BWW

This month, as we were allowed to meet in up to groups of six, five of our members went to South Woodham Ferrers and  Diane reports follows:

The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch revealed that there was a drop in 16 out of 20 of the most spotted species.  They expressed concern about greenfinches and chaffinches, which have been seen in their lowest ever numbers this year; this trend was shown in our outing today when we saw neither of these species.  The only finches we saw were goldfinches that chirped enthusiastically at our meeting spot close to Clementsgreen Creek to the southeast of the town.

Had this been a walking group outing we would have taken one hour to complete the circuit but for us it was two and a half hours, highlighting how much interest we found there.  This is partly due to the variety of habitats that include reed beds, pasture, fields, bushes, and trees, the creek, and also the River Crouch.  It was a super day to be out, warm when the sun shone and cool when the clouds briefly covered it.  The tide was low when the five of us arrived but quickly started to rise.

As so often happens sightings were slow at first and although we didn’t see huge numbers we did notch up a lot of different species.  The reed beds and dykes had not only the usual coots and moorhens but also corn buntings, reed warblers, and swans.  One pair of swans swam peacefully up one of the dykes when at great pace the cob turned, raised its wings, lowered its head and made off at full speed towards two swans that were minding their own business some 200 metres away; sensibly they avoided confrontation and took flight passing low over our heads.

Teal frequented Clementsgreen Creek feeding at the water’s edge.  There were about 30 of them but because they had ‘social distanced’ themselves didn’t give an impression of being a large group whereas, the black-tailed godwits, feeding on the mud in the River Crouch, did.  These godwits are one of Europe’s more handsome waders and in summer their plumage goes coppery-red from their head to their breast which, in the sunshine glow brilliantly.  Nearby, foraging amongst the seaweed six turnstones were busy feeding.  They took flight and landed closer to us on a platform in the river giving us a better look at them.

Away from the water skylarks rose from the fields singing as they went and a kestrel hovered.  Greylag geese, Canada geese, shelduck, little egrets and a grey heron fed on the grassy areas.  A swallow flew overhead, my first this year but others said they had seen some previously – perhaps Spring is really here.

We did have a discussion about collective nouns for birds showing our ignorance when it came to little egrets and black-tailed godwits.  Well, these two birds have several collective nouns including for the little egret a ‘congregation’ and ‘wedge’ and for the black-tailed godwits an ‘omniscience’, ‘pantheon’ and ‘prayer’.

The only butterfly/moth we saw remains unidentified – it was small (about the size of a holly blue), totally white, no black spots, no black on the wing tips.  It landed open winged on hoary cress – anyone any ideas?

Birds: Goldfinch, Robin, Starling, Sparrow, Chiffchaff, Blue & Great tits, Skylark, Swallow, Pied Wagtail, Corn Bunting, Reed Warbler, Kestrel, Crow, Magpie, Wood Pigeon, Swan, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Coot, Moorhen, Little Grebe, Mallard, Pochard, Shelduck Teal, Greylag Geese, Canada Geese, Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Turnstone, Oystercatcher, Black-headed and Herring Gulls,

Flowers: Groundsel, Daisy, Dandelion, Germander Speedwell, Red Deadnettle, Hoary Cress, Blackthorn.

Diane Caulkett

 

MEMBERS ACTIVITIES

On 25 March Sue and Tony had a lovely walk at Marsh Farm Country Park and report as follows:  We parked by the river where there are always plenty of swans (but no black one this time!) Initially there was not much on the water – the odd moorhen, little grebe and some mallards on the dykes. We then saw a mass of birds on the fields to our left which turned out to be Brent geese, Canadas and Greylags plus a flock of Shelduck and some Oyster catchers. After lunch on a rather cold bench where we spotted some red shank and a curlew, we turned to go along by Clements Green Creek where we were greeted by a large display of Teal and Black Tailed Godwits (100s) in their magnificent rusty summer plumage. We also saw a few wigeon, pochard and tufted duck.  It was worth the showers we experienced on the way back!

 On 1 April five members visited Bradwell-on-Sea and Diane reports as follows: It seems to be the sequence of our bird outings lately in that the first bird heard is the Skylark; no doubt habitat plays its part and today it was the farmland at Bradwell-on-Sea.

5 of us met at the car park near to St Peter’s Chapel and we set off into the chill, brisk northeasterly wind.  Apart from numerous Skylarks we were also pleased to spot several Corn Buntings; one singing close by and others perched, fully silhouetted, on taller field growth or treetops.  As we walked along the track other birds sang joyously in the hedge growth, drawing our attention to them: Chaffinch, Sparrow, Wren, Robin, and, nearing the Chapel, a Great Tit certainly won the prize for volume and enthusiasm.

