GLOBE-TROTTING GODWITS

High spring tides over the last few days have brought large numbers of black-tailed godwits to roost in the country park fields. Most of the birds pack into the pools where 1400 birds were estimated by Andy Field on Saturday 11th. A few redshank were also roosting here as was a greenshank on a couple of occasions.

Andy managed to find about ten black-tailed godwits on Thursday 9th that had been colour ringed such as this one pictured above. Thanks to some speedy replies from Dr Jenny Gill and Peter Potts the next day, we've discovered what kind of journeys some of these birds have undertaken since they were ringed.

The black-tailed godwit pictured above has the combination GR-OW and was first ringed in the Wash on Sept 2002. It has since been seen on thirty occasions ranging from W. France, NW. France, the nearby Blackwater estuary, Holland and now East Mersea. The bird has made annual visits to these coastal sites as well as flying back to Iceland to breed each spring.

This well observed globetrotter godwit is GW-GX pictured above, seen in the fields also on Thursday 9th. Ringed as an adult in SW Iceland in April 2002, this bird has been seen 29 times. Observations have been in Iceland ( west, east and south-west) several times, various corners of the adjacent Colne estuary several times and also near Shannon in Ireland.

Another very well observed black-tailed godwit was ringed as a chick and been seen 76 times particularly on the north Kent marshes most winters. It has been seen back in NW Iceland several times, NW France several times, W France, south Essex, Aberdeen and now East Mersea.

The first big godwit roost on the fields took place on Wednesday 8th ahead of one of the very high spring tides but also following a morning of heavy rain which would've softened up the ground for them to feed. Two big flocks gathered with this group on the grass of about 1000 birds while another 800 were gathered in the nearby flooded corner of the field.
Bar-tailed godwits feeding on the nearby mudflats don't roost in these fields although one was found in amongst the black-tails with this group pictured above.

AUTUMN DOWNPOURS

The driest September on record now seems a distant memory following some torrential downpours recently.
The car park at Cudmore Grove pictured above, was not surprisingly, very empty during a very wet Wednesday 8th.

 The one bit of wildlife interest seen from this office window was the sight of a brown rat scuttling over the car park several times to grab some fallen sweet chestnuts and then running back to cover carrying each one in its mouth.

It stayed dry and sunny for most of Thursday but it was much windier, which whipped the very high tide onto the beach and against the country park cliff. The Environment Agency have only just got round to repairing the two collapses in the seawall from last winter and so far the repair works seem to have held.

This wheatear has stayed put on the beach at East Mersea Point during the wet and windy weather of the last three days. First seen on Wednesday evening it was still present on Friday morning.
In the Colne a common tern was flying about and a house martin looked like it wanted to cross the river to Point Clear.

A rock pipit called as it flew along the beach and 30 linnets were also seen feeding around the saltmarsh at the Point. Brent geese numbers in the mouth of the Colne are still about 200 although dispersed in several smaller groups. One group of fifty brent near Ivy Dock were seen late morning and the first group of four were seen feeding in one of the park's grazing field. 

There was the interesting sight amongst the 1500 starlings feeding around the seawall/ beach/ fields area of a very pale leucistic starling showing a sandy body but with cream-white wings. Certainly easy to pick out when flying in the flock.

The early afternoon high tides in the last few days have brought big numbers of birds onto the park's grazing fields with this picture showing some of the 1000 black-tailed godwits. There was a big gathering on Wednesday afternoon after the mornings downpour had softened up the fields with nearly 2000 godwits roosting.

Also in the fields were 500+ teal, 500+ wigeon, 130 curlew, 90 greylags, 200 redshank and 50 lapwing. One bar-tailed godwit was amongst the black-tails as were a few dunlin on Wednesday. A greenshank was seen flying off the fields when the birds were disturbed.

Little egrets have had to hold on tight to the branches during the windy periods when they roosted at high tide. At least seventy birds were seen on Friday with half at the pond and the other half standing in the nearby pools in the grazing field. Three grey herons also joined the roost on Thursday.

