• Buddy Lovers

    A sudden flush of 'big' butterflies on the buddhlia at the weekend with lots of very fresh looking Small Tortoiseshells and Peacocks as well as our first Common Blues for a while. Holly Blues are being attracted to the echinops by the centre and our first Wall Brown of the season was sunning on one of the picnic benches.  Phew! We are the last site in London for this seriously declining species so it was a relief…

  • Look down!

    It is worth lingering on the bridges at the moment, not only for the chance of seeing Water Voles, Little Grebes, flicking warblers and even cruising Rudd but also for the chance of seeing some of the many dragonflies and damsels that are doing very well in the suddenly warmer conditions..

    Small Red-eyed Damsels are common at the moment and Ben Green rescued this male. They resemble the very common and familiar Blue…

  • Thrown shoe

    Nicole discovered an old and very rusty horseshoe out on Purfleet Scrape a short while ago and after some some work by Barry Jackson it now looks slightly more horseshoe shaped rather than a bent bit of metal. It is very heavy and some enquiries with a local farrier revealed that it is made of iron (not modern steel) and its design suggests that it may be from the start of the 20th century and not from a horse but a mule…

  • Lunch interrupted

    This Water Vole pauses between bites to check out who is looking at him... After a seemingly quiet year on the reserve it is encouraging that they are being seen at most of the usual spot at the moment including several youngsters.

    (Mark Hart)

    12-8-12

  • Watching for breakfast

    This cool Kestrel was seen yesterday sitting on the electric fence whilst looking for a snack.  It is not just voles and mice that she will be after but any frog that is not quick enough to hop away as well grasshoppers and worms that would serve as an aperitif!

    (Lawrence Rogers)

    12-8-12

  • Glorious day for butterflies

    With another nice day before the weather breaks again next week it is good to see so many butterflies around the wildlife garden at the moment.  Many are coming to the buddleia and mint as well as the globe thistles and hemp agrimony that is in the bog garden (which looks great by the way!)

    Small Tortoiseshells have become scarce in recent years so it is pleasing to see them amongst the Peacocks, Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns…

  • Birds on the move

    Yesterday saw a mini arrival in the Cordite Woodland with two Spotted and a Pied Flycatcher seen along with a few warblers. 

    Pied Flycatcher (Mark Hart)

    Spotted Flycatcher (Mark Hart)

    Dave McGough got some good shots of a very bright juvenile Willow Warbler and a sunbathing Chiffchaff that adopted some curious positions! 

    Willow Warbler ... note the long yellow supercillium, largerly pale bill, pinky legs and…

  • Crabeaters...

    We have had quite a few Whimbrel passing through the reserve so far this 'autumn' (sorry!) and at low tide they forage on the foreshore for worms and invertebrates as well as crabs if they can find them!  Russ Sherriff has succeeded in capturing the best shots ever of this enigmatic species on the reserve. You can clearly see the stripy head and Gonzo bent bill tip.

    Well done Russ!

    11-8-12

  • Another dancing fly.....

    Down in the woodland there is another little dancing fly.... it is tiny compared to the beautiful pied winged Poecilobothrus nobilitatus with an oily black body, red eyes and clear wings with a little black dot.  There are many species and it is safer just to call it Sepsis and it can jig and flick with a certain joie de vivre.  Some great film attached taken by Jerry Hoare...

    www.youtube.com/watch

    10-8-12

  • Insect videos....

    Firstly an apology to Richard Duhrsen....  He has some great insect and lizard film from earlier this week but I am unable to convert them to MP3 from MP4 at the moment so please bear with me!  Doing my best.... 

    In the in the meantime Jerry Hoare has also got some great footage with a lumbering, rather plump Emperor moth cat heading across the path. Another was seen and photographed in the brambles by the centre by Mark…

  • Damsels not in distress

    With the heat turned back on yesterday it was not surprising that there was another explosion of insect life including many Hawkers and Damsels on the wing. The latter included both Red-eyed species and Jerry Hoare managed to get a shot of a mating pair with the female already egg laying!  They certainly do not waste any time.

    Small RE DFs .... look at them wings go!

    10-8-12

  • The Bird Fair, Rutland Water 17-19 August

    Just a quick plug for the annual amazing Birdfair at Rutland Water from 17-19 August!  Hope to see some of you there!

  • Blooms attract the masses

    Our fabulous echinops (globe thistles) outside the shop have started to open up today and have been atrracting a steady stream of bees, greenbottles, hoverflies and butterflies including this very smart Gatekeeper.

    They also liked the rather pungent Spearmint flowers.......

    Pics by me

    9-8-12

  • Wisp Arrival

    Spent the first few hours in the Shooting Butts Hide this morning while some maintenance was carried out.  A few bits to report including cracking views of a the juvenile Marsh Harrier as it quartered Aveley Marsh and in the process spooked