WALL BROWN

A Wall Brown butterfly made a surprise appearance along the Maydays farm seawall on Sunday 4th - the first sighting on the Island for just over 20 years. This individual decided to land briefly on my knee while I was sitting down on the seawall, before it flew off without any opportunity for any photo to be taken. After some searching and a couple of other sightings in the same area, eventually after about forty minutes, the butterfly was followed in flight and seen to land on a concrete block on the outer face of the seawall, where a few photos were snapped.
The wall brown has declined in Essex over the last ten years to just a scattering of breeding sites around the coast. Up until the late 1990's there was a small population on the Island at Cudmore Grove Country Park.

Five painted ladies were feeding on the golden samphire flowers below the Maydays seawall out of the wind. A brown argus was seen low down among the grass inside the seawall.

Birds noted at Maydays on Sunday included 2 common sandpipers, 3 greenshank, 2 marsh harriers, common buzzard, 50 grey plover, 30 dunlin, 5 shelducklings, 2 yellow wagtails, yellowhammer and ten house martins.

Along the Strood seawall on Saturday 3rd were seen lots of Mediterranean gulls with at least 40 seen amongst 1000 black-headed gulls and a couple of common gulls following a tractor cultivating a field. This Mediterranean gull pictured, seemed to have very muddy wings and was probably standing by the dyke hoping to wash its feathers.

A hobby passed over the stubble field a couple of times, a common buzzard also flew over too and a sparrowhawk was also seen gliding over the Strood fields late on Saturday morning. In the fields were also 25 golden plover, 25 linnets, while 6 yellow wagtails were seen along the seawall.

Two willow warblers were feeding and calling from trees alongside the Firs Chase caravan site on Saturday. Three whitethroats were also seen along the seawall walk and 5 swifts were flying over the field near the houses.

The first small copper of the mid summer generation was feeding on lavender in Feldy View on Saturday, also painted lady, common blue and brown argus of interest here. Ten painted ladies were feeding beside the Strood seawall.

On Saturday Andy Field noted between the Golfhouse and the Oyster Fishery a willow warbler with a small warbler flock of lesser whitethroats, whitethroats and reed warbler. Four knot, marsh harrier and a few yellow wagtails were also seen.

A flock of around 50 little egrets were roosting in trees behind the country park pond on Friday 2nd. A young sparrowhawk was heard calling from the copse behind the pond.
Four pochard were in the dyke, a common sandpiper flew along it calling, 2 sand martins passed overhead, 2 teal seen flying, 3 ringed plover chicks on the beach,while offshore the female eider and a common tern were seen.

A stonechat was reported by Andrew Tilsley near the Golfhouse on Tuesday 30th.

A gypsy moth was found in the Firs Chase garden moth trap on 2nd and the 4th, a species that is spreading quickly across southern England. The first sighting on the Island was two years ago at the country park.
Also of mothing interest 170 diamond-back moths in the trap on Thursday 1st was a high count for this tiny immigrant micro-moth.