The three swan cygnets appear close to fledging and making their first flight, probably being egged on by their parents who seem to be flying about a lot recently. They have done well to get to this stage after the loss of their other three siblings early on. The right hand bird in the photo is the cygnet with the white plumage of an adult.

After a couple of days of silence in the windy weather, the loud song of the Cetti's warbler was heard again from the hedge behind the park pond on Friday morning. It has now been present for its eleventh day and maybe its companion is still around too.

On the pond 24 shoveler, 6 gadwall, 50+ mallard and a tufted duck but no sign of the female pintail that flew over the pools and the pond on Wednesday 8th.

A marsh harrier flew over the car park on Wednesday and at the end of the day there has been at least one flying up river to the Langenhoe roost over the last three evenings. A sparrowhawk flew over the car park on Wednesday while the two kestrels have been seen by their oak tree recently.
A little owl called at dusk from an oak tree just inside the park and was seen flying out much to the surprise of a wood pigeon also in the tree.

Two swallows flew west over the park on Thursday, two goldcrests were with the tit flock and 30 greenfinches gathered to roost each evening at the park.

Martin Cock watched a little gull fly east past Coopers Beach towards the mouth of the river Colne on a windy Wednesday afternoon.

There was the eyecatching sight in the sunshine of a clouded yellow butterfly fly across the car park just after midday on Friday 10th. Also in the sun this day were a couple of red admirals and a common lizard.

There was a report a red squirrel being found dead this week, in a garden situated near the end of the East Mersea road.
A muntjac deer was seen at dusk in the grass field behind the park pond on Wednesday evening.

GODWIT GATHERING

Numbers of black-tailed godwits roosting in the country park fields appeared to have increased on Tuesday 7th. At least 300 were packed together along with 150+ redshank with more birds arriving during the mid-morning period. At the end of the day the wigeon flock had also swollen to around 600 birds.

A pair of stonechats along the dyke - the male not having been seen here this autumn before, so possibly a new pair just arrived. Offshore 100 brent geese noted and four pintail flew out of the estuary.

The strong wind over the last couple of days has forced the little egrets to roost close to the water's edge with 28 birds noted, some pictured above.
The Cetti's warbler was still singing from the hedge behind the pond on Tuesday morning, now present for a week. On the water 6 gadwall, 40 mallard, 24 shoveler and a tufted duck.

One swallow flew west over the park in the morning and 2 goldcrests were still with the tit flock.

Very little noted during a wet and windy Monday 6th although the Cetti's warbler did utter a few songs at either end of the day by the pond. A sparrowhawk flew over the car park and at dusk 20 stock doves were settling down in the copse by the pond.

This grey heron struck an unusual pose on the tree by the park pond, catching the sun's rays with the underside of its wings on Sunday 5th. Maybe it knew the weather was turning away from summer and this was the last warm sunny day.

At least two bearded tits were seen at the pond briefly in the morning by Andy Field. They were pinging loudly to begin with and then they popped up amongst the reedmace stems where one bird was certainly a male with the grey head. Despite lots more scanning of the reedmace around the pond, the beardies were not seen again. This is the third record of bearded tits for the pond, all of them just one-day visitors.

The sunny weather also saw a passage of common buzzards fly over the park with 15 counted in the first half of the afternoon. Three were first seen circling high together over the park entrance at midday, followed by a steady trickle over the next four hours, all following the same westward path just to the north of the park, and all about the same height. This is certainly the highest day count made at the park but surprisingly no other raptors seen on the move.
Martin Cock had also seen one common buzzard flying west near West Mersea on Sunday too.

Whilst watching the first group of buzzards at midday, five Mediterranean gulls suddenly appeared with some black-headed gulls overhead that seemed to be catching insects in the air. Some spiders gossamer was floating in the sky nearby.

