Bird & Wildlife Watching

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

Once again members split up into two groups.  One group going to Hanningfield Reservoir and the other to Burnham Marina.

 

HANNINGFIELD RESERVOIR

Similar to last month 6 of us met outside Burnham to see what wildlife we could find. We had intended to go to Heybridge Basin but Tony consulted his tide tables and discovered it would be high tide hence little chance of spotting ducks, waders etc. So, we decided to go to Hanningfield reservoir which has finally opened again. We also agreed that a Monday was better for some of us than the usual Wednesday.

Hanningfield has adapted itself well to Covid restrictions: a member of staff took our details or asked us to sign in with the NHS app, we needed to wear masks inside, there was a one-way route around the centre but there was an opportunity to buy a coffee and view the feeders while we drank it. There we saw great tits, bluetits and also a coaltit plus a chaffinch and robin. There was the customary grey squirrel – swinging on the feeders. We were very lucky with the weather – the change of day helped. We had some sunshine and not too much wind, optimum weather for birds.

The reserve wasn’t particularly busy- a few birdwatchers but quite a few groups of families/childminders with little children in tow who seemed to be having a great time! The hides were open where we could spread ourselves safely for social distancing. In the closest hide we saw some pretty standard birds for the end of the summer – coots, moorhen, mallards, great crested grebes, greylag and Canada geese and masses of cormorants.

The next hide we went into called Point Hide revealed that the autumn birds were actually about. We were pleased to see teal, widgeon, tufted ducks, shovelers and pintails, a kestrel hovering on the shore (most unusual!), more great crested grebes plus some little grebes. There were also many pied wagtails on the shore plus what looked and acted like skylarks.

We visited 2 more hides on the way back to the centre.  At the first one we also saw herons plus some of the other species from the previous hide and the last hide was where we saw the inevitable little egret. At most of the hides there was a selection of gulls – black-headed, herring and greater black-backed plus lapwings.

Other than birds the wet conditions meant there was a range of interesting fungi to see plus the odd wildflower.

It was lovely to be back at an Essex Wildlife Trust reserve. It showed we can still enjoy in a small group the wonders of nature despite the strange times in which we live. It certainly lifted our spirits – it would be well worth a return visit.

Birds:

Robin, Chaffinch, Blue, Great & Coal Tits, Starling, Skylark, Pied Wagtail, Wood Pigeon, Crow, Kestrel, Cormorant, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Wigeon, Pintail, Teal, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Little & Great-crested Grebes, Mute Swan, Lapwing,  Little Egret, Grey Heron, Canada & Greylag Geese, Black-headed, Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls

Fungi:

Sulphur Tufted, Coral Spot Fungus,

Flowers:

Dandelion, Hogweed.

Other:

Grey Squirrel

 

Sue Bridgman

 

BURNHAM MARINA

4 members met at Burnham Marina on a bright sunny morning.  The idea was to walk around Creeksea but because there had been so much rain recently and it was very muddy, we decided to walk around the Marina, the reed beds and sea wall instead.

Walking down from the car park to the Marina we watched a Great Crested Grebe diving. We also noticed the continued growth there of Japanese Knotweed which had been referred to the relevant people by two of our party some time ago, but still it grows and thrives.

On the way to the reed beds a large number of starlings flew over.  At the reedbeds there were a few small birds flitting from tree to tree which we couldn’t identify but we are 90% sure that we spotted a Greenfinch and then again another up on the seawall.

Walking through the old caravan park site we identified some beautiful trees loaded with red berries – White Beams and a Rowan.  We hope they remain in situ when the site is reinstated for caravans.  Also we saw many bushes loaded with berries – Sloes and a few blackberries remaining.

On the seawall were a few Pied Wagtails – the tide was high and, apart from a few gulls, there was nothing on the river.  Back to the Marina we watched a Little Grebe diving and a pair of Mallards.

Although bird sightings were few it was a very enjoyable morning with good weather, good company and lots of chatter.

Birds seen:  Great Crested Grebe, Sparrow, Starling, Magpie, Black-headed Gull, Pied Wagtail, Blackbird, Greenfinch, Robin, Little Grebe, Mallard, Wood Pigeon.