The feeders at the Bird Observatory were well-stocked and had the usual array of finches and tits coming and going but also a Great-spotted Woodpecker.

We walked along the seawall to a point looking north, where we had hoped a rising tide would bring the waders closer inshore, but the tide was sluggish and we were only able to identify Redshank, Shelduck, Brent Geese and a Curlew.  In the adjacent dyke a pair of Mallard and Pochard swam in and out of the reeds and nearby, although March had now passed, two ‘mad’ hares tussled in a field.

After several hours, and beaten by the cold wind, we made our way back to the car park and still the Great Tit sang enthusiastically.

Birds: Skylark, Corn Bunting, Chaffinch, Robin, Wren, Sparrow, Great & Blue Tits, Blackbird, Wood Pigeon, Magpie, Pheasant, Crow, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Black-headed & Herring Gulls, Redshank, Curlew, Shelduck, Mallard, Pochard, Brent Geese

Flowers: Ground Ivy, Groundsel, Daisy, Dandelion, Alexandra, Cow Parsley, Chickweed, Speedwell, Cherry,

Other: Ladybird, Bumble Bee, 2 Hares

 

Diane reports above about the decline in Chaffinches and Greenfinches but I am pleased to say that in the last month or so I have had a pair of Chaffinches visiting my garden regularly and also occasionally see a Greenfinch. The Group are really hoping that we will all be able to meet together in the near future and be able to travel further afield, although I think the lockdowns have really made us all appreciate what is on our doorstep and how fortunate we are to live in such a lovely part of the country.

Joy Deacon

It is now a year since we met together as a group. Our last group meeting was In March 2020, just before lockdown when we visited Wallasea Island. It was a lovely sunny warm day and it was very interesting to see the progress that had been made since our last visit. It was a very high tide that day which flooded the road out of the island and some of us didn’t make it out on time. However, we spent a very enjoyable hour or two in the café that was fortunately open. Hopefully it won’t be too long now that we can meet together again as a group.
However, although we can’t meet as a group yet, once again members have been reporting their wildlife sightings.

Report below from Diane Caukett.

Jill Taylor and I went for a walk on Saturday 6th March around Wick Farm and back along the seawall. It was a grey day but with a tinge of brightness in the southern sky. The wind was a bit chilly and gently blowing from the east, hence our decision to walk in a clockwise direction so that it pushed us back to Burnham.

It was joyous to hear skylarks as we set off and throughout our 5-mile walk we heard six in total and saw one descending rapidly to the cover of crops below. We met Martin, the farmer, who told us there were corn buntings around but they eluded us. After the first skylark it was quite a wait for our next identification which was a great tit singing from the trees within a small covert. We were beginning to think that the birds had disappeared altogether until we reached the seawall and a linnet, from the top of a tree, serenaded us with its delightful song. This seemed to change our luck.

With exposed mud and the water’s edge being well within binocular distance, we counted 16 redshanks, 12 teal, 4 shelducks, and 2 oystercatchers. Then, happily diving in the shallows, Jill spotted a great-crested grebe. The Brent geese were absent but then we caught sight of a skein of 6 crossing the river. We would have missed them had our attention not been drawn to a graceful, little skiff with tan sails sailing up river. Nearer to Burnham we found more Brent geese feeding at the water’s edge, and shelduck too; we must have spooked the latter because as we drew closer they became nervy and took flight. Little flecks of white turned out to be a group of avocets stock still facing into the breeze. The dyke also had activity in it – mallard, moorhens, and a little grebe. Almost back to Burnham we were pleased to see a pair of reed buntings and then a short way on, sitting motionless in a nearby tree, another, a male. A chaffinch sang and then a noisy flock flew from bush to bush; a lone robin managed to be heard above their chatter.

Birds seen: Great Tit, Robin, 6 Skylarks, 1 Linnet, 18 Brent Geese, 4, Shelducks, 2 Oystercatchers, 1 Gt Crested Grebe, 1 Little Grebe, 8 Chaffinches, 3 Reed Buntings, 3 Mallard, 16 Redshank, 12 Teal, 2 Moorhens, Black-headed Gulls, Wood Pigeons. Weren’t we lucky to see all that?