The female kingfisher performed well at the pond, perching on various stalks and twigs around the place, calling out loudly as it flew. It was also seen mid-morning perched alongside the park dyke.The water rail was heard calling from the ditch behind the pond, the first individual returning for the winter. The Cetti's warbler showed well by the pond just after midday for Steve Entwistle.

At least two wheatears were seen on the beach, one of them seen on a bush in the park fields and a rock pipit flew along the beach calling. A chiffchaff was seen in the car park by Helen.

Other wildlife seen around the park on the sunny Sunday included a water vole seen by Mat Larkin, common lizard, small white, red admiral, speckled wood butterflies and common darter and migrant hawker dragonflies.

Martin Cock saw 6 greenshank, common buzzard, peregrine and clouded yellow butterfly at Maydays in the afternoon and a kingfisher was by the West Mersea Hard in the morning.

The near-full moon cast its beam across the mudflats beside the park on Tuesday evening. Twenty little egrets flew north over the park to roost further up the Colne. A pipistrelle bat flew around the park entrance as night fell.

WIGEON

Wigeon numbers continue to increase in the park's grazing fields, here sharing the grass with the cows in the late evening sunshine. Around 200 were seen on Saturday 4th, along with 80 greylag geese and the 600 teal at the pools. The high tide roost saw a good count of 170 curlew in the fields on Saturday morning with 25 little egrets in the trees and 100 black-tailed godwits seen too.

The Cetti's warbler was still singing from the bushes behind the pond but without showing.

Brent geese are also becoming more obvious with each day as more birds return here for the winter. This group were some of the 100 seen at the mouth of the Colne. None have started to feed in the fields yet. No youngsters seen in this small group pictured above, although one family with three youngsters were seen flying over the fields.

On Friday the kingfisher flew past the Point and a marsh harrier passed overhead at the end of the day while a stonechat perched by the bramble bush halfway along the main dyke. Four common terns were seen in the mouth of the river.
The Cetti's warbler was singing again from the back of the pond although only a reed warbler was seen in the reeds by the pond.

On Thursday two common buzzards were noted over the grazing fields, each one going in opposite directions to the other, the pair of kestrels were perched on their oak tree. A stonechat was seen by the dyke near the Golfhouse.

Mark Dixon reported seeing a red kite flying west over the fields near Chapmans Lane towards West Mersea on Wednesday 1st.

 

Plenty of sunshine again on Thursday 2nd saw this peacock basking on the ground near the car park. A small copper was also seen enjoying the sun atop a blade of grass. Also three speckled woods, four red admirals and a small white. There was the colourful sight of a clouded yellow fluttering along the side of the park seawall late morning.

One adder was soaking up some of the sun near the car park, the first October sighting at the park for several years. Also three common lizards were seen in various places amongst the grassland.

The recent period of warmth during September seems to have encouraged some moths to have either a second brood before the autumn, or maybe some have just prolonged their flight season.
This fresh swallow-tailed moth was resting on the window near the moth trap in the Firs Chase garden early in the morning of Thursday 2nd. Swallow-tailed are usually seen on the wing during June and July

Another unexpected moth for October 2nd at the country park was this beautiful hook-tip, a moth that is usually seen in July and August. This one looks a little worn around the edges. This is the second record for the park this year.

This smart black rustic was resting near where the swallow-tailed was found, on the side of the house in Firs Chase on Thursday 2nd. Several have also been noted at the trap at the country park in the last few nights.

It was nice to see this vapourer moth at the trap at the park early on Saturday morning, the second record this summer for this species.
The forecasted end to the warm spell due this weekend saw one last mothing effort at the park before the autumnal weather sets in, with two traps operating during Friday night. Although the slight breeze kept some moths away, 200 individuals were still noted of which half were lunar underwings.

Other species noted were dusky-lemon sallow, sallow, barred sallow, beaded chestnut, deep-brown rustic, black rustic, green brindled crescent, blair's shoulder knot, large yellow underwing, broad-bordered yellow underwing, large wainscot, L-album wainscot, pine carpet, common marbled carpet, setaceous hebrew character, feathered ranunculus and also one diamond-backed moth.

