MAYDAYS MOTHING

Mothing enthusiast Chris Williams visited Mersea from his land-locked county of Shropshire to look for some of the typical coastal species of Essex. This was his second visit to the Island in the space of three weeks and this time I joined him for the evening at Maydays saltmarsh on the north side of the Island on Tuesday 8th.

Pictured above is my Robinson moth trap out on the saltmarsh just before dusk with my other trap inside the seawall, both powered by a portable generator. Chris was a short distance away with his four traps on both sides of the seawall. We checked the tide times, as one of Chris' traps last time got a wet bottom in the middle of the night during high tide.

The ground lackey was one of the target moths which began arriving at the traps shortly after dark. Pictured above is one of the males which turned up at one of the traps. At least a dozen were noted, both inside the seawall as well as on the saltmarsh.

One of two female ground lackeys were also seen, bigger than the males and with a richer brown colouration.
Ground lackeys are nationally scarce and found on the saltmarsh areas of the south-east of England where the caterpillars feed on a variety of saltmarsh plants such as sea lavender.

The rosy wave was another uncommon species found in two or three of the traps at Maydays. It's a delicate creamy-white moth with a supposed rosy tint to the wings, although this wasn't apparent on the night. The thin darkish band can just be seen across the wings.
The moth is found in damp and marshy habitats where here on the coast it will use sea beet as the foodplant.

The sulphur pearl, also known as Sitochroa palealis, was seen in a couple of traps. It's main foodplant is wild carrot of which there are lots around the Mersea seawalls. The moth was first noted on the north side of the Island twenty years ago by the late Joe Firmin during one of his daytime walks.

Around forty species of macro moth were noted in my two traps up until about 12.30am. Other species noted included the festoon, buff arches, common emerald, green pug, shaded broad bar, magpie, clouded border, elephant hawkmoth, poplar hawkmoth, yellow-tail, brown-tail, dingy footman, common footman, scarce footman, round-winged muslin, clay, common wainscot, angle shades, dun-bar, double square spot, fen wainscot, silver-Y and a spectacle.

Chris Williams also trapped the scarce crescent-striped moth and two garden tiger moths.

LAVENDER BLOOM

Plenty of warm sunshine at the start of Monday 7th for the walk along the Strood seawall. Lots of sea lavender is in bloom on many areas of the saltmarsh alongside the channel, such as this area pictured in front of the caravan site.

The tide was coming in during the late morning walk but plenty of mud still visible. Very few waders on the mud except for 150 redshank gathered in one area by the incoming tide, also 5 black-tailed godwits, one or two oystercatchers, a lapwing and curlew were also noted.

Over the land, a marsh harrier was quartering the Strood fields while a second bird could be seen north-east of the Strood causeway. On Ray Island a pair of kestrels were seen beside one of the dead trees there.
Two little egrets were seen inside the narrow ditch between two of the fields.

A yellow wagtail flew over calling, two reed warblers sang briefly from the reeds and a meadow pipit was the first one noted here for a few months.

Andy Field watched a hobby together with a sparrowhawk fly over High Street North on Monday.

The pied blackbird was seen back in the Firs Chase garden for the first time for several months.

KESTREL CHICKS EMERGE

Back in circulation again after a fortnight across the Channel - that's the English one not just the Strood Channel! Trying to catch up with what's been happening in the last couple of weeks.
This picture shows the very successful emergence of five kestrel chicks from the nestbox at the back of the park grazing fields. Andy Field took this photo on Sunday 29th June showing five chicks on various perches.

The other surprise sight were these two very young avocet chicks on the grazing field pools on the 29th, photo by Andy again. Although there has been a small group of avocets present here over the last month, there was no sign of a nesting bird here although they must have done so out of view. This is the first occurrence of breeding on the park fields, although avocets have bred on the neighbouring saltmarsh.

The downside of having breeding avocets with chicks is that the parents chase most other birds away from the area. On Saturday 5th July the parents were seen chasing mallards dabbling too close, also moorhens and a passing redshank. When it started to drizzle, the mother bird crouched over the chicks to keep them dry. Two teal were the only other birds of note on the pools.

The great tits with their second attempt at raising a family, are still feeding their brood of chicks inside this breeze block at the front of the park house. This pair of great tits are presumed to be the ones that sadly failed to rear a family a couple of months ago from inside the plastic traffic bollard. They're now having much better luck with this proven nest site and the chicks should be flying within a week.

At Firs Chase in West Mersea a reed warbler was singing in a garden on the 5th July while a sparrowhawk drifted over in the afternoon and 50 swifts flew west earlier in the morning.

David Jobbins reported finding a black redstart at the East Mersea vineyard on Wednesday 2nd - a good discovery. It's not been reported by anyone since.
Martin Cock saw a barn owl flying over the park on Tuesday 1st while at Maydays a greenshank was noted and on Reeveshall a young marsh harrier was seen flying over the reedbed. Two buzzards sat in a tree near Gyants Marsh at the back of Reeveshall. The yellow-legged gull has been seen on a couple of occasions alongside the Strood causeway this last week.

