlier at Sandy Point in the morning, so presumably this was one of those birds. Six common terns also seen in the estuary.

A ringed plover was found sitting on four eggs round the back of the Point on Thursday.

Also on Thursday at the Point another ringed plover appeared to be crouching down at the top of the beach, but no nest or eggs could be found. Twenty-five ringed plovers were seen, some flying in the flock with dunlin and others feeding on the mud.

Fifty dunlin were seen at the Point on Thursday, three of them here resting on the mud as the tide was coming in. 

At least ten lapwing chicks were feeding in the country park grazing fields.

Ten adult lapwings were keeping a close eye on their chicks in the park fields on Thursday. Three redshank on the fields are probably breeding too.

Three brent geese were resting in the park fields on Thursday, also six greylag geese, 14 shelduck, pair of gadwall,  cuckoo calling at the back of the fields and a sparrowhawk passing over.

A male linnet perched up on the bushes at the Point on Thursday. A displaying meadow pipit over the seablite bushes at the Point was of note. Three reed warblers, sedge warbler, lesser whitethroat and two whitethroats also noted during the walk from the Golfhouse to the Point.

Steve Entwistle spent Thursday afternoon at the Point and while not seeing the little tern, did see a Sandwich tern, ten common terns, fifty herring gulls, seven bar-tailed godwits, fifty whimbrel in a large flock calling, 52 dunlin on the Golfhouse pools, and a song thrush with a beak full of worms by the Golfhouse.

Andy Field noted on Thursday morning that a swift returned back inside his swift nestbox two days earlier than last year

Rob Lee reported hearing the female cuckoo at Barrow Hill and recently has seen lots of cuckoos that were mainly males.

A cuckoo was also heard calling in Firs Chase on Thursday.

Michael Thorley photographed a field vole eating fallen apple blossom under a tree in his East Mersea garden on Thursday.

Another field vole pictured by Michael.

A male whitethroat was singing beside a path by the Firs Chase Caravan park on Wednesday 6th.  A lesser whitethroat was heard with its rattling song beside the caravan park, while along the Strood dyke were two sedge warblers, two reed warblers, marsh harrier over the fields, cuckoo heard calling and six swifts over the houses.

Along the Strood channel were two great crested grebes, three whimbrel, two shelduck, two lapwing over the Peldon seawall and five brent geese on Packing Shed Island.

At Maydays farm on Wednesday, Martin Cock reported two red kites, two cuckoos, whimbrel and plenty of sedge warblers.

At Barrow Hill Rob Lee saw three cuckoos on Wednesday, possibly two males after a female.

In the Firs Chase garden a song thrush and goldcrest were heard singing, while a rose chafer, brimstone butterfly, orange-tip  and holly blue were seen there during Wednesday.

A wall brown butterfly looked a bit tatty in Feldy View on a sunny Tuesday 5th. Maybe a bird had pecked off some of the hindwings. Great to see this species again here for the second year running.

Andy Field reported seeing one in his High Street North garden the day before.

 

A speckled wood was in the shady corner of Feldy View on Tuesday.

A green hairstreak was resting up in a tree in Feldy View and whenever a holly blue butterfly flew past it would fly up to it, checking it wasn't a rival male hairstreak. A painted lady flashed past, while orange-tip and small white were also noted. Another green hairstreak was seen again in the Firs Chase garden.

Three rose chafers were feeding on the rowan flowers in Feldy View on Tuesday.

A Large red damselfly was seen in Feldy View on Tuesday - another was also seen in the Firs Chase garden.

A brown-lipped snail caught my eye in Feldy View as it was attached to a small birch tree, a metre off the ground.

An oystercatcher was standing on a dinghy by the Dabchicks sailing club on Tuesday. Also along the channel were four common terns, whimbrel, great crested grebe, two shelduck, five brent geese. A hobby flew over Feldy View feeding on insects as it flew, before heading away over the Firs Road cemetery. Two swifts were seen over houses next to the cemetery.

A sparrowhawk and two whitethroats were heard singing beside the caravan park.

A female cuckoo was heard with its bubbling call in the Firs Chase garden early on Tuesday morning.

A painted lady feeding on thyme was photographed by Michael Thorley in his East Mersea garden on Tuesday. Eighty-three rosemary beetles noted in his garden too.

Painted lady was seen on the Strood seawall on Tuesday.

Andy Field photographed this Leaf-cutter bee Megachile centunculari, seems to have a nest in a pot in his front garden.

A pair of common terns was fishing along the Strood channel on Monday 4th. Also seen during the seawall walk were marsh harrier, buzzard, sparrowhawk, cuckoo calling near the bowls club, two greylag geese, five brent geese, two mute swans, whimbrel, 12 turnstones by the Hard, three great crested grebes and a nightingale heard singing across on Ray Island.

A pair of yellow wagtails was flying around the saltmarsh at the bottom of the Strood hill, one juvenile stonechat was with the parents, four reed buntings, five whitethroats, five sedge warblers, four reed warblers and a lesser whitethroat - were all heard singing. Seven swifts were flying over the houses.

A pair of shoveler was along the Strood dyke and a pair of pochard flew along the Strood channel on Monday.

A pair of gadwall rested in the Strood field on Monday after flying out of the dyke.

A Lunar Thorn in the Firs Chase garden on the 3rd May was the first island record since 2009.

A Seraphim in the garden on the 3rd, was only the second record for the island.

Pale Tussock

Figure of Eighty.

Silver-Y.

Buff-tip.