MAYDAYS MIDDAY HEAT-HAZE

Plenty of sunshine on Sunday 3rd during a walk alongside the Pyefleet Channel at Maydays farm. The heat in the middle of the day meant there was lots of haze, so it was better to enjoy the wildlife close-up.
This tatty painted lady butterfly was one of two seen on the golden samphire flowers beside the seawall. Also here were 10 small tortoiseshells, 10 gatekeepers and a brown argus.

Birds of note during the walk were 5 greenshank,3 reed warblers, 6 house martins and a yellowhammer on the Maydays side of the Pyefleet while along the channel were 5 common terns, 4 little terns, 200 redshank,70 oystercatchers, 20 black-tailed godwits, 5 grey plover and 10 shelducklings in two broods. Two marsh harriers were seen on Langenhoe.

Common blue butterflies have not been common this year, so it was nice to see four inside the Maydays seawall during the walk on Sunday. This male with the blue wings was reluctant to open its wings fully.

The underside of the common blue showing the intricate display of spots and dots.

The brown argus butterfly has an underside pattern closely matching the common blue except for a slightly different arrangement of spots. Spot the difference with the two pictures above.
This brown argus was seen on Friday in a small grass field near the Firs Chase caravan site at West Mersea. 

This brown argus was the first one I'd seen on the Island this summer, in a similar location to where one or two were seen last year.

A distant digiscoped picture of two common seals on the opposite side of the Pyefleet Channel on Sunday. Both seals showing the red-oxide colouring to the head and necks. The seals had swam up channel as the tide came in and hauled themselves onto the mud to bask.

The Strood Channel seawall was walked a couple of times during Friday 1st, this picture above showing the high tide in late afternoon. A common sandpiper and three Mediterranean gulls were resting on the edge of the saltmarsh at high tide along with lots of black-headed gulls.

More birds were seen during the low-tide visit in late morning with 6 greenshank feeding along the lower channel along with 200 redshank. Also seen were a whimbrel, 10 golden plover, 70 black-tailed godwit, while 2 little terns and four common terns flew up and down.

Small birds seen inside the seawall included a green woodpecker on the seawall also a chiffchaff here too, while yellow wagtail, reed bunting, 3 reed warblers, 2 corn buntings, 6 meadow pipits and 25 linnets were of interest.

At Cudmore Grove a turtle dove singing from the top of a tree at the entrance was a nice surprise first thing on Thursday 31st. This is the first singing turtle dove at the park for three years. Unfortunately this bird didn't stay around and wasn't heard or seen again. A sparrowhawk flew over the park being mobbed by a few swallows on Thursday. A green sandpiper flew over the park calling just after sunrise on Friday 1st.

A common sandpiper flew over the park calling through the darkness on Wednesday 30th. Three badgers were seen near the park pond at dusk on Wednesday evening.

UP BEFORE THE LARK

There was a colourful sunrise to see from the country park on Friday 1st, looking east across the river Colne and above Point Clear. This was just before 5.30am and it wasn't long before the day warmed up again.
I'd already been up an hour checking the two moth traps, along with Chris Williams who had set up his four traps operating through the night.

Despite the clear overnight skies, around seventy macro species were noted in total.

 One of the most colourful and largest moths was this red underwing which was discovered later on Friday morning and nowhere near a moth trap. In typical red underwing fashion it was found resting on the outside white wall of the park's information room, in the full glare of the sun.
There are usually two or three records at the park each year during August, so hopefully a few more to see.

This bordered beauty is always a nice find in the trap with its smart orange colouration.The first record for the park was only found last year, so maybe they have become residents here.

 Another orange coloured moth is this male orange swift, a common moth in mid summer with several in the traps.

The twin-spotted wainscot was first noted at the park about four years ago and has been seen each year since, although normally just involving a single individual.

The tree lichen beauty is enjoying a good season at the moment with eight individuals being found although surprisingly only in two of the traps. This is certainly the highest count for the park but not quite the peak count from a week earlier in West Mersea of 22 in one night.
Andy Field also recorded a tree lichen beauty in his trap at the beginning of the week in his High St North garden.

A fresh maiden's blush with its pinkish-blush marks on the wings appeared in small numbers at the traps, always pretty to admire.

The aptly named blood-vein with the dark red band across the wings was noted, this fresh individual showing the red tinge to the wing-margins.

Other moths noted included oak eggar, oak hook-tip, pebble hook-tip, drinker, purple bar, lime-speck pug, peacock, poplar hawk, pebble prominent, iron prominent, black arches, ruby tiger, least yellow underwing, knot-grass, flounced rustic, sandhill rustic, ear moth sp, rosy rustic, silver-Y, marbled beauty, vapourer and August thorn.