Butterflies: Speckled Wood

Wild Flowers:  Japanese Knotweed, Bristly Oxtongue, Daisy, Dandelion, Creeping Thistle, Lucerne, Red Dead-Nettle, White Clover, Common Mallow, Yarrow, Hedge Bindweed, Swine Cress (the Chervil like flowering plant growing very close to the ground above the reed bed).

Other: Sloes, Blackberries, White Beams, Rowan

 

Joy Deacon/Sue Jones

 

 MEMBERS ACTIVITIES

Jill Taylor visited Mayland on 22 and 23 September and reported the following:

On my first visit I misjudged the timing of the tide and the shingle spit where we usually see a lot of birds was already covered when I arrived, so all the birds I saw were on the far side of the river. There were about 100 redshanks; 15 curlews; 5 egrets; 15 lapwings; 2 herons; 6 black-tailed godwits and 4 shelducks.

The next morning I went back to Maylandsea and with a lot of mud exposed I saw many more birds:  25 curlews; 150 redshanks; 250 golden plovers; 1 heron; 4 egrets; 16 shelducks; 10 cormorants; 6 turnstones; 23 avocets and 8 oystercatchers.

Two very satisfying mornings!

Jill Taylor

 

We are hoping to keep the Bird Group going throughout the winter meeting in small groups.  Nothing has been decided yet as to where we will be meeting next month and arrangements will be made nearer the time.

Joy Deacon

 

 

This month the Bird and Wildlife Group divided into 2 groups. One group of 6 visited Woodham and the other group of 5 visited Burnham Wick Farm.

Wick Farm, Burnham

5 members (Anne, Sue(J), Reg, Val and myself) met at Wick Farm on a very warm sunny morning and were welcomed by Martin, the farm owner. After not seeing each other since lockdown there was a lot of chat and catching up but that didn’t deter us from enjoying and appreciating the surrounding beauty. We all agreed that it was lovely to have a bit of normality.

On the way down to the reservoir there wasn’t very much bird life about but we did see a number of Pied Wagtails, Black-headed Gulls, Crow and a Sparrowhawk.

Wildflowers, however, were in more abundance, not only in the wildflower meadow but alongside the pathways and around the reservoir and the ones we were able to identify are listed below.

On the reservoir there were a large number of Canada and Greylag Geese, a Coot and a Moorhen and a few Mallards. Martin had told us that a Green Sandpiper had been seen there but unfortunately we didn’t see it. As we sat there we watched a group of about 10 Swallows flying around the reservoir and dive-bombing after insects across the water.

Walking towards the sea wall we watched a Buzzard and saw a small flock of Goldfinches. Up on the sea wall the tide was out and the only birdlife were a few Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls.

Apart from myself the others in the group had never walked around the farm before and they all agreed that it was a delightful place to visit and would like to visit again later in the year. We all agreed that it had been a very enjoyable morning. Back at the cars it was good to have a chat with Jimmy who was working in his garden. This brought back happy memories for me as when I joined the Bird Group in 2006 we used to meet at the farm in a caravan (which is still there).

Birds: Pied Wagtail, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Crow, Sparrowhawk, Swallow, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, Pheasant, Buzzard, Goldfinch, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Rook.

Butterflies: Meadow Brown, Clouded Yellow, Large White, Small Copper

Wild Flowers: Small Nettle, Gypsywort, Fleabane, Bristly Oxtongue, Sow Thistle, Hawkweed, Cosmos, Cornflowers, Californian Poppies, Sunflowers, Ribwort Plantain, Buttercup, Dandelion, Creeping Cinquefoil, Creeping Thistle, Field Bindweed, Willow Herb, Marigold, Sainfoin, Blackberries, Viper Bugloss

Other: 3 Devil’s coach horse beetles., Grasshopper

Joy Deacon

 

Woodham

The second Wednesday in the month, our usual meeting day, Sue and Tony introduced Diane, Lynda, Sue L. and myself to an area of Woodham Ferrers which was new to all of us. Compass Gardens was the meeting point, and I waited for 10 minutes before realising that the others weren’t all late – I was in the wrong car park! Memo – read the email more carefully next time.

It was a gloriously warm, late summer day and we found ourselves walking through and around a great variety of habitats. There was scrub, tall trees, reed beds and also open water and lots of mud in the creek, as the tide was out. We noticed what a lot of food for wintering birds there was. The hedges were loaded with hips, haws and sloes and there were teasel heads and thistledown and acorns aplenty.

