MERSEA WILDLIFE: HINT OF SPRING

There was the feeling of spring in the air on a sunny Wednesday 25th. Several butterflies were on the wing including this small tortoiseshell along the front of the Firs Chase caravan park. Nice to see this so early, after such a poor showing last year.

This battered peacock butterfly was enjoying the sunshine in Feldy View, another was seen on the seawall and one by the edge of West Mersea. However it was the brimstone butterflies that caught the eye with seven being seen during the walk from Firs Chase, to Feldy View, then past the caravan park and back to Firs Chase.

Elsewhere a brimstone was reported on Monday from Cudmore Grove by Martin Cock, while two were in Adrian Amos's East Road garden along with a peacock there.

A goldfinch perched near Feldy View and a song thrush was inside Feldy View on Wednesday. A firecrest and blackcap were seen along the path beside the Firs Caravan park and a great spotted woodpecker heard drumming.

Steve Entwistle saw the chiffchaff in Feldy View and a pair of song thrushes with a blackcap alongside the caravan park. Also a brimstone and a stonechat near the seawall.

A male shoveler was resting on the mud along the Strood channel on Wednesday. In the fields were 100 golden plover, while four buzzards were seen in the air, two flying over Ray Island, the other two over the fields. Two male reed buntings were singing along the borrowdyke.

At Cudmore Grove Martin Cock reported a pochard and a goldcrest on Wednesday.

The overwintering chiffchaff was feeding beside the Firs Chase caravan park on Tuesday 24th, doing a bit of flycatching from the branches of a tree near the seawall. A female blackcap was seen in the same tree.

Three stonechats were by the Strood seawall on Tuesday, a greenfinch was heard singing here too. In the fields were 18 golden plover, two avocets in the Strood channel, buzzard perched on a tree, while a sparrowhawk flashed through the Firs Chase gardens.

Andy Field walked the Cudmore Grove circuit on Tuesday and reported a peregrine, pair of kestrels at their box, displaying ringed plovers at the Point, pair of pintail in the Colne and two pochard on the dyke.

A male reed bunting was singing by the Strood dyke on Monday 23rd with a second male singing nearby. In Feldy View the overwintering chiffchaff was also doing a spot of quiet singing from the perimeter hedge.

The few birds of note seen during the Strood seawall walk included three marsh harriers, 20 avocets, 2 shoveler, 2 stonechats and 110 golden plover in the field.

On Sunday 22nd the black brant was near the Strood seawall with a dozen other brent geese. Around 500 brent geese were seen in the Ray Channel / Peldon area, a pair of Egyptian geese was feeding on the Peldon side while a single bird flew to Bower Hall. A great white egret was seen flying along the Peldon seawall, three marsh harriers were seen and a red kite over Barrow Hill.

Walking the new coastal footpath beside the Strood fishing lakes, provided views of seven pochard and ten mallard.

The new coastal path, soon to be officially opened, passes along the top of the seawall above the Strood junction, which enables walkers to stay off the busy road.

Along the Strood seawall on Sunday two pairs of stonechat, two rock pipits, two kestrels and 60 avocets in the channel were seen. A firecrest was along the path beside the Firs Chase caravan park, while four blackcaps were feeding in the Firs Chase garden again.

A buzzard flew over the Bower Hall saltmarsh on Saturday, three other buzzards and three marsh harriers were seen too, while a peregrine flew over the Bower Hall farm buildings.

The top end of the Pyefleet channel by Bower Hall on Saturday saw forty teal, 20 shelduck and ten wigeon, while the leucistic redshank was with 100 other redshank. A flock of fifty chaffinches were by a game crop near the paramotor field, three yellowhammers, three reed buntings, two meadow pipits and two Cetti's warblers were noted during the walk from Maydays along the Bower Hall seawall. A red-legged partridge ran across a field at Maydays.

A brown hare was at Bower Hall and a common seal was on the Pyefleet saltmarsh.