MORE MOTHING

This dunlin was one of the birds photographed by Glyn Evans on Monday 28th at East Mersea Point. The bird still shows some of the distinctive summer plumage with the black belly.

Three turnstones also photographed by Glyn at the Point. A few birds have been present through the summer although numbers are increasing with birds returning from their northern breeding grounds.

Spent an hour in the early evening on Tuesday 29th at Reeveshall on the north side of the Island. It was interesting to see how much water was left in this pool beside the seawall, with the water level lower than I expected.

Birds seen on here after a marsh harrier passed over were, greenshank, green sandpiper, lapwing, 3 black-tailed godwits, 2 little egrets, 2 gadwall and a grey heron flew in later. Also on Reeveshall were a second marsh harrier, 50 greylag geese, 6 Canada geese, while nearer Shop Lane were a singing yellowhammer, 30 swallows and a calling juvenile sparrowhawk from the wood.

Along the Pyefleet were a common sandpiper, 2 whimbrel, 200+ avocets, 100+ black-tailed godwit, 2 little terns and a common tern and a great crested grebe.

At the country park pond the little egret roost at high tide climbed to 22 birds along with the grey heron on Tuesday 29th. The two avocet chicks were still feeding and resting on the nearby fields where there was also a snipe, 5 black-tailed godwits and 4 lapwing.

A little owl perched beside Bromans Lane on Sunday 27th at dusk. There was the surprise on Saturday at the park of a nightingale, calling from the hedge near the park entrance. After a short while the bird started doing its croaking call and was seen flying into a big bush. Presumably this is a migrant heading south although this same area was where the nightingales used to breed up until a couple of years ago.

In the car park at least eight mistle thrushes are tucking into the ripening rowan berries, making one or two appearances whenever there's less people around. Three song thrushes perched on a hedge near the park pond on Tuesday 30th.

At least two Mediterranean gulls were flying with the other gulls after the flying ants above Firs Chase on Wednesday 30th.

A couple of commas were resting out of the breeze beside one of the park hedges.

The nice sunny weather is ideal for butterflies and this small skipper was found on a lesser knapweed flower at the park. There are still one or two large skippers flying at the park, as their season draws to a close.
It has been a poor season for the common blue butterfly with just one female and a male being seen in one of the main areas of grassland in the last few days.

This archers dart was one of the moths of note in the trap at the country park after the session on Saturday 26th. Although this dart turns up most years, this was the first time two individuals were seen together. The archers dart is mainly a coastal moth in Essex.

Another coastal moth to appear for the first time this summer was this sandhill rustic with individuals recorded at both the country park as well as the trap in Firs Chase. The moth's foodplants are various grasses on saltmarshes and beaches.

The antler moth with its distinctive antler-type markings on the wings was of interest at the park. Although it's quite a widespread moth, it's only been recorded here at the park once before, a few years back. It's foodplant is grass and there's plenty of that at the park.

One of the highlights of the mothing on a muggy Saturday night was the unexpectedly high tally of 22 tree-lichen beauties. Although this small green tinted moth has increased in numbers in recent years, I've never had more than a handful in one night in the past. At the park trap that night there was just the one TLB.
A dark swordgrass was found in the Firs Chase trap on Friday 25th session.

The caterpillar of the grey dagger is a very striking one with lots of fine hairs and a colourful body. The moth is a regular visitor to the trap, although very similar in appearance to the dark dagger moth, the caterpillars are very different - and both have been found at the park.

This little lively toadlet was hopping frantically across the lawn at Firs Chase on Sunday morning as the moth trap was being cleared away. This toad will have emerged recently from the big pond in a neighbouring garden in Firs Chase.

FLEDGED HARRIERS

Several young marsh harriers have left their nests, this youngster photographed by Andy Field on the Langenhoe army ranges on 12th July. There were at least seven nests on the ranges just to the north of Mersea Island - something like the usual sort of number of nests here. One pair also nested on Mersea with at least one young seen.

At the country park on Friday 25th, a green sandpiper, two snipe, family of four avocets, 3 lapwing and 5 black-tailed godwits were present on the pools in the fields. By the pond 10 little egrets roosted in the trees, 5 teal and a second brood of little grebes were on the pond, while a reed warbler sang in reeds nearby.

A hobby was reported flying near the seawall by the Oyster Fishery on Friday afternoon.

The first returning snipe of the autumn was back on the park pools on Thursday 24th where ten black-tailed godwits were also present and the avocet family with the two youngsters.

A little owl perched on wires over Bromans Lane at dusk on Thursday evening while the previous evening a tawny owl flew briefly alongside the East Mersea road and then perched on a roadside tree near the Cosways Lane.

