ANOTHER RING OUZEL DROPS IN

A wheatear was on the Strood seawall on Thursday 17th and still there on Friday 18th.
The male ring ouzel was also still present in the Feldy View / Firs Chase cemeteries on Thursday and Friday and presumed to be the same bird first seen on Saturday 12th. The bird has been very wary and would stay hidden inside trees but was often seen in flight making the harsh chacking call as it flew.

Five avocets, fifty brent geese and 12 wigeon were the main birds of note along the Strood on Friday 18th. Two common buzzards were seen drifting over the fields on Strood Hill and a sparrowhawk was seen amongst a starling flock high over the houses.
On Thursday 17th a peregrine flew down channel and sent wader flocks flying, it circled over the water before drifting west behind Ray Island. A greenshank and 17 little grebes were of interest in the channel while a stonechat and rock pipit were seen from the seawall.

At East Mersea on Friday 18th, Martin Cock saw from near the Oyster Fishery two spoonbills roosting on Langenhoe Point, also a kingfisher, while at East Mersea Point 3 stonechats and 12 swallows were seen.
The purple sandpiper was seen on Thursday 17th by Jim Hume flying from East Mersea Point over to Brightlingsea with six turnstone, also two Mediterranean gulls seen.
Two spoonbills were seen on the saltmarsh pools by the Golfhouse on Wednesday 16th by Richard Sharp.

Andy Field reported seeing on Tuesday 15th, the juvenile curlew sandpiper again at East Mersea on mud near Ivy Dock, also 30+ swallows and 3 stonechat near the Point. A few redwings, blackcaps were seen at the park by Simon Patient on Tuesday, also a red squirrel seen at the back of the park pond.
On Tuesday evening a male tawny owl was heard calling several times from the general area of Triangle Wood / Victory Road, also a redwing heard calling in the dark.

Another male ring ouzel was discovered on the Island, this time by one of the Waldegraves fishing lakes on Monday 14th. Like the others seen recently, it proved very wary and shy but noisy when flying. It rarely allowed itself to be seen when perched inside one of the bushes.
Other birds seen on a Cross Lane /Waldegraves walk included 4 goldcrest, 2 chiffchaff, 20 pied wagtails, 4 sanderling, 20 goldfinches, sparrowhawk and two green woodpeckers.

At East Mersea Point on Monday 14th the purple sandpiper was relocated for its second day by Martin Cock, as it fed close-in as the tide receded. Later two immature gannets were watched flying into the Colne and heading upriver and not seen to come back. Two stonechats and 35 little egrets were by the Golfhouse pools.

A red squirrel made a couple of visits during the afternoon of Friday 18th to the feeder in the Firs Chase garden. The grey squirrel that has been seen several times over recent months in the Firs Chase area was seen in the garden on the cedar tree having a drink before heading over to the neighbours. It is so far eluding efforts to catch it.

The colourful sight of a couple of fly agaric toadstools which have recently appeared in the Firs Road cemetery.

A very pink vestal moth was a pretty sight of this scarce migrant, sitting beside the moth trap on Tuesday 15th. Most vestals seen previously on the Island have been a pale-yellowish colour.

A feathered thorn was the first one of the autumn.

Three large wainscots were in the trap on the 15th.

A yellow-line quaker was found on the 13th.
Moth numbers are dropping away quite quickly as the autumn season picks up with some evening catches just reaching a count of ten moths. A hummingbird hawkmoth visited the salvia flowers in the Firs Chase garden late afternoon on Thursday 17th.
A small white and red admiral butterflies were seen in the Firs Chase garden on the 18th.