A few days later on a very sunny Tuesday Jill and I met at Maylandsea. With restrictions eased and now allowing us to sit on a bench and have a coffee, we did just that. Jill had brought her telescope and we had a great couple of hours viewing literally hundreds of redshanks, brent geese and golden plover. There were also several curlews, oystercatchers, shelduck, lots of teal, wigeon and canada geese and certainly more that I’ve forgotten. We were not only pleased with our viewings but spoke to so many people who passed us by, including a person with whom I used to play squash about 30-years ago and haven’t seen since, and also Anita, a member of one of the Maldon U3A’s, who used to come out with our bird group. Another fabulous day.

SIGNS OF SPRING: Jill Taylor writes (20 February):

In the last few days, since the snow melted, I have had two dunnocks holding a singing competition at opposite sides of my garden, each listening to the other and then singing in reply. Two cock blackbirds have been fighting ferociously, chasing each other around the garden and flying at each other, claws out, grappling and rolling about. Meanwhile the hen blackbird, seemingly oblivious, is pottering about under the hedge collecting nest material. I also saw a female blackcap a couple of days ago. 22 February: Yesterday I saw my first butterfly of the year in my garden – a beautiful brimstone! And I counted wildflowers on my daily walk. Seen beside Marsh Road were: dandelion; red dead nettle; daisy; groundsel; white dead nettle; shepherd’s purse; speedwell; petty spurge; chickweed; cow parsley and some garden escapes: violet, snowdrop and daffodil. Has anyone else seen a butterfly yet?

Diane Caulkett replies – 22 February:

That sounds like the list of weeds flowering in my garden! No butterflies as yet only ladybirds, earwig and a bumblebee. Lots of birdsong over the weekend and plenty of tits hopefully choosing their home in my garden. Blackbirds that live harmoniously (two males and a hen), a small flock of sparrows that regularly visit the dense bushes in the front garden, a pair of collared doves taking up residence in a tree, not so many wood pigeons so far but plenty of magpies and crows, and the usual starlings and a pair of robins. The mole is quite active but fortunately sticks to the edge of the lawn and doesn’t cause too much harm.

Sue Bridgman replies – 24 February:

More signs of Spring in our garden: large bumblebee with pale yellowish rump, a honeybee, quite a few ladybirds and a comma butterfly. Blackbirds are becoming aggressive. Do they know it’s only February?

Anne Hollis replies– 24 February:

I have a small garden, so have only had 6 blackbirds squabbling over fat balls, a daily pied wagtail, a few sparrows, a few collared doves, 3 wood pigeons, and a chaffinch. I have also seen a bumblebee and a ladybird.

Sue Longson writes:

I saw a Lapwing and Redshank on the shingle in Mayland, but the water’s edge was too far away to make out the large amount of birds there with only small binoculars.
St Lawrence had a lot of Brent Geese and towards Osea Island there were some spectacular murmurations of white birds? Would Starlings look white from a distance? Any ideas?
In our garden there were a pair of Long-tailed Tits eating the fat balls. A Heron flew overhead and a wren crept around the flower pots. Our daughter said she saw a Red Kite in Green Lane.

I have had a Sparrowhawk in the garden on a couple of occasions and also have seen 2 Buzzards which are often flying overhead. Sparrows and Starlings are back in great numbers and are collecting nest material. Also a pair of Chaffinches, Blackbirds, Goldfinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Robins, Goldfinches, Wood Pigeons, Collared Doves and a Magpie which is often on the feeders.

Joy Deacon

Most of the sightings this month are from members’ gardens.  This is due to the lockdown, the very wet and muddy conditions of footpaths etc. and the snow, and we have all been spending much more time indoors.

 

However, in late January Jill Taylor had a walk down Green Lane, Burnham, and says – ‘I saw a flower at the side of the road yesterday and a memory at the back of my head said “Butterbur”, but when I got home and looked it up, the description was wrong.  I went out again today to take a closer look and I am now sure it is “Winter Heliotrope”, a flower I have not come across before. It is said to be well established on waysides and hedgebanks.   It flowers from November to March and it smells of vanilla. Are any of you familiar with it?’  Sue Jones answers: ‘No – I’m not familiar with Winter Heliotrope.   I’ve just looked it up in the wildflower book.   It’s like a Butterbur but less tightly packed with flowers.   Well spotted!  Good to see flowers appearing isn’t it.’ Jill has further confirmed that Diane Caulkett has also spotted lots more Winter Heliotrope just north of Pannels Bridge on the way to The Limes in Southminster Road and says ‘We were surprised that we have walked past it so often but never noticed it.’

