ELUSIVE REDSTART

Four sedge warblers were singing along the Strood dyke on Monday 13th, as was a reed warbler although it was tucked deep inside the reedbed and a whitethroat was along the dyke too.

The highlight of the morning was a male redstart seen very briefly in Feldy View. It perched on the top of the boundary hedge for a couple of seconds - long enough to enjoy the colourful markings of the head and chest, before it disappeared. It was only seen very briefly later in the morning by Martin Cock and remained elusive for others who came to look.

Also on Monday 13th a red kite flew north-west over the Strood fields, before crossing over to Ray Island. Two buzzards and a sparrowhawk were also seen during the walk. In the channel two great crested grebes, three whimbrel and forty redshank were noted, a pair of gadwall flew into the Strood dyke while ten brent geese were seen from the Hard.

Nice to see a male wheatear in the rough Strood field on Monday, though it was a pity it was so distant in the middle of the field. The resident pair of stonechat was in their usual spot near the corner reedbed, but another male was seen halfway along the seawall by the central ditch. Two swallows were by the Dabchicks. The ring-necked parakeet was heard calling in Firs Chase earlier in the morning.

Steve Entwistle visited Feldy View a couple of times on Monday and while the redstart didn't show, he did note green woodpecker, blackcap, four robins, pair of great tits, chiffchaff and also a song thrush down the side of the caravan park. By the Strood channel there were two avocets, 15 redshank, 3 curlew, 2 lesser black-backed gulls, red-legged partridge and 8 linnets. 

Andy Field walked the Cudmore circuit on Monday morning and noted 4 chiffchaffs, 2 whitethroats, "more blackcaps than you can shake a stick at", red kite, 2 avocets on the pools, yellow wagtail flying over, 5 or 6 pairs of lapwing in the fields and 2 pairs of ringed plover at the Point.

A nightingale was heard singing by the dyke at East Mersea between the Oyster Fishery and Ivy Dock on Monday by Mark and Jane Dixon.

Michael Thorley photographed this queen wasp in his garden in East Mersea on Monday.

A False widow spider photographed by Michael on Monday in his garden.

Rob Lee reported on Monday morning a stoat nesting in his kitchen ceiling at Barrow Hill, while Carrie Horwood was pleased to see a hedgehog in her Fairhaven Avenue garden the previous night.

On Sunday 12th there were four whimbrel seen along the Strood channel, this one quite close to the seawall, while the others were flying up channel calling as they went. Three great crested grebes were in the channel and a lapwing flew to Feldy Marshes.

Three sedge warblers, whitethroat and stonechat were along the Strood dyke, also four little egrets here, while a buzzard seen, four swallows were seen flying north and two by the Dabchicks.

Martin Cock found two wheatears at Maydays farm on Sunday, also a greenshank, 35 grey plover, leucistic redshank, marsh harrier, two whitethroats and two sedge warblers.

A yellow wagtail was seen by Michael Thorley drinking from his East Mersea garden near Meeting Lane on Sunday afternoon.

Rob Lee photographed this resident pheasant that comes each day to his house at Barrow Hill.

Birds noted at Maydays Farm on Saturday 11th included five marsh harriers, three buzzards, pair of red-legged partridge, ten stock doves, four great crested grebes, four grey plover, the leucistic redshank with fifty other redshank and at least six lapwing on one Reeveshall field. 

A lesser whitethroat singing was the first back onto the Island this spring, two whitethroats, three Cetti's warblers, yellow wagtail flew over, ten linnets and six swallows were the main birds noted.

Three brown hares were seen running about a cultivated field.

There was the very unexpected sight over the Firs Chase garden on Friday of a common crane flying overhead. It was only seen because it was heard doing two or three brief trumpeting calls which made me look up - luckily I was in the garden at the time.

The common crane circled round several times, gaining height as it drifted north-east, where it was luckily seen at the same time by Andy Field circling high over his garden in High Street North.

The common crane soon stopped circling and turned back to the west where it was last seen heading back over Firs Chase and The Hard in the direction of Old Hall. It was heard calling several times as it was passing overhead. A buzzard was seen heading west over the garden too.