A marsh harrier was mobbed by a carrion crow over the Chapmans Lane field on Wednesday 23rd.Andy Field saw two hobbies by the Strood on Monday 21st.

Other bits of wildlife interest seen at the park over the last few days have been the first common blue butterfly on 25th, painted lady on the 20th and two adders on the 19th.

One of the highlights of the mothing session with fellow members of the Essex Moth Group's at the country park on Tuesday 22nd was this very colourful but diminutive rosy footman moth. Unfortunately for the other moth enthusiasts who came along that night, this little fellow only appeared in the early hours of the morning, after everyone else had gone home.

The rosy footman is recorded each summer at the park but never more than a couple of individuals. This one seemed particularly fresh with a bright salmon-pink colour. The caterpillars feed on lichen.

Four traps were set up at the park at dusk on Tuesday with three continuing till 4am the following morning. Just under 70 species were noted, involving about 600 individuals- about 200 per trap. The breeze kept up through the night and the clear sky kept the temperatures down a bit too - so not as good conditions as last year.

Other highlights by dawn included 9 poplar hawkmoths, elephant hawkmoth, ground lackey, oak eggar, tree lichen beauty and the first record at the park of a black arches.

This canary-shouldered thorn was the first one noted for the summer season. It's a widespread moth and is easily recognised with the yellow head.

There have been lots of drinker moths coming to the traps over the last fortnight or so but all have been the dark brown males. This individual was the first female drinker seen this year,slightly larger and a pale brown colour.

There was a surprising amount of different kinds of yellow underwing moths, such as this tongue-twisting lesser broad-bordered yellow underwing. Others noted were the large yellow underwing, lesser yellow underwing, broad-bordered yellow underwing and the least yellow underwing. The individual pictured above caught the eye as it showed a fresh dark red edge to the wing-tips.
 
Some of the other moths seen included maidens blush, small yellow wave, least carpet, iron prominent, chocolate tip, starwort, sycamore, green silver lines, white satin, nutmeg, lychnis, copper underwing and lunar-spotted pinion.

Other insects came flying to the bright moth lamps but the biggest one was this big and solid looking dung beetle or dor beetle. This individual pictured above was stretching its wings, usually concealed from view when at rest.

BACK-YARD MOTHING

I had company in the back garden in Firs Chase, West Mersea whilst checking the moth trap, with this robin taking a great interest in what had been caught during the night. There was plenty of moth activity during several nights trapping in the very warm and muggy conditions.

The young robin is in the middle of shedding his speckled brown feathers of a juvenile, while the red-breast of an adult bird begins to develop. It didn't seem to have any fear of humans and was either very cheeky or very hungry, swooping just in front of me to snatch a moth from the trap to have for his breakfast.

Around seventy macro species of moth were recorded over four nights between 16th and 19th, with up to 200 individuals on some nights. A big thunderstorm passed over the trap at 3.30am on Saturday morning which curtailed that session as the rain poured down and lightning flashed repeatedly around.

It was nice to find this neatly marked black arches in the trap - the first time I've noted one on the Island. It's mainly a woodland moth and is reasonably widespread on the neighbouring mainland.

 Another new species for the Island was this small ranunculus, a species that has been increasing across Essex in recent years. It used to be a scarce moth in the county and is listed as a red data book species in Essex.

I was first told to look out for this moth turning up on Mersea several years ago, but surprisingly this first record was in West Mersea and not at the country park. One of its foodplants in prickly lettuce which is found on the seawalls and beach at the park.

The small tree-lichen beauty has become a regular visitor to the traps in recent summers. The muggy nights of Friday and Saturday saw five of these moths in the traps. A single one was also noted on Thursday night.

Each of the tree-lichen beauties had a slightly different colour pattern on the wings. This one shows a pale green band across the wings. They are well camouflaged on the leaves and even more so on the bark of a tree

The first dark spectacle on the Island was found in the Firs Chase trap during Thursday night's session. The head and the base to the wings show a much paler colour than is found on the more commonly seen cousin, the spectacle moth.

It was nice to catch this vapourer, the first one in the trap for many years, despite it being fairly widespread. The unusual looking caterpillars with colourful bristles and tufts are occasionally found.

The common buff-tip moth still looks more twig-like than moth-like even after seeing lots of them during the season. Not found any of the large feeding masses of caterpillars on trees or bushes this summer yet.

