LAPWING CHICKS

The sea off the country park on Thursday 26th was still rough following more unsettled weather. It was a bit of a struggle to stand still in the strong wind whilst looking out to sea in the afternoon. No sign of any interesting birds offshore such as the two arctic skuas Martin Cock had seen from West Mersea the day before.

There was the colourful sight again on the grazing fields of 300+ black-tailed godwits during the high tide. The big highlight here however was the sight of at least 3 tiny lapwing chicks walking about the grass amongst the pools. One of the parents, presumably the mother, walked across and crouched over the chicks to give them some shelter. The parents have done well to get the eggs to hatch as the local foxes prowl around so much.

Also around the pools were snipe, several redshank, avocet, 25 teal, gadwall and mallard while close to the borrowdyke were two wheatears in each field.

The two nightingales were still singing at opposite ends of the car park, although not quite so much in the wet weather. Two chiffchaffs and two blackcaps and a whitethroat were also singing while a small flock of 10 linnets were noted too.

Earlier in the day a male marsh harrier was seen flying over fields near the East Mersea P.Y.O field. The day before a male marsh harrier was seen flying alongside the Strood causeway as it headed off the island.

Another disappointing mothing session on Tuesday night with only twelve moths noted. Two species made their first appearances of the year with an oak tree pug and 3 frosted green moths, one of them pictured above. The hebrew characters are still outnumbering the other moths with common quaker the only other species noted.