A view across the Stour towards Mistley
My recollection of this last week has been dominated by a Greenshank count. Mark Nowers, the Warden for Stour Estuary and Wolves Wood, was kind enough to invite me along. By counting the birds at the end of August, between official Wetland Bird Survey dates, we hoped to better appreciate the numbers using the Stour on their migration south, back to African wintering grounds.
Mark Nowers Surveys the Stour
Although from our location I was unable to see any greenshank on the wetland, in total across the survey, the team recorded 96 individuals. This is a very good count, and one which reflects the estuary’s value as the fifth most important site for the birds in the country.What I could see included over 30 little egrets, a number of cormorants, ringed plover, black-tailed godwits, redshanks, lapwings, turnstones, terns, yellow wagtails, a shelduck and then, just before we left, a few greenshank flew over, moving from another part of the estuary. I was therefore able to see their characteristic appearance in flight. An excellent afternoon!
Willow Emerald on Hawthorn
In the garden it has been a good week for another kind of green, with a good number of sightings of the willow emerald damselfly. It’s a recent colonist, having only been recorded in numbers in 2009 and it’s a reflection on the ever changing tapestry of wildlife we have on this island. Other visiting Odonata include this lovely migrant hawker, here seen resting on a tomato plant.
Migrant Hawker
On the plants front, I have been so pleased to see the corn cockle (Agrostemma githago) finally blooming away on our meadow flower ridge. It’s a really attractive plant and one that used to be hugely common across arable land, its seed often spread with the wheat collected the previous year. Changing agricultural practice and particularly the sowing of ‘winter wheat’ has meant that it has declined almost into obscurity.
Corn Cockle and Friends
If you do find time to visit the garden in coming weeks, do note your observations on our new recording board. I was pleased and amused in equal measure today to see young children eagerly counting up bees to add their observations to the chart!Finally, if you missed it, here is another chance to listen to our slot on the BBC’s Gardeners’ Question Time. Of course, I’d say listen to it all, but if you’re short of time the piece in the garden starts just over 16 minutes in.