The grazing fields at Cudmore Grove were looking ideal for wildfowl and waders with all the standing water here on Friday 20th. Estimates were made of the birds here during a rain shower, as part of the monthly wetland bird count having walked with Andy Field from Maydays to Cudmore Grove during the high tide period.

Here at Cudmore Grove 750 wigeon and 500 brent geese were in the fields, also six greylag geese, pochard, four gadwall and 10 tufted ducks seen on the dyke and park pond.

The borrowdyke at Cudmore Grove has filled up with water in recent days and flooded the folding path inside the seawall. This might take some time to soak away as there's nowhere for it flow to!

At the start of the WeBS count at Maydays, a yellowhammer, two corn buntings, four brown hares, and a wisp of 25 snipe in a field were of note, while a great white egret over the Maydays marsh and ten pintail were seen in the Pyefleet. On Reeveshall 500 brent geese, 11 Canada geese and four greylag geese were feeding, while four red-breasted mergansers were in the Pyefleet. Six marsh harriers and three buzzards were seen, while a bar-tailed godwit flew off the Golfhouse pools area.

Carrie Horwood and Charlie Williams whilst doing the WeBS count along the Strood channel on Friday saw four goosander land briefly on the water before flying over Ray Island, black brant, kingfisher, green sandpiper, water rail, great white egret on the fields, 220 shelduck, 77 avocets, 3 snipe, 89 black-tailed godwits, 7 bar-tailed godwits, marsh harrier, a peregrine over Bonners saltings and a merlin over Cobmarsh island.

Carrie visited the Rewsalls marsh on Friday and reported 35 sanderling on the beach, 32 black-tailed godwits of note there, also two goldcrests in the trees.

Birds noted along the Strood on Thursday 19th included this black-tailed godwit near the Dabchicks sailing club, also a bar-tailed godwit feeding in the channel. A great white egret was in the weedy field, 500 golden plover were in another field, also seen were a marsh harrier, buzzard, 50 linnets, two stonechats and two greylag geese flying along the Strood channel.

A song thrush and two blackcaps were in Firs Chase.

A flock of 500 golden plover was in a field by the Strood on Wednesday 18th, also three stonechats along the edge. A marsh harrier and buzzard were noted, 700 brent geese were over Ray Channel, while 20 avocets and five shoveler were the main birds of interest in the Strood.

At Maydays farm on Wednesday a male peregrine was seen sitting in a field, three marsh harriers, buzzard, 60 golden plover and two brown hares were seen by Martin Cock.

At the Esplanade Steve Entwistle saw a great northern diver on the sea and a red-throated diver flying west on Wednesday afternoon.

The RSPB carried out their second bird count of the winter on the beach recharge sites of Cobmarsh, Packing Marsh, Old Hall Point and Shingle-head Point, with the help of Stacey Belbin's Lady Grace boat on Tuesday 17th. One of the highlights for Kieren, Steve, Megan and I was seeing the regular purple sandpiper roosting on the Tollesbury beach recharge - pictured here in the centre asleep with turnstone, dunlin and ringed plover nearby. A great northern diver and two Slavonian grebes were seen near the entrance to Tollesbury Fleet, eight pintail and 140 oystercatchers were on Cobmarsh Island and 12 sanderling were on St Peters beach.

Steve Entwistle visited Cudmore Grove on Tuesday and saw 2 coot, 2 pairs of gadwall, 2 pochard, 5 tufted ducks and a red-throated diver. At Coopers Beach there were 200 turnstones, 7 grey plover, 10 ringed plover and 20 snipe flushed from near the counter wall beside the marsh. Later at the West Mersea Hard three black-tailed godwits and a ringed plover were seen by Steve.

Three red kites were seen on Tuesday flying over Barrow Hill by Rob Lee

The moth-trap was finally fired up during the last week of February as there were a few nights without any rain being forecast for a change. Three Oak Beauties appeared on the night of the 25th.