As well as the crane, other birds seen by Andy Field on Friday while looking skywards from his High Street North garden included 2 red kites, 8 buzzards, sparrowhawk, a kestrel and also two Mediterranean gulls.

Three red kites were seen on Friday during a walk along the Strood seawall, also two marsh harriers and two buzzards. At least 30 Mediterranean gulls were seen, some in the channel while others following a tractor working a nearby field. Two sedge warblers, reed warbler, whitethroat and stonechat were seen from the seawall.

Along the Strood channel on Friday were three great crested grebes, whimbrel, 25 curlew, two black-tailed godwits, 100 redshank, two dunlin and four little egrets.

A willow warbler and whitethroat were seen by Martin Cock on Friday morning along the path in East Mersea between Shop Lane and Meeting Lane.

Rob Lee saw eight shelduck on the Barrow Hill meadow on Friday morning.

Two corn buntings perched in a tree by the Strood seawall on Thursday 9th. Also seen by the Strood were red kite, buzzard, 2 great crested grebes, 2 black-tailed godwits, 50 redshank, 5 Mediterranean gulls and stonechat.

Butterflies noted included orange-tip by Feldy View, 3 brimstones and one in the garden, peacock, small white and a comma. A slow-worm was sunning itself along the path, south side of the Firs Caravan park. Jack Hoy saw a brimstone butterfly in his Mersea Avenue garden.

Martin Cock visited the Strood earlier on Thursday morning and noted six sedge warblers, reed warbler, two whitethroats, two chiffchaff, blackcap, 2 whimbrel, red kite and several Mediterranean gulls.

Rob Lee saw five buzzards and two swallows at Barrow Hill on Thursday. 

Michael Thorley heard a blackcap singing behind his garden near Meeting Lane, also a bat flying over his garden at dusk on Thursday.

The first swallow back at the Dabchicks Sailing Club was seen perched on a boat cable nearby on Wednesday 8th - two others were seen over the Yacht Club which presumably were also the same two seen earlier over Feldy View. Birds seen along the Strood seawall were 12 brent geese, four avocets, two black-tailed godwits, 12 turnstones, Mediterranean gull, buzzard, stonechat and a sedge warbler. A willow warbler was singing at the bottom corner of the Firs Chase caravan park and a red kite was over the Peldon fields. Two brimstone butterflies were seen during the walk.

Andy Field also visited the Strood seawall on Wednesday morning and saw two sedge warblers singing along the dyke. Steve Entwistle saw a showy song thrush and four brimstones in the area of Feldy View and the side of the caravan park.

Rob Lee reported a male hen harrier flying over the West Mersea Hard towards Old Hall on Wednesday afternoon. Later a nightingale was heard singing on Ray Island - a site where one was heard last year, also on the Ray whitethroat, chiffchaff and a blackcap.

In East Mersea Martin Cock saw two whitethroats, chiffchaff, blackcaps everywhere and 38 black-tailed godwits all near the Oyster Fishery on Wednesday morning.

At Cudmore Grove Simon Patient saw an adder and grass-snake Wednesday late afternoon.

A short-eared owl was photographed by Andy Field on Tuesday 7th being mobbed by carrion crows as it crossed over the Colne at Cudmore Grove.

Later in the day Andy watched a barn owl hunting over the fields by the Strood fishing lakes in the evening.

A swallow was seen by Rob Lee flying over Barrow Hill on Tuesday evening.

Three swallows were seen by Jack Hoy at Fishponds Wood in Shop Lane on Tuesday.

Birds noted from the Strood seawall on Tuesday included ten Mediterranean gulls, two buzzards, sedge warbler singing, stonechat, ten linnets, three lapwing flying over the Peldon seawall and ten great black-backed gulls by the Hard.

A Swallow Prominent came to the Firs Chase garden moth trap on the 8th.

ON THE MEDS

There were lots of gulls along the Strood Channel because a tractor was cultivating a nearby field on a sunny Monday 6th. This pair of Mediterranean gulls looked particularly eye-catching with matching white eye-liners.