Other moths of note at Firs Chase included marbled beauty, ground lackey, oak eggar, privet hawkmoth, poplar hawkmoth, elephant hawkmoth, least carpet, scorched carpet, small blood-vein, swallow-tailed, iron prominent, swallow prominent, pebble prominent, maple prominent, white satin, lunar-spotted pinion, poplar grey, sycamore, ruby tiger, least yellow underwing, nutmeg,oak hook-tip and bulrush wainscot.
One of the tiniest of moths found were at least ten diamond-back moths on Friday and Saturday nights.

SOME JULY MOTHS

There's been a rewarding selection of moths visiting the moth trap at the country park in recent nights due to the warm temperatures.
This large female oak eggar is one of the largest moths seen at the park during the summer nights. Two or three individuals are often noted during July, usually always the females to the trap. The large hairy caterpillars are often seen at the park if they're wandering around on the ground.

The red coloured ruby tiger may be a common moth but it always adds a bit of colour to a summer trap.

The large and bulky-looking drinker moth turns up at the trap in small numbers during July and early August. The large caterpillar is occasionally found at the park amongst the long grass, where it sometimes drinks the dew drops off the grass.

The aptly named yellow-tail moth is showing off the tail tip here, which helps to distinguish it from the equally common brown-tail moth.

This female ground lackey moth was seen in the trap by the car park - about 400m from the nearest saltmarsh which is its preferred habitat. Usually it is the smaller and paler males that are found in the trap. The moth is nationally scarce, found on the saltmarshes mainly of the south and east of the UK.

Other moths of interest seen at the park over the last week have included festoon, privet hawkmoth, elephant hawkmoth, poplar hawkmoth, least carpet, orange footman, Kent black arches, fen wainscot, lunar-spotted pinion, iron prominent, pebble prominent, starwort, small scallop,  and the micros the sulphur pearl and the tiny migrant diamond-backed moth(3 on the 15th).

BASKING IN THE SUN

The recent spell of warm weather has brought out lots of butterflies at the country park such as this freshly-marked peacock seen resting on top of a wooden post.

Numbers of red admirals have also picked up recently especially around the buddleia bushes near the park buildings and also around some of the bramble bushes.

A painted lady made a brief appearance on the buddleia at the park on Monday 7th.
Small numbers of commas and small tortoiseshells have also been seen in recent days at the park.

The various brown butterflies are to be seen everywhere at the park with lots of gatekeepers on the wing. This male pictured above was seen on ragwort - just before some of these plants had to be pulled up and bagged.

There are still plenty of meadow browns on the wing although many are looking faded and worn, their season coming to an end soon.

Nice to see lots more ringlets around the park, now in their third season at the park. One ragwort plant had four ringlets gathered on it.

Lots of skippers both Essex and small, were flitting around the site amongst the grass as well around any plant in flower. 

The only other butterflies noted at the park in recent days have included large white and small white.

The main bird highlight over the last few days at the park continues to be the growing up of the two avocet chicks in the park grazing fields. The chicks are about three weeks old now and about half the size of the parents. The family have done well to avoid any predators especially as the nearby vegetation around the pools is so thick with tall docks and rushes.
There's been no further sign of avocet chicks near the Point with one of the small lagoons almost dried up.

The avocets are trying their hardest at keeping most other birds away from their chicks. Those that have been brave enough to stay have included up to ten black-tailed godwits, four shoveler, 5 teal and 12+ mallard. On the dyke the tufted duck was seen with four ducklings on Monday 7th.

Five mistle thrushes have been feeding on the rowan berries in the car park and a song thrush has been singing loudly at the north end of the car park. A greenshank was heard calling as it flew off the mudflats on Tuesday 8th. At least one Sandwich tern was heard calling from the foreshore beside Cosways caravan site on Tuesday 8th..

Will Baker saw a barn owl hunting over the park late on the evening on Sunday 6th.

An adder was seen slowly moving into cover on Monday 7th alongside the track, while five common lizards were seen amongst the long grass..

Paid a brief visit to the fields near Coopers Beach on Tuesday 8th where the long grass in the fields had been cut for hay. There was the nice sight of two marsh harriers hunting low over the three hay fields, looking for prey. Three kestrels presumably a local family, also had the same idea with one of the parents hovering above the cut grass.

Also seen in the area were a pair of yellow wagtails, little egret, 10 linnets and 100 starlings with ten common terns seen offshore.

Near Chapmans Lane 100+ swallows were perched on wires on Wednesday 7th, as was the usual corn bunting.

Was surprised to find this young slow-worm lying dead near the back door in the Firs Chase garden on Thursday 17th. A goldcrest was heard singing from a nearby garden on Thursday morning.

A muntjac deer was seen crossing the East Mersea road near the allotments at dusk on Monday 7th. It managed to squeeze between the bars on the metal five bar gate into the nearby hay field.