LITTLE SKULKERS

For the second day running the two Cetti's warblers were skulking beside the park pond on Wednesday 1st. The two birds were first heard yesterday morning singing their very loud songs in duet but not showing themselves. This morning one performed along the near side of the pond, singing out loudly while the second bird flitted amongst the reedmace below. Andy Field did well to photograph this bird during one of its brief shows.

The Cetti's warbler has become an annual visitor to the park in recent years but has never stayed more than a couple of days. It can only be a matter of time before they become Island residents.

Five house martins, 20 swallows, 3 blackcaps 2 goldcrests, 2 song thrushes, 10 blackbirds, reed warbler and a sparrowhawk were seen near the pond. In the nearby fields 40 little egrets were gathered and the big mix of 1000+  greylags, teal, wigeon, redshank and black-tailed godwits. Four brent geese flew over the fields late morning.

Yesterday by the park pond the kingfisher was perched in the morning, as well as a flypast in the afternoon where it was later seen by the beach. A grey wagtail flew over the pond calling and 20 swallows passed over the park.A common buzzard flew away from the copse being mobbed by crows.

This stonechat showed well alpongside the park dyke for Alan Reynolds to photo on Tuesday afternoon.
A second bird was discovered at the end of the afternoon at the Point, perching on the seablite bushes.

Waders were starting to gather on the mud at East Mersea Point as the sun was going down on Tuesday evening. A marsh harrier passed high overhead on its way to the Langenhoe roost.

Martin Cock saw a kingfisher, peregrine, 300 avocets, 200 black-tailed godwits, 4 common terns by the Pyefleet near Shop Lane on Tuesday. A grey wagtail was seen on a West Mersea house roof near the Coverts early on Tuesday.
On Sunday 2 rock pipits, peregrine, kingfisher, green sandpiper and greenshank were seen at Maydays by Martin.

A clouded yellow was seen by Alan Reynolds at the Point on Tuesday which may've been this same individual photographed by Andy Field two weeks earlier on the 17th September. Martin reported seeing at least 2 possibly a third on the Shop Lane seawall on Tuesday.

At the park a small copper, red admiral, speckled wood and small whites were enjoying the autumn sunshine.

Alan Reynolds was able to photograph this obliging Mediterranean gull on the Seaview Beach on Tuesday.

A common seal performed from the Hard jetty for Alan on Tuesday, lured in by the crabbing activity.

The moth trap at the country park produced 130 individuals during Tuesday night including this red-green carpet.

The pretty flounced chestnut makes just one or two appearances each autumn at the park.

Recent catches have been dominated by lots of lunar underwings of various colour forms such as this brown individual. Over half of the catch were these with 60 noted in the trap. Other moths recorded were barred sallow, beaded chestnut, deep-brown rustic, green-brindled crescent, white-point, L-album wainscot and square-spot rustics as well as two of the tiny diamond-back moths.

The moth trap in the Firs Chase garden has been a little bit quieter with this neatly marked spruce carpet found resting on the lawn. Other moths were sallow, angle shades, large wainscot, feathered ranunculus, shuttle-shaped dart, engrailed, willow beauty and mallow.

ACTIVITY BY THE HARD

There was plenty of activity on the water in the Mersea Quarters on Saturday 28th. Pictured above were some of the competitors taking part in the RYA East Zone Championship sailing back to the Hard.

Birds noted from the Hard included 200 black-tailed godwits standing on a mudbank as the tide came in. Another 200 black-tailed godwits were also noted close to the Dabchicks sailing club. A common tern was hawking amongst the moorings while 100+ turnstones were counted resting on boats near the jetty.
A rock pipit flew over St Peters Marsh calling in the afternoon.