Sue Longson whilst waiting in Broomfield hospital car park in late January writes: ‘I decided to take a walk & found a long narrow stretch of woodland which I had been unaware of before.  Within fifteen minutes of walking I was able to watch nine grey squirrels foraging & two Robins plus Magpies & Pigeons. There were biggish trees, a stream & lake. Such a peaceful place for patients, staff & visitors to use.

Apparently the wood is called ‘Long Shapely Belt’ which is 1 ha and approximately 80 years old.  Apparently a 2 ha ancient wood called Puddings Wood is also within the hospital grounds, both of which are managed by volunteers.  The walk was short, but cleaning my boots with only wet wipes took forever.

At home the Redwings only come in dribs & drabs, but unfortunately a Sparrow Hawk swoops around too often.’

Jill Bevan writes: – ‘Have not seen anything unusual in garden, until yesterday (5th Feb.). A tiny bird, the size and shape of a bluetit, but definitely not a blue tit. We consulted the RSPB book and decided it must be a chiff-chaff. I wonder if anyone else has seen one. Sue Bridgman answers: ‘We think we saw one in our garden last week but we are pretty certain we saw one on a fence when we were out walking during the week. It was dipping which they apparently sometimes do.’

On 10 February Jill Taylor says: ‘I saw a pied wagtail in my garden, which is unusual, and yesterday I counted 28 fieldfares on my hawthorn tree finishing off the few berries that the blackbirds had left. This morning tell-tale footprints in the snow revealed that a heron has visited my pond!’

Anne Hollis writes on 10 February: ‘I have put food out in the snow for the birds in the last 4 days. I have seen Pied Wagtails, Blackbirds, Sparrows and a Bluetit. The Starlings have been scarce recently’, and Sue Longson says ‘I have had some Fieldfares joining the Blackbirds and Redwings on the Hawthorn trees in my garden – not so many berries left now.’

Report from Southminster – Sue and Tony Bridgman: Unfortunately, the fields are still too wet to walk comfortably so most of our birdwatching was done in our garden. However, a couple of weeks ago we did take a walk down Sheepcotes towards Green Lane where we had seen fieldfares a few years back. Amazingly, we were lucky again as we spotted a large flock of birds across the fields which we managed to identify as a mixture of both fieldfare and redwings, probably about 300 in number. Unfortunately, they were too far away to take any decent photos. However, we did get some close views of a Kestrel perched on a haystack scanning for its next meal!

We have enjoyed our garden watching more since joining the BTO Garden Watch – thanks to Jill Taylor for that recommendation. We often stop for a minute or two to see what’s going on outside our kitchen window and as a result have seen some unusual birds. Ones that we have added to our list over the last couple of weeks are Rooks and Jackdaws (both on the fat ball feeder!), a male and female blackcap and a chiffchaff. We have been visited several times by long-tailed tits and also a very tame wren. We have tallied a list of 17 different species over the last few weeks.

We had a further delight on Thursday, 11^th when we were taking our daily constitutional along the bypass. We heard some scuffling in the bushes and really close to us were 2 Redwing busying themselves in the undergrowth. They were so close we could see their white eye stripe and the red patch along their wings.

It’s been amazing what we see in the vicinity of our own home – Essex Wildlife Trust eat your heart out!

 

I see that no-one above has mentioned Goldfinches.  I see them in my garden every day and on one occasion I counted more than 15 in the tree at the bottom of my garden. I haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary, but I also regularly have a pair of Blackbirds, Robins, Blue and Great Tits, Collared Doves but not so many Starlings or Sparrows recently.

Thanks to all who have contributed.

Joy Deacon

Once again, due to the lockdown, the Bird and Wildlife Group has been unable to meet. However, this hasn’t stopped members from sharing what they have seen in their gardens and on their walks and we have found that this has been a good way of keeping in touch until we are able to meet again as a group.

Sue Longson writes:

Before lockdown 3, Russ & I visited Danbury Country Park which is obviously very muddy. Parking at The Lakes car park, and not very far along, I saw a water vole on the water bank. This was surprising as there were a fair number of visitors. We later watched a grey squirrel in a big old Chestnut tree; it popped in & out of a large hole before jumping to another tree, performing for us.

Our garden has a screen of Hawthorn trees which are loaded with berries which are normally only eaten by several Blackbirds, but three days ago (4 January), four Redwings arrived & then yesterday a whole flock arrived to gorge themselves. They are still visiting.

