HOT HOLIDAY WEATHER

The bank holiday Monday 26th was a hot day with blue sky for most of the day, although with quite a strong breeze blowing throughout. The beaches on Mersea were busy with the holiday crowds and this section of seawall between Coopers Beach and the Youth Camp was busy with many walkers.

A visit around the middle of the day to the Rewsalls marshes revealed a common sandpiper along the dyke, a wheatear flying from the beach onto the field and 2 willow warblers amongst a small mixed flock of blackcaps, whitethroats, greenfinches and goldfinches in Coopers Beach bushes. A kestrel, 2 juvenile green woodpeckers, 25 swallows and 2 sand martins were also seen over the marshes.

Offshore the tide was coming in and 80 golden plover was the main wader flock of note, while 5 little egrets were noted along the water's edge.

Two clouded yellow butterflies were seen over a corner of grassy set-aside near the East Mersea church.



Steve Entwistle was busy birding parts of the Island during the day with a wheatear and sedge warbler noted at the park in the morning along with two painted ladies. In the late afternoon along the Pyefleet near Maydays 3 whinchat, 2 wheatears, four Arctic terns flew past with one landed on the mud, 6 curlew sandpipers as well as a few knot and bar-tailed godwit, rounded off with a barn owl near the farm.
Two clouded yellows were seen along the Maydays seawall.

On Langenhoe Marshes a wryneck was a rare record for here, seen by Richard Hull and Richard Brown on Monday afternoon. The previous day 8 curlew sandpipers, 9 ruff, 3 whinchats and 2 wheatears were also noted here.

The butterflies enjoyed another sunny day on the Island with this common blue feeding in the Firs Chase garden the first sighting of the year here. Other butterflies noted here were speckled wood egg-laying on long grass stalks, holly blue, meadow brown, hedge brown, large white, small white, small tortoiseshell, red admiral and peacock.

A willow warbler was calling from trees in the garden and in the skies above a mixed flock of fifty swallows and house martins circled around all day.

A handful of silver Y moths were seen during the day in the garden with some of them feeding on the lavender and salvia flowers.

A visit to the Point on Sunday 25th saw at least two whinchats, maybe three, perched on bushes and tall plants on the saltmarsh and the seawall. Also in the area were 20 linnets and a corn bunting too, while offshore a little tern and 5 common terns flew past.

On the fields the water level has risen a lot following the two inches of rain on Saturday afternoon. The extra water made it better for ducks with 300 teal a big increase, also 200 black-tailed godwit, 100 redshank, 15 snipe and 13 little egrets amongst the pools too. Ten yellow wagtails were feeding around the feet of the cows.