There haven't been many reports of painted ladies this summer so far, although I managed to photograph this one at the park on 19th June.

EVENING JANGLERS

A couple of corn buntings were singing their jangling song from roadside wires beside Chapmans Lane and Dawes Lane in the evening sun on Wednesday 18th. There was no sign today of the other corn bunting on the East Mersea road near Bocking Hall.


Another notable sighting on the wires beside the East Mersea road was a silhouetted tawny owl seen just after dark near Fen Farm on Wednesday. The first sighting of the Shop Lane birds for some time.
Several nights ago two little owls were also perched on roadside wires on Sunday at dusk with one beside Bromans Farm and the other near the village shop.

The barn owl provided some close views at the park at dusk on Saturday 14th, as it hunted over the areas of long grass on the main park.

The noisiest birds on the park was a pair of avocets anxiously watching over their newly hatched three young chicks near the Point. Two of the pale coloured chicks can be seen together on the left in the picture above. Seven avocets were on the pools here with another seven birds on the pools in the fields.



Also seen at the Point were 3 little terns, 3 common terns, one dunlin, 4 lapwing, reed bunting, two sand martins and 5 linnets.

There was the nice sight of at least two very young lapwing chicks seen on Wednesday feeding along a muddy edge in the pools in the fields. The two parents keeping a nervous watch over the area, including mobbing the kestrel sitting on the nearby tree.
Also on the pools were two teal, shoveler, 12 redshank and a brood of mallard. The female shoveler with seven ducklings was on the central ditch and the swans on the dyke still had six cygnets and 8 tufted duck were present too.

On the pond another adult swan was present, 2 little egrets in the trees and 2 pairs of little grebes.

The marsh harrier was reported flying over the fields on Monday morning -a regular occurrence at the moment. The cuckoo was flitting between bushes and doing lots of calling from the trees beside the park's overflow car park on Saturday 14th. At the end of the day 30 swifts circled round at dusk screaming high above the park. At the start of the day a male marsh harrier glided over fields on both sides of Bromans Lane.

Adrian Amos has been privileged to have not one turtle dove visiting his garden recently but now a second bird has been coming to his East Road garden in West Mersea on at least three consecutive days.
Steve Entwistle noted three sand martins at the park on the 17th while two cuckoos were still calling on Saturday and Sunday at Maydays farm, and also one heard on Langenhoe.

An adder was seen basking at the park on Saturday 14th and a brimstone butterfly flew through the Firs Chase garden on Wednesday 18th.

A little bit of colour along the park's clifftop with this flowering everlasting pea.

The latest hawkmoth to visit the moth trap in the Firs Chase garden was this handsome pine hawkmoth pictured above and below, found during Friday night.

The pine hawkmoth has become a regular visitor to the traps at the country park in recent summers, with the first seen on Sunday night.

The eyed hawkmoth with its strikingly coloured eye on the hindwing, was at the trap at the park on Sunday night.

Chris Williams visited the park from Shropshire to carry out some coastal mothing on Sunday night and was rewarded with the impressive tally of seven species of hawkmoth -  a record haul for here in one night. Also noted amongst the seventy other species were two cream spot tigers, a sand dart and blotched emerald.

The second record for the park of lilac beauty was at the trap on Friday night. The distinctive leading edge of the wings has a crumpled effect.

The first swallow-tailed moth of the summer arrived during Friday night with this individual looking particularly sulphur coloured.

AVOCET FLOCK

A small group of avocets have taken up residence recently on the saltmarsh lagoon near the East Mersea Point. These two avocet photos were taken by Andy Field on Tuesday 10th. Fifteen birds were noted in the area the next day including two birds on the pools in the nearby fields.

Andy watched three Sandwich terns fly into the mouth of the Colne estuary  before they turned round and headed back out to sea. A little tern was resting on the Point as was a ringed plover.
The marsh harrier has continued to visit the fields recently and was reported on Friday morning and the cuckoo was still calling by the pond on Friday too. Two Mediterranean gulls flew to the west of the park calling as they passed, on Friday.

Thirty black-tailed godwits were feeding in the fields on Wednesday and the pair of kestrels have been feeding at least two young in their box. The barn owl was hunting the main park at dusk on Thursday, providing a nice close fly-past at one point.

Various snippets of mammal sightings in the last few days from around the Island. A red squirrel was seen in the garden of Harry Sharp at the east end of the Island, probably one of the new ones recently brought into East Mersea.

A brown hare was reported recently at the Whitings garden near Chapmans Lane, while one was also seen on Tuesday evening trotting into the car park of the country park - the first hare sighting here for years. A muntjac deer was seen freshly dead on the East Mersea road near Weir Farm on Wednesday evening, although there was no sign of it the next morning. There was the rare sight these days of a hedgehog, sadly this one dead by the East Mersea road near the pub on Sunday morning.