At least five pairs of Mediterranean gulls are pictured here resting on the Strood mud on Monday, having a short break from following the nearby tractor in the fields. At least thirty Mediterranean gulls were noted, although far more must've been mixed in with all the other gulls in the field.

As the tide came closer to the Strood seawall, so did this redshank on Monday. A flock of ninety curlew were flushed off Ray Island, nine shelduck, 16 brent geese and one black-tailed godwit were also noted.

The warm weather on Monday saw six buzzards at various times in the air along the Strood, while a red kite was circling over the Strood field being cultivated by the tractor. A sparrowhawk flew over the channel and another one flew through the Firs Chase garden later on.

The male stonechat was by the Strood dyke, a corn bunting was singing in a weedy field and a meadow pipit flew over calling. A chiffchaff was singing in Firs Chase and another in The Lane.

Two brimstone, two peacock and comma butterflies were seen on the walk.

Early evening on Monday a barn owl was seen hunting the fields by the Strood reservoirs by Carrie Horwood. At the beginning of the day a barn owl was seen by Rob Lee near Barrow Hill, so possibly the same bird or the other bird of the pair.

Carrie also noted by the fishing lakes plenty of Cetti's warblers calling, skylarks, eight brent geese, red-legged partridge, pheasants, wrens, blackcap, little egret as well as a swallow near the Strood.

In the afternoon in the Kingsland Road and Beach Road area, Carrie reported a chiffchaff and blackcap singing, 3 brimstone and 2 peacock butterflies.

In Meeting Lane on Monday morning a willow warbler was heard singing by Martin Cock, also there six blackcaps, 7 chiffchaffs, 5 Cetti's warblers, 2 buzzards, sparrowhawk, kestrel, also small white and several peacock butterflies. Michael Thorley saw a small tortoiseshell in Meeting Lane.

A swallow was seen coming ashore at Cudmore Grove on Monday morning by Jack Hoy.

On Sunday 5th the first swallow of the summer reported on the Island was by Rob Lee as it flew alongside the Strood. Later in the morning two other swallows were seen flying north over the Strood channel thirty minutes apart, continuing their journey to northern breeding grounds.

Clive Pickering also watched a swallow flying along the West Mersea beach near Kingsland Road on Monday morning.

Birds noted along the Strood seawall on Sunday included a marsh harrier, two great crested grebes, ten brent geese, seven shelduck, a pair of gadwall and the local pair of stonechats.

At the end of Sunday, a barn owl was watched by Carrie Horwood hunting behind the Strood fishing lakes, quartering the area for nearly twenty minutes. 

On Saturday 4th a nest full of mallard eggs was found on top of the Maydays seawall. Having momentarily stopped during my walk on the seawall, a female mallard was seen flying low across the mud away from the seawall. I noticed that she was waiting on the mud for me to walk on by, before she returned to the nest.

Birds noted during the walk along the Maydays seawall were 6 marsh harriers, 4 buzzards, 15+ lapwings in the grass fields, 25 golden plover, 15 stock doves in the fields, 30 shelduck, 8 teal, four great crested grebes, 3 dunlin, six little egrets, four Cetti's warblers singing, chiffchaff and blackcap also singing, while a yellowhammer was calling.

A whitethroat was reported via Birdguides on Saturday near the Dog and Pheasant pub.

A Tawny Mining Bee was photographed in the Firs Chase garden on Saturday.

On Friday 3rd a ring-tail hen harrier was seen by Martin Cock at Maydays farm flying over the fields heading roughly south-west. Also 2 marsh harriers, 2 buzzards, 20 golden plover, 40 stock doves in the fields, a water rail squealing, while blackcap, chiffchaff and Cetti's warbler were heard singing.

Six pairs of pochard were seen by Rob Lee on Friday on a pond at Bower Hall farm.

Birds of interest along the Strood seawall on Friday included a great crested grebe, black-tailed godwit, marsh harrier, two buzzards, four little egrets, while a song thrush and two chiffchaffs were near the Firs Caravan park. 

On Thursday 2nd the leucistic redshank was back on the Golfhouse saltmarsh pools, photographed here by Andy Field.