Highlights were a sudden burst of song from a Cetti’s warbler, a flock of young swallows stocking up on food before their long journey and a row of five cormorants with their wings spread out to dry.

We saw 16 different wildflowers and 24 species of bird, listed below:

Wild Flowers: bristly oxtongue; field bindweed; hedge bindweed; dandelion; marsh thistle; spear thistle; catsear; great reedmace; greater willowherb; ragwort; comfrey; wild carrot; mallow; yarrow; black horehound; sea aster.

Birds: robin; goldfinch; starling; wood pigeon; Cetti’s warbler; black-headed gull; herring gull; great black-backed gull; mallard; pochard; great crested grebe; little grebe; cormorant; moorhen; pied wagtail; swallow; jackdaw; rook; carrion crow; kestrel; lapwing; curlew; redshank; little egret.

Other: dragonfly; large white butterfly; small white butterfly; grasshopper.

Jill Taylor

 

So both groups had a very enjoyable morning and it was agreed that next month (14 October) we will meet again in groups of 6 and at the moment it is suggested that one group meets in Burnham at the Marina and the other at Heybridge Basin, but final arrangements will be made nearer the time. (JD)

Another month has gone and Bird and Wildlife Group members have once again shared their wildlife sightings and experiences during this very uncertain time:

Update from Sheila Nutt: some sightings in a Burnham garden

The herons are still visiting, but not as often as before, no doubt because they have already captured about half our fish – the less cautious ones – and because at this time of year we let the pond get a bit overgrown. It does not look very tidy, but protects baby fish, etc. because spotting potential prey is not so easy!
The mallards have not visited for a few weeks. After laying eggs in various unviable spots they came for a few more days, then did not return. Hopefully, they have a successful nest elsewhere.
Butterflies: earlier in the year there were a number of peacock, brimstone and orange tip butterflies with a few blue ones as well. At the moment there are some red admiral and whites, plus tortoiseshell, comma, some blues (probably holly blue) and fresher looking peacock. They all enjoy the food plants round the garden, especially the buddleia.
The early peacock butterflies sometimes looked a bit scruffy, so possibly had been hibernating over the winter. The butterflies, especially peacocks, like to sunbathe on our patio near the kitchen – it is a cosy spot and they often park there with wings fully open soaking up the heat.
Birds: the birds are a bit less visible recently, although the blue and great tits are still about, plus greenfinches, chaffinches, goldfinches and especially robins and blackbirds. Many of the birds use the waterfall, but robins and blackbirds have a great time splashing about and seem to collect small creepy crawlies from the edges of the water. Yesterday two male blackbirds had a battle for the waterfall space. The loser went and “queued” under a nearby conifer out of sight of the victor and hopped out for his turn as soon as the coast was clear.
We occasionally have a visit from green woodpecker, probing the grass, especially after such rain as we have had. I hope he will dispose of some of the leather jackets etc!
Pondlife: we have a lot of wildlife in the pond, including various newts. The other day a “pond stick” of fish food was left floating for long enough for it to get soft and two female smooth newts were nibbling at it. There was one on each side, and they were gently waving their tails to keep in position. Luckily, they were not far from the edge of the pond, so I had a good view.
We need to move about carefully in the garden at this time of year as there are a number of small frogs about and they tend to “freeze” rather than getting out of the way if they are e.g. on the grass and are therefore in danger of getting squashed!
Having said that, I almost fell in the pond a couple of days ago when weeding near the waterfall, balancing on the edge – a frog hopped out and just missed me as it leapt towards the water.
There are usually several water boatmen in the water. I saw one take a baby fish, of probably 1cm long. The boatman scooted out from under a leaf, grabbed the baby fish, then scooted back again. It moved extremely quickly. There are baby fish of various sizes so we are hoping a number will survive and replace those the herons have taken.
Dragon Flies: at least five dragonfly nymph cases were in the pond near the reeds. There were three smaller ones – perhaps from darters, and two larger, maybe the common hawker, as both of these types have been in the garden.
Bats: finally, last evening there were at least two bats swooping around near the house. It was about 10pm, nearly dark, but there was sufficient “glow” in the sky to show them clearly. They are very welcome to the mosquitos!