Some of the 200+ black-tailed godwits seen in the Strood Channel on Saturday morning near the Dabchicks. Mark Dixon commented on the large number seen here recently, counting 400 godwits feeding here a few days previously.
Jane Dixon also saw the great white egret by Cobmarsh Island the previous weekend on the 21st.

Mark was also pleased to see a red squirrel run across his garden by the Dabchicks a fortnight previously.

During a brief show of the sun on Saturday afternoon this small tortoiseshell was on the wing on St Peters Meadow, West Mersea. A small white was also seen briefly in flight.

Basking on a heap of dead grass were a couple of common lizards, seen just a few metres from the end of the St Peters Meadow boardwalk.
A sparrowhawk was seen in hot, but failed pursuit of a meadow pipit over Firs Chase on Saturday afternoon.

There was the unexpected call of a tawny owl late on Sunday night calling in the Lane and Firs Chase area. One was also heard by Martin Cock very late on Sunday 28th in the Coverts/ Broomhills area. These are the first callngs heard in these two areas for over ten or fifteen years.
The pied blackbird made an appearance again after an absence of several months in the Firs Chase garden on Monday 29th.

The tide was low during the mid morning walk along the Strood Channel on Saturday 27th. Along the mud were a kingfisher in flight that landed by the sluice outflow, 120 wigeon, 100 teal, 500 golden plover, 5 greenshank, and one knot. Seven little grebes and eight little egrets were seen along the Channel.

A male stonechat was perched on a bramble bush in the dyke, two reed warblers, 4 reed buntings, 10 skylarks, 100 linnets and 10 meadow pipits were some of the small birds noted. There was no sign of the wheatear that was seen by the seawall on Friday 26th.

A sparrowhawk flew across the Channel towards the trees on Ray Island while a male kestrel seemed to be seeing off the island a female/ youngster across the Strood Channel.

A swallow was still flying around the Dabchicks apparently the family has only just fledged chicks in the last few days.

The moth trap in the Firs Chase garden produced a few moths during the night of Thursday 25th with this barred sallow pictured above one of the typical autumn species noted.

The pine carpet used to to be a scarce moth but seems to be on the increase in recent years.

The common marbled carpet is a widespread moth and occurs in small numbers each year.

Other moths of interest from the 15 species noted included spruce carpet, red-green carpet and L-album wainscot.

GAGGLING GREYLAGS

The greylag geese flock of about 80 birds were busy feeding around the marshy margins of the pools in the grazing fields in the country park on Thursday 25th.

As well as the geese there was a good number of other waders and ducks during the high tide roost in the early afternoon with over a 1000 birds here. Main flocks were the 500+ teal and the 500 redshank along with wigeon, a few snipe, black-tailed godwit, lapwing and curlew too.

A common buzzard circled over the field on the north side which appeared to unsettle many of the roosting birds. A short while later a female sparrowhawk then flew low over the fields and again the teal and redshank were startled.

Around 70 little egrets were beside the park pond and pools such as this group pictured above. Despite little egrets being around here for several years now, the scene above still looked more appropriate for a Mediterranean wetland than one on the Essex coast.

A kingfisher flew across the pond heading east across the fields without stopping in the morning. Swallow passage has dwindled to a trickle with only about 20 birds noted during the day heading west. In bushes by the pond 3 blackcaps and a song thrush were seen.

Pleased to see this autumn small copper at the park in the morning as they have been scarce at the park this summer.

A handful of speckled wood butterflies fluttered along the various paths, this one above resting on a footpath sign.

A couple of red admirals were seen nectaring on a flowering ivy bush in the car park.
A large white and a couple of small whites were seen on the park.
There's still a good showing of common darter and migrant hawker dragonflies around the park at the moment.

Something seems to have torn open this wasps nest found lying on the ground.

This might be the last photo of an adder this autumn as they will soon be heading underground to hibernate. This one was very wary and was soon disappearing down the nearby rabbit hole as I clicked the camera.
Two common lizards were also basking in the afternoon sunshine on a log.

One or two of the wild cherry trees around the park are putting on a colourful show.