A seemingly poorly knot was photographed by Andy on Stone Point - presumably the same bird seen by Michael Thorley here a week earlier.

A grey heron photographed by Andy on the park pond on Thursday. Also noted by Andy at the park were four chiffchaffs, 2 blackcaps, 2 Cetti's warblers, ten lapwings in the fields, pair of swans in the central ditch and a pair of pochard on the dyke.

In the Rewsalls marsh area, this group of turnstones was resting at high tide on the old concrete seawall. Seventy turnstones and forty redshank, two dunlin, two oystercatchers and a grey plover were the waders seen at high tide, while two Mediterranean gulls, 3 little egrets were also noted. 

Offshore was a great northern diver and also thirty great crested grebes.

Six linnets were seen in the area of the Youth Camp, also singing chiffchaff and blackcap.

A small white butterfly was along a field edge near the East Mersea boating lake on Thursday.

Two peacocks were also seen in the area of the Youth Camp on Thursday.

At West Mersea a sedge warbler was seen by Steve Entwistle in the Strood borrowdyke bramble bushes on Thursday afternoon, also a chiffchaff and 2 greenfinches seen in Feldy View cemetery.

A sedge warbler was back from Africa to sing in the bramble bushes in the Strood corner reedbed on Wednesday 1st. Only a faint burst was heard from the other sedge warbler in the dyke nearer the caravan park, the stonechat was noted. A great white egret was seen flying south-west over Ray Island, a marsh harrier and buzzard also noted.

Along the channel were two greylag geese flying, 20 brent geese, great crested grebe, 25 turnstones, five dunlin, black-tailed godwit, while song thrush was by the caravan park.

A little owl was seen by Steve Entwistle on Wednesday evening at Bromans Farm.

The regular wintering black brant was spotted again in the Strood channel opposite the Firs Caravan park on Tuesday 31st. Also along the channel were seventy brent geese, 12 shelduck, two great crested grebes and twenty black-tailed godwits. A marsh harrier and two buzzards were seen flying about.

The first sedge warbler of the spring back onto the island was in the Strood dyke on Tuesday. Also one stonechat, 15 linnets, four reed buntings, meadow pipit, while six chiffchaffs were noted on the Firs Chase / Firs Caravan park / Fedy View circuit.

The male stonechat photographed by Steve Entwistle along the Strood seawall, while watching the sedge warbler in the area early Tuesday afternoon.

An unexpected visitor to the bright moth light in the Firs Chase garden was this smooth newt found on the whitish-sheet. It was a bit chilly that Tuesday night for it to find any insects to feed on.

GARGANEY TWITCH!

Great excitement at Cudmore Grove Country Park on Monday 30th when a pair of garganey was found on the park pond in the morning. A number of birders/ twitchers, mostly local, came along during the day to admire and photograph this rare visitor to the island. Andy Field took this photo mid afternoon of the pair when the male wasn't actually asleep. Both birds spent most of the day asleep, maybe they'd just had an exhausting migration north and needed a good rest here.

This is the first island record of garganey since Shaun Bater found a pair on the park pond on 14th April 2022. Prior to that was 2013 on the grazing fields in October.

Mark Thomson took these three photos of the male garganey awake.

Another picture by Mark mid afternoon.

Picture by Mark.

Steve Entwistle took this picture in the morning of the garganey swimming about.

Michael Thorley managed to photograph the male garganey flapping its wings.

My photo of the sleeping male garganey in the early Monday evening with the female resting nearby too. They did jump into the water when a bossy coot barged past but soon returned back to sleep. The male was heard calling the distinctive croaking rattle on several occasions.

Also on the park pond that evening were pair of tufted ducks, pair of gadwall, male pochard and a water rail heard calling. A little owl was heard calling to the north of the pond, and a chiffchaff was singing. On the grazing fields were 8 lapwing, ten wigeon, 15 teal, 3 shelduck, 5 greylag geese, 2 Canada geese, black-tailed godwit, pair of kestrels in the box and also a buzzard flying over the field at the back.

On the nearby mud were a bar-tailed godwit, 20 golden plover, 3 pairs of Mediterranean gulls and an avocet, while 8 great crested grebes were at the mouth of the Colne.