Sheila Nutt, 6th July 2020

 

Southminster Report from Sue and Tony Bridgman

We still walk the fields around Southminster but as the vegetation increases we are actually seeing fewer birds. We are seeing quite a few skylarks, house martins and swallows but linnets, corn bunting, yellow wagtails and yellowhammers are still around but in smaller numbers. We are hearing a lot of birdsong but struggle to identify much of it!
In our own garden we are enjoying screaming swifts overhead plus regular sightings of goldfinch, greenfinch and occasional chaffinch plus the usual sparrows, blackbirds, collared doves and wood pigeons.
So, we have changed our focus to butterflies. We have discovered the Essex Wildlife Trust site of Maldon Wick. For those not familiar with it, you will find it across the new pedestrian traffic lights opposite Morrisons. It is reputed to have 28 different species of butterfly. We haven’t seen that many! But, we have seen meadow browns, small heath, essex skipper, speckled wood, small tortoiseshell, large and small whites, ringlet plus a latticed heath day moth.
In our own garden we have spotted red admirals , peacocks, small tortoiseshell, commas and a gatekeeper plus a couple of interesting moths.
Another interesting area for butterflies is Creeksea, near the Parlour Café, where there are masses of Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns.
As with some of the bird species identifying butterflies and moths has been quite a learning experience but an enjoyable one.

Sue and Tony Bridgman

 

Jill and Phil Bevan report that they haven’t seen anything of great interest in the last few weeks, although their garden is still busy. They walked along Clements Creek (South Woodham) last week and reported that birds were very thin on the ground, apart from 2 swans guarding a single cygnet. However, walking through their wildlife meadow they report that it was alive with butterflies – small copper, skippers, meadow browns, a ringlet, small whites, a speckled wood, also a song thrush singing non-stop (but not seen).

 

Report from Jill Taylor
Bill and I had quite a productive walk around Wick Farm yesterday (7 July). Bill took some photos and we identified 40 flowers between us (there are 41 on my list, but the salsify wasn’t actually in flower). There were also lots of butterflies but I didn’t keep a proper list of them. We certainly saw meadow brown, gatekeeper, peacock, large white, small white and\or orange tip and some sort of skippers. The skylarks and whitethroats were singing but we didn’t see many birds except for grey geese, mallards and swans on the reservoir and the ubiquitous wood pigeons.

	Wick Farm Wildflowers 7/7/2020
Yellow	White	Red/Pink	Mauve/Blue	Green
cinquefoil	white dead nettle	knotgrass	marsh thistle	broad-leaved dock
pineapple weed	scentless mayweed	mallow	spear thistle	stinging nettle
bristly oxtongue	hedge bindweed	field bindweed	lucerne	ribwort plantain
smooth hawksbeard	yarrow	common sorrel	common knapweed	fat hen
groundsel	bramble	poppy	black horehound
hedge mustard	white clover	red clover	viper’s bugloss
ragwort	buckthorn	scarlet pimpernel	teasel
smooth sow thistle		willow herb	salsify
dandelion		sainfoin	lesser burdock
lady’s bedstraw
bird’s foot trefoil
tansy

Last week I made an attempt at identifying some of the grasses down Marsh Road, but only managed this list: perrenial rye grass, wall barley, wild oat, false oat, common reed, cock’s foot grass.
I will make another attempt some time but I think the best of the grass flowering season is coming to an end.
PS – 8 July: I went upstairs to play my piano. Outside the window is a berberis darwinii shrub which at this time of year is loaded with blue/black berries. I have had as many as 6 blackbirds at once, stuffing themselves on what seems to their favourite fruit. A movement caught my eye, I played a lot of wrong notes, reached for the binoculars, and there was a blackcap with his beak stretched around a big fat berry! What a treat – for him and for me! Now back to Bach – unless I get distracted again.

PPS – 9 July: My birthday treat, today was that the blackcap came back to feast on the berberis berries and brought his wife with him, so I saw them both! I think it is interesting that they eat berries. I looked it up, and I think they are the only warblers that do. I was surprised, because they are normally insect eaters.

Jill Taylor

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Once again thank you to all who have contributed. Let’s hope it won’t be long now before we can meet again as a group.

Joy Deacon