Jill Taylor writes:

The days are getting longer and walking up to The Limes this morning (23 December) there was a robin singing about every 100 yards. Opposite the new housing estate a song thrush was practising his phrases, outside the school a great tit was loudly shouting “Teacher, Teacher” and a wood pigeon replied “I can’t do spellings. I can’t do spellings!” Spring is on the way.

I chose Marsh Road for my walk today (2 January), and as I reached Dammerwick Cottages a flock of birds twittered across in front of me and landed in the field. I thought they were goldfinches, but I had my binoculars with me and they turned out to be pied wagtails – at least 27 of them! I didn’t know wagtails flocked together in winter. The primroses are all flowering in my garden and various bulbs are pushing up leaves.

Two sightings in my garden this morning (5 January):
TWO robins taking it in turns to visit my bird table. My robin seems to have found a mate!
A buff-tailed bumblebee on the bellflowers of my winter flowering clematis. Jolly cold for a bumblebee to be out and about.

From the 9th to the 11th of January I had a flock of between 12 and 20 redwings perched in my hawthorn tree and feasting on holly berries in a neighbour’s garden. And on one occasion a kerfuffle in my forsythia bush revealed that my robins had become a menage a trois!

Diane Caulkett writes:

I read in The Garden magazine an article on’ Bees in winter’ and apparently Queens do not hibernate but the interesting thing was “Any queen bumblebee might be awake on warm winter days, but in one species whole colonies can be active, even when it is close to freezing – the buff-tailed bumble”.

Sue and Tony Bridgman from Southminster write:

We had hoped to take a trip to Heybridge Basin to observe ducks, waders etc. but the spread of COVID-19 has prevented us. So, most of our bird spotting is from our garden.

Today was a good day (13 January) – there were plenty of birds about despite the rainy conditions. The first highlight was a group of 7 or 8 goldfinches seeing off the sparrows on the feeders. We have a trellis halfway down the garden which various species use to give them cover but also easy access to food. As per usual there was a lot of flitting backwards and forwards of both bluetits and great tits. On the ground were the usual suspects – collared doves, wood pigeons and blackbirds tidying up the remains of food underneath the feeders.
The second highlight was a group of long-tailed tits briefly on the feeder and in the roses. Additionally, there was a pair of robins, a lone dunnock and many starlings.
This was the best sighting we have had for a few weeks but some of the usual birds were missing. It is not uncommon for us to see wrens, chaffinches and rooks (on the fat ball feeders). Hopefully next month we might be reporting from across the fields.

Frances Harris writes:

We did the Wick Farm circuit at the weekend, 9th January, and saw a flock of fieldfares on the bushes. Along the river we spotted redshanks, shelduck, and a group of knot in flight. The most unusual sighting just after Christmas was a seal in the water at Creeksea, just after high tide.

This winter for the first time since we installed the feeders in the garden we have had no goldfinches at all which is very disappointing. We think their habitat must have been disturbed in some way. However, yesterday there were a pair of blue tits exploring the nest box. We know from past years that they tend to make a preliminary sortie in January and then return at intervals until they’re ready to start nesting so we’re hoping that the nest box will be in use in the spring.

I have had the usual birds in my garden – blue and great tits, goldfinches, sparrows, starlings, robins, blackbirds, wood pigeons and collared doves and for a few days in early January a small flock of long-tailed tits. I am also 90% certain that I saw a greenfinch but it had gone by the time I fetched my binoculars.

Joy Deacon

Once again the Bird and Wildlife Group met in 2 groups, one group going to Wick Farm, Burnham and the other to Hanningfield Reservoir.

Wick Farm, Burnham – Monday 7th December 2020

Four members met at Wick Farm on a very cold, overcast and foggy morning. We didn’t really expect to see much but decided to go for a short walk anyway. As it happened, two hours later we arrived back at the cars very pleased that we had come. We all agreed that it was nice to have a bit of normality and to catch up.
We decided to walk to the seawall. On the way we didn’t really see a lot as it was still rather foggy, but once up on the seawall the tide was very low, the fog had cleared a little, and there were a number of waders. They were a long way out but we managed to identify Curlews, a number of Redshanks, Great Black-backed Gull, a pair of Mute Swans and Mallards. A Cormorant flew overhead.
Driving back from the Farm on Wick Road there were about 20/30 Sparrows on the grass beside the road and a number of Bluetits and Goldfinches were flying around.
Birds seen: Sparrow, Goldfinch, Bluetit, Wood Pigeon, Crow, Rook, Blackbird, Grey Partridge,  Mute Swans, Cormorant, Redshank, Curlew, Great black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Starling, Mallard.