On Monday morning along the Strood seawall, birds noted included buzzard, two pairs of Mediterranean gulls, great crested grebe, stonechat and ten linnets. A chiffchaff and song thrush were by the Firs caravan park and chiffchaff was singing in Firs Chase.

A female Hairy-footed Flower Bee feeding at a red deadnettle along the Strood seawall on Monday. Surprisingly this species has not been reported from the island before, although there are lots of mainland records nearby.

A song thrush hopped onto the field beside Feldy View on Sunday 29th. Two chiffchaffs and a goldcrest were noted in the area with a third chiffchaff singing in Firs Chase. A sparrowhawk perched in a tree over The Lane. A buzzard, great crested grebe, 20 brent geese and two shelduck were the birds of interest seen during a brief visit to the seawall.

A flock of 200 golden plover was resting in a field at Maydays farm on a windy Saturday 28th, with some of the birds developing their black bellies of summer. Twelve lapwings were in the Reeveshall fields, two Cetti's warblers singing and a yellowhammer near the dyke. Three marsh harriers, four buzzards and a red kite were the birds of prey seen during the seawall walk.

Thirty redshank were feeding along the Maydays creek on Saturday. Five great crested grebes were feeding in the Pyefleet channel.

A common lizard was keeping out of the cold northerly wind on top of the Maydays seawall on Saturday. A common seal was resting on the Pyefleet saltmarsh during the high tide period.

Peter Marchington photographed this male kestrel on Friday 27th along the West Mersea beach near Shears Court. The bird turns up here from time to time on quiet days.

 

Another kestrel photo taken by Peter.

The kestrel on the ground, taken by Peter.

On Friday Rob Lee reported a chiffchaff in his garden at Barrow Hill, while Martin Cock reported five brown hares together at Maydays on Friday morning.

A pair of Mediterranean gulls was courting with lots of distinctive calling, along the Strood channel on Thursday 26th.

Three pairs of Mediterranean gulls in total were seen and heard calling as they flew along the Strood channel. The adults have the very white wings, almost translucent in the bright light.

Along the channel on Thursday at low tide were 30 wigeon, 15 shelduck, 8 teal, two great crested grebes and 11 black-tailed godwits.

A female reed bunting perched on a bush by the Strood seawall on Thursday. In the sunshine two pairs of buzzard on passage flew north high over Firs Chase and Feldy View, while two local buzzards circled over the fields calling. A stonechat, ten linnets, 30 jackdaws and two chiffchaffs were noted on the walk too. A sparrowhawk and two blackcaps were in the Firs Chase garden.

Michael Thorley photographed this knot on the mud near the East Mersea Point on Thursday.

Andy Field walked the Cudmore Grove circuit on Thursday and reported a blackcap, three chiffchaffs, goldcrest, three pochard on the borrowdyke, ten lapwings on the grazing fields, two greylag geese, 300 brent geese and two pairs of ringed plovers at Stone Point.

A male stonechat was feeding alongside the female down below the Strood seawall out of the strong wind that was blowing from the north-west on Wednesday 25th. Other birds seen battling in the wind were two marsh harriers, buzzard, 30 brent geese, 20 wigeon, eight teal, 3 greylag geese and a flock in the weedy fields of 20 linnets and four corn buntings.

A pair of avocets dropped into the Strood channel to feed on Tuesday 24th. The commonest wader seen that day were 150 redshank with just the one black-tailed godwit seen. One Canada goose flew past, a buzzard, two stonechats and a meadow pipit were also noted.  Five redwings briefly landed in Feldy View before flying off to the caravan site. A sparrowhawk and two blackcaps were in the Firs Chase garden.

A slow-worm was seen slowly sliding across the gravel driveway at the Firs Chase garden on Tuesday 

Andy Field's trail camera captured three hedgehogs at their feeder, although there was a lot of argy-bargy going on between them during the night of Monday 23rd.

Stealing the hedgehog food the next night was this badger captured by Andy's trail-cam in his High Street North garden during the night of Tuesday 24th.