FELDY POPPIES

The Feldy View cemetery field is displaying a nice variety of colours with the red poppies particularly eye-catching on Friday 11th.

A buzzard soared over the Strood channel and drifted over the Strood fields for half an hour or more. A male marsh harrier also appeared to briefly join it before it continued over the fields. A cuckoo was seen flying high over the channel heading towards the Strood Hill from Ray Island. 

When the buzzard drifted over the saltmarsh on Ray Island, eight curlew took off and landed in the channel, a pair of Mediterranean gulls flew over calling and a pair of common terns was flying along fishing. A redshank called from the Ray Island saltmarsh.

Two corn buntings were singing from opposite side of the wheat field near the bottom of Strood Hill. A meadow pipit flew over the saltmarsh at the Strood Hill end and another one was heard singing over the saltmarsh by the caravan site. Four yellow wagtails, three singing whitethroats, four reed warblers and three reed buntings were also noted. Two grey herons were standing in the Strood fields.

Steve Entwistle saw a hobby fly over the Firs Chase caravan site on Friday morning and also a whitethroat singing there while in Empress Drive a sparrowhawk flew over his garden. In the afternoon in the area of Dairy lane near Shop Lane in East Mersea two singing lesser whitethroats showed well to Steve

This large female adder was stretched across the entrance to a field by Dairy Lane near Shop Lane in East Mersea on Thursday 10th. The adder was partially blocking the public footpath but luckily there was space to walk around it without disturbing it.

On a sunny Thursday 10th in the area of Shop Lane in East Mersea a red kite was soaring high over fields and drifted over to Reeveshall. Four common buzzards were seen, a female marsh harrier flew over the fields to Reeveshall and a sparrowhawk circled high overhead.

There was the sound of lots of singing birds from hedgerows and copses with eight whitethroats, six chiffchaffs, three lesser whitethroats, two Cetti's warblers, three blackcaps as well as the song of the cuckoo heard.

This grass vetchling in flower was photographed by Jonathan Bustard by the Strood seawall on Friday. It seems to have become more widespread on the Island in recent years.

Jonathan also photographed these large white caterpillars feeding on garlic mustard.