Joy Deacon

 

Visit to Hanningfield Reservoir, Wed. 9th December 2020.

Four of us arrived at the reservoir equipped for a wet morning but as it turned out it was a very pleasant day with a gentle breeze and hints of sunshine.
We had an auspicious start as one of the first birds we saw was a group of Goldeneye close to the viewing window of the Visitors Centre. There were plenty of bluetits and Great tits on the feeders plus the odd grey squirrel attempting to feed – but not much else. There were masses of coot on the water.
We strolled along to the two furthermost hides. The hides are open to the public as long as social distancing is maintained and masks worn where appropriate. Nothing out of the ordinary there then! There were plenty of birds to be seen but not the range of species that we saw last time we visited – many coots, geese (Greylag and Canada), plus 2 white geese and one Egyptian goose. wigeon, mallard, lapwing, some teal, odd grebes (great crested and little) and odd gadwall. What were missing were tufted ducks which are usually plentiful at Hanningfield.
While the other three made their way back to the next hide Sue had spotted something very small flitting through a bramble bush. When it was finally still enough a yellow stripe on its head was evident- a goldcrest, Britain’s smallest bird. The last hide we stopped at revealed a range of ducks including goldeneye plus some cormorants.
It was lovely to be able to enjoy nature in the company of friends – something we have always taken for granted. We will meet again next month, possibly at Heybridge Basin. (Boris willing!).

Wildlife seen: Squirrel; Sulphur Tuft toadstool

Birds: Moorhen; Canada geese; Grey geese; White geese; Cormorant; Goldeneye; Blue Tit; Great Tit; Great Crested Grebe; Mallard; Black-Headed Gull; Crow; Coot; Wigeon; Teal; Pied Wagtail; Gadwall; Lesser Black-backed Gull (yellowlegs); Lapwing; Mute Swan; Goldcrest; Little Grebe; Egyptian Goose.

Sue Bridgman

 

As Sue says above, yes we hope to meet again in small groups in January, Government restrictions allowing! January is usually the month when we have our ‘late’ Christmas lunch but that will have to be postponed until later in the year, maybe in mid-summer in a pub garden. Last January we arranged a very exciting programme for 2020 including visiting Reserves further afield that we hadn’t visited before, but, alas, it was not to be. Hopefully we will be able to get back to some kind of normality later next year.

Joy Deacon

The Bird and Wildlife Group could not meet this month due to the second lockdown. However, Sue and Tony visited Heybridge Basin on the day we should have met and have sent us a report as below. Jill visited Maylandsea a few days before and has sent us a report on that and Sheila has sent us another very interesting report of the wildlife in her garden:

 

Wildlife Report – Wed. 11th November 2020. (Sue and Tony Bridgman)

We set off from Daisy Meadows car park at about 11 o’clock on an overcast, slightly breezy day. We weren’t too sure how much we would see as it was nearly low tide. However, we were not disappointed as there were plenty of birds as we reached Heybridge Basin Lock. Most of these were black-tailed godwits and black-headed Gulls with some redshank. We walked past the Lock coffee shop (shut!) and walked along the river to Osea coffee shop (also shut!). We saw a good range of birds including the occasional curlew, a few cormorants, a smattering of dunlin, lots of wigeons, a few teal and one odd grey plover.
We commented at one point that we hadn’t seen any lapwing only to round a bend and see odd ones amongst the ducks and waders. Similarly, when noting the absence of geese, we noticed a reasonable flock of brent geese. You can’t possibly go birdwatching without seeing a little egret – just the one! On the way back there was also much twittering from house sparrows that seem to have a few favourite bushes along that stretch of the river and also a flock of lapwing (about 60/70) that must have been disturbed by something.
As we reached the seat by the Yacht Club we remembered that the Wildlife group had sat there in February watching the river. How things have changed since then! As we passed the 2 pubs back at the Basin we noticed they were both serving takeaway coffee and bacon rolls. We stored that information for future use! We had an enjoyable walk together but were sad not to share our birdwatching with our fellow birders. As you are aware, neither of us are knowledgeable on plants/insects so have only reported on birds.