Small numbers of butterflies about the park over the last few days have included red admiral, small tortoiseshell, meadow brown, speckled wood, large skipper, Essex skipper and small heath. The first six-spot burnet moth was seen on some knapweed flowers at the park on Friday morning.

The big privet hawkmoth was the main attraction in the moth trap during a very muggy night on Monday 9th. The threatened thunderstorm never materialised, providing ideal conditions for the trap at Firs Chase which pulled in 4 privet hawks and 5 elephant hawks amongst around forty other species.

The barred yellow is a colourful moth and widespread where dog-rose is the foodplant.

Another common and colourful moth is the cinnabar, the caterpillars feeding on ragwort.

This very pale moth stood out amongst the many brown moths in the moth trap at the country park, as being a sand dart. This is a scarce coastal moth which has been noted here before but only a couple of previous records.

The first of the strikingly marked magpie moths have emerged in the last week with this one pictured at the country park.

Not quite a cousin to the magpie moth except by name, this small magpie is one of the easier micro moths to recognise. A common moth at the traps at the moment.

Andy Field's moth trap in High Street North is pulling in a few moths now such as this very cryptic looking buff-tip moth.

The common footman has been appearing at the traps in the last couple of weeks in small numbers.

Michael Thorley was interested in this delicate looking grass vetchling found in his garden beside the East Mersea road. It's not really regarded as a garden species, more of a grassland plant found on the Island along the seawalls and other areas of long grass such as the country park.

HARRIERS OUT HUNTING

 This male marsh harrier was one of two males and a female seen hunting over the fields between Meeting Lane and Shop Lane on Monday 9th. The harriers were seen at different times during the afternoon, as they flew slowly over the wheat and pea fields.

A sparrowhawk flew low over the fields towards the Shop Lane conifer wood while a common buzzard was seen perched on a fencepost on Reeveshall.

Other birds noted during the warm walk were two singing yellowhammers, cuckoo calling, two lesser whitethroats and a pair of stock doves.

 

Despite the warmth there were few butterflies on the wing today. However the first large skippers for the season were flying beside a grassy track, one pictured above. In total about six individuals were seen.

 Eight small heaths were keeping low down either in a couple of areas, one sheltered amongst some buttercups and the other in a grass pasture. Other butterflies seen were a speckled wood and a meadow brown.

Steve Entwistle reported turtle dove still calling in Willoughby car park on Saturday evening, while at the country park a broad bodied chaser, painted lady, four meadow browns while four avocets were seen on the park pools before being flushed off by a marsh harrier.

AVOCETS ENJOY THE SUN

There was a small group of eleven avocets on the saltmarsh lagoon by the East Mersea Point on Saturday 7th. Pictured above is one of the avocets resting on the ground with its mate standing over a shelduck.

The seawall near the Point is covered in the big plants of black mustard, adding a bright yellow colour to the place.

On the park dyke on Saturday morning were the shoveler with seven ducklings still, two singing reed warblers and a dozen mallard. On the fields were 60 black-tailed godwits, a marsh harrier seen quartering the fields and cuckoo calling near the pond.

The Strood seawall was walked twice on Friday 6th, once in the morning, pictured above, and again early evening during high tide. Its the first visit to this area for almost six weeks.

Birds of note included a marsh harrier being mobbed away by a crow from the fields towards Ray Island, pair of yellow wagtail near the caravan site, brief song from a sedge warbler, six singing reed warblers, singing corn bunting, reed bunting and also a cuckoo calling on the Ray.
Two male pochard were on the Strood reservoirs and a great crested grebe was in the Strood Channel. Four common terns were hawking amongst the moorings.

Two painted ladies were seen on Friday - the first for the year. One on red valerian at the bottom of The Lane, and another worn specimen along the Strood seawall. Also noted was a four-spotted chaser alongside the dyke

Birds from the Firs Chase garden were a soaring sparrowhawk, singing chiffchaff and singing blackcap along with song thrush and up to eight swifts overhead.

The Robinson moth trap was switched on in the Firs Chase garden on Friday and Saturday nights with the latter night being rewarded with at least forty species of macro. As always the large moths provided the main interest and two poplar hawks and three elephant hawks nice to see.
During Saturday afternoon a hummingbird hawkmoth nearly settled on the garage roof before speeding off.

The first buff arches of the season was noted, one pictured above. A moth that displays a strange set of markings on its wings that look like a chunk has been taken out of the back.

Several buff ermine moths were found at the trap, a common moth in the early summer.

A scarce moth in most parts of the country, this dotted fanfoot has been recorded at the country park before and is widely distributed across Essex and East Anglia especially near watercourses and marshes.

Other moths included peppered, common marbled carpet, treble brown spot, scorched wing, miller, figure of 80, riband wave, broken-barred carpet, green pug, peacock, cinnabar, green silver-lines, pebble prominent, pale prominent, common footman, heart and dart, heart and club, flame, flame shoulder, large yellow underwing, common wainscot, white-point, shoulder-striped wainscot and dark arches.