MERSEA WILDLIFE: CEMETERY OWL

A surprise visitor to the Feldy View woodland cemetery on Thursday 10th was this barn owl that was found perched during the morning, high in an oak tree in a quiet corner at the back. It pretended to be asleep but you could see it was staring down at anyone nearby!

It wasn't too hard to see the barn owl as the foliage wasn't too thick. This is the first time a barn owl has been seen in the cemetery, although it's quite likely they occasionally hunt the site after dark.

Also in Feldy View were a willow warbler and four chiffchaffs.

A female Common Blue butterfly was feeding on some flowering rosemary in Feldy View. A Clouded Yellow briefly fed on the yellow flower of a hawkbit, a pair of Wall Brown was seen mating, also eight Brown Argus and two Red Admiral.

A spotted flycatcher was feeding near to Feldy View at the flycatcher corner on Thursday, also a blackcap here. Birds seen along the Strood seawall included 2 red kites, marsh harrier, buzzard, wheatear, 13 corn buntings, 4 meadow pipits, 20 linnets, yellow wagtail, 25 Mediterranean gulls and six ringed plovers. Three Clouded Yellows were flying along the seawall.

Martin Cock visited Waldegraves on Thursday afternoon to look at the offshore shingle island, seeing 30 common terns, 10 Sandwich terns, 14 sanderling and also a wheatear on the beach.

On Wednesday 9th a red squirrel was seen inside the West Mersea allotment field, then climbing into the hedgeline trees, before scuttling high over the East Road to the trees on the other side of the road and into the nearby garden.

A Common Carder Bee was feeding on a dark red flowering buddleia bush at the allotments on Wednesday.

Earlier on Wednesday along Cross Lane six willow warblers were seen, with a couple of birds heard singing quiet subsongs.

A large mixed tit flock with several long-tailed tits, was also briefly with the willow warblers along Cross Lane on Wednesday.

Heading west over the fields were 150 swallows, four house martins and a sand martin, also meadow pipit and four yellow wagtails. A flock of 100 linnets were feeding in a field by Waldegraves and a red kite flew west.

A little grebe was on the pond beside Cross Lane at Sanderlings Reach on Wednesday.

A Mediterranean gull and 15 common gulls were resting on the East Mersea Youth Camp field on Wednesday. Offshore from Waldegraves a mixed flock of terns gathered on the shingle island before and also just after high tide. The terns seen were a juvenile black tern, 2 juvenile little terns, 15 common terns and 30 Sandwich terns, also 20 Mediterranean gulls just after high tide, with 3 sanderling and 48 oystercatchers.

A pied flycatcher was seen feeding in the alders along the bottom of the East Mersea Vineyard on Wednesday. Two willow warblers were also in the alders, while nearby the duetting calls of two little owls were heard coming from the trees at the back of the golf driving range.

A common sandpiper flew along the front of the Youth Camp, while on the Rewsalls side-lake at high tide were 6 knot, 4 dunlin, 60 ringed plovers, 100 redshank, 15 little egrets, 2 yellow wagtails, 400 starlings, two buzzards and 30 swallows heading west.

A Painted Lady was on buddleia in front of Waldegraves on Wednesday.

A Clouded Yellow was in the field to the east of Waldegraves and another by the boating lake on Wednesday.

A Wall Brown was in the car park field of the boating lake on Wednesday.

Three Common Blues and a Small Copper were near the boating lake on Wednesday.

At Cudmore Grove an escaped ringed teal was seen on the park borrowdyke by Martin Cock on Wednesday morning. In the evening Daniel Woollard had an evening stroll at the park and reported a barn owl showing well along the borrowdyke, also a willow warbler, the first returning wigeon, teal and avocet of the autumn.

Birds noted on a very wet Tuesday 8th during a circuit including Feldy View and the Dabchicks, were a Sandwich tern, common tern, Mediterranean gull, two great spotted woodpeckers in Feldy View, lesser whitethroat, yellow wagtail and a flock of 50 goldfinches around Feldy View.

On Monday 7th a spotted flycatcher was still in flycatcher corner, while two willow warblers and a lesser whitethroat were in Feldy View. Along the Strood seawall were a whinchat, wheatear, stonechat, 50 linnets, 2 yellow wagtails, 100 swallows and two sand martins trickling west, marsh harrier, buzzard, 10 ringed plovers, 5 dunlin and 150 black-tailed godwits near the Dabchicks.

Four Wall Browns were seen in and near Feldy View, with a Clouded Yellow along the seawall.

On Sunday 6th, a spotted flycatcher was showing well in the flycatcher corner beside the Firs Chase caravan park. A willow warbler was seen in Feldy View.

Alan Reynolds also photographed the spotted flycatcher at flycatcher corner on the Sunday.

Two wheatears were feeding along the Strood seawall on Sunday, also 30 linnets in the fields and four reed buntings in the bushes.

A distant small wader with very pale underparts seen along the Strood channel on Sunday was a curlew sandpiper- the first for a few years. Seen here beside a dunlin on the far side of the channel, unfortunately the bird didn't come any closer. It was feeding with six dunlin and four ringed plovers, before flying down the Hard, although difficult seeing a white rump of the curlew sandpiper as the flock flew away.

Also along the channel were 15 grey plover, 3 greenshank, ten Mediterranean gulls, 5 little grebes and a sparrowhawk.

Butterflies noted on Sunday along the Strood seawall were 5 Clouded Yellows, Wall Brown, 2 Painted Ladies and 3 Common Blues. In Feldy View, Wall Brown, Common Blue, four Brown Argus, Small White and Red Admiral were noted.

A Hummingbird Hawkmoth was in the Firs Chase garden on Sunday.