Black-tailed godwits (many); Curlew (5/6) Redshank (many); Cormorants (few); Dunlin (few); Grey Plover (1); Wigeon (many); Teal (few) Brent Geese (possibly 30); Egret (1); Black-headed gulls (many) Lapwing (odd ones plus a flock in the air); House sparrows (many)

Sue and Tony Bridgman

 

Report from Jill Taylor

Not much to report this month, but I did go to Maylandsea a few days ago. I watched three turnstones turning over, not stones, but clumps of green seaweed to find their lunch. And there was a lone curlew probing the mud. There were lots of shelduck and lapwing, redshank, a few avocets and a scattering of brent geese. Maylandsea never disappoints. There is always something to see. Best of all – I bumped into an old colleague from the Blue House Farm volunteer working party which Ken and I were members of for many, many years. Sadly, although it is easy to keep spaced out when working on the farm or in the woods, Essex Wildlife Trust have stopped all volunteering. Such a shame when there is so much work to be done and people longing to get on with it.

Apart from birds, I have noticed that there are still a lot of flowers in the hedgerows and in the garden, and the bumblebees are still busy.

Jill Taylor, November 2020

 

 Nature Notes – November 2020 – Sheila Nutt 

At the end of October Chris and I went to the Isle of Wight for a few days, returning just before the current lock-down.  The bird population on the island mostly seemed to be hiding – probably owing to the weather. We saw a number of sparrows, blackbirds, robins, and, of course, seagulls, but not much else that was close enough to identify.

Some of the shrubs were interesting, such as Clerodendrum trichotomum, the harlequin glorybower.  I have seen these before, but not such large vigorous specimens, some probably more than 10’ tall.  The bushes were still in flower in places, small flowers with white petals among the groups of berries. The flowers had a green calyx which had turned red on the fruits, some of which were still white, but riper fruits had changed to dark blue. We were staying in Ventnor and made a couple of visits to the Ventnor Botanic Gardens. The VBG claims to be Britain’s hottest garden, with a microclimate providing temperatures at least 5°C warmer than the rest of the island.  Some of the plants were very impressive, abutilons, salvias, roses, etc, still in flower and looking good, especially for the time of year.

We also visited the tropical house where various plants, especially climbing vines, were in flower. The giant water lily had leaves (or lily pads) up to four feet wide.  One flower bud was waiting to open, but although we made two visits it did not seem to have developed much whilst we were there.  Apparently, the flowers are white and perfumed on day 1 to attract pollinating beetles. The flowers close overnight, then when they reopen the flowers have changed to pink and lost their scent, to encourage the beetles to leave and visit and pollinate another flower.  (It seems this water lily was featured on Gardeners’ World when Carol Klein visited VBG.)

Ventnor Park proved quite interesting.  There is a small stream running along the side, which seems to have been deepened in one section.  This area was populated by some large fish – possibly koi or other large carp – and several mallards. A lady came along with young children and they started to feed the ducks.  The fish took no notice at all – possibly because they wanted to keep away from the mêlée. On another day we were taking a drive near some downland (we were asked not to say exactly where) and spotted some birds weaving about.  At first, I thought they were starlings chasing off a buzzard or similar, but as they came closer, I realised that the blackbirds were rooks.  The raptor they were chasing off was much larger than they, so I wondered if it might be one of the eagles that had been released on the island.  They were a bit too far away to get a positive ID on the raptor and did not stay for long, so we were unable to check with the binoculars.

The pellets sank quickly, and the ducks disappeared beneath the water, scooping up the tasty titbits from the mud on the bottom of the pool.  I have never seen mallards dive fully under the water.  They were completely covered and swimming along at a depth of at least a foot.  Normally they seem to just “up-end” and the tails point skywards, rather than disappearing altogether.

In the garden at home

The snowberry has now been trimmed back.  There are still a few flowers for cheeky bees, but the main hedge needs to be cut during the winter as it is a popular nesting spot once the new leaves have opened in the spring. Among the twigs, we found a blackbirds’ nest and the remains of a smaller nest – probably built by blue tits – from last spring.

In the back-garden there are still several plants flowering, including winter-flowering clematis, choisya, pansies, fatsia and a few fuchsias.

Nearly all the berries have gone from the holly, berberis, rowan trees, etc. and the squirrel has been munching his way through the peanuts in the bird feeder near the vegetable patch – in between digging up the tulip bulbs! The birds have been eating the seeds from the echinacea and some of the other seed-bearing plants.  These plants look quite untidy, but we will leave them untrimmed whilst they seem to be a popular food source.

Several of the trees and plants are looking very autumnal now.  The leaves on the medlar were fully yellow for at least a week before falling and the tree is full of fruit, which will please the blackbirds. Once the fruits have gone a bit squashy, they seem to be quite a popular addition to their diet.

 

Update: some sightings in a Burnham garden – Sheila Nutt

Autumn – coloured leaves and a lot of berries

It looks as though autumn has arrived. Some of the leaves have fallen; others, such as the acers, have turned red or orange and now berries are more obvious, especially on the rowan, hawthorn, berberis and cotoneaster. We had a good crop of berries on the amelanchier, but they had hardly started to turn colour when the wood pigeons decided they looked tasty. Unfortunately, the favourite perch for them is on the pergola, from which they hop straight across to the amelanchier, usually landing with a thud and breaking off the branches, so we now have a very lop-sided tree!
The berries on the berberis will probably not last too long either – at least not the more accessible ones – as we have a very athletic blackbird. The bush has very long spines so he does not land on a branch, but locates himself below and chooses his berry then bounces up as far as he can and grabs it, sometimes ending with a flutter if he can’t quite reach.

Birds
The waterfall in the pond is still quite popular. The two pairs of blackbirds are still around, quarrelling over access to the waterfall when they want a bath at the same time. This causes a certain amount of dispute and a lot of fluttering and hopping about until they decide the pecking order. Other birds, e.g. robins often spend time in or by the waterfall, feeding as well as bathing. When we (well, Chris actually!) constructed the pond we had a large dog bed, which was no longer used, so it became a kind of sump, filled with stones, at the back of the waterfall. This seems to have provided a little ecosystem for various creepy crawlies of the aquatic variety, which some of the birds appear to find very tasty.
Bird activity was quiet for a time – possibly because of the moult. The goldfinches, blue tits and great tits, blackbirds, robins, etc. are still around the garden. The long-tailed tits also make fleeting visits, frequently in groups of about eight or so, though they are often difficult to spot and have to be tracked down by their calls.
The herons have not been here very much – I have only seen one twice in the last couple of weeks. Perhaps the pressure to catch fish is less now the young have left.
The sparrow hawk has visited a few times. I have seen it swooping along the length of the garden and recently it has taken a wood pigeon and a collared dove. Circular heaps of feathers were left on the grass at the far end of the garden – presumably it did some plucking before flying off with its trophy.

Butterflies
There were a number of butterflies until a couple of weeks ago, peacock, whites, and some blue ones – probably holly blue, and the occasional comma. There have not been so many recently since the weather became cooler. I have seen some brown ones although they would not stay still for long enough to get a positive ID!

Pondlife
Activity levels have dropped since the temperature cooled, although when the sun shines little froggy heads tend to pop up among the oxygenating plants. In the rest of the garden I am still taking care when weeding etc because they tend to lurk in the borders and it is very disconcerting to have a frog ping past your nose when digging up a dandelion!
Such large fish as have survived the visits of the herons are still demanding food on sunny days. Although there may not be a fish in sight at first, once they know we are nearby (and have decided we are not herons) they come up and start begging – all huddled together with a lot of open mouths!
The baby fish still seem to be surviving – at least some of them – so we should have a reasonable “fishy” pond population next year.

Bees
The bees are still quite busy, especially in the Snowberry hedge. It has tiny flowers, but they must be rich in nectar. The birds do not seem very keen on the white berries, preferring the red or orange ones elsewhere in the garden, so they stay on the plants for some time.
There are still a number of flowers of different types in the garden, including some dahlias, achillea, foxgloves and penstemon, and they seem to be popular, so hopefully they will help to provide sufficient food to keep the hives going over the winter.

Visitors to the veg patch
We have some raised beds at the end of the garden. They are often excavated, leaving heaps of soil in all directions. I have yet to discover the culprits for the major digging, but I saw a squirrel bury a walnut in one corner – in a bed I had conveniently turned over so the soil was nice and soft to help with his efforts.
I was weeding at the far side when he hopped down from the top of the compost bin, sat up on his hind legs with the walnut in his mouth, checked around (but apparently ignored me), and then buried his treasure trove. Unfortunately for him, I soon dug it up again as we already have too many hazel, walnut and similar trees growing in inconvenient places in the garden. As there is a large walnut tree in a garden nearby and we have a hazel I doubt if his stores will get too sparse this winter – although I hope he will find another location for his cache!

Sheila Nutt, October 2020

 

Thank you to the above for sharing their wildlife experiences with us. Let’s hope it won’t be too long before we can all meet together again as a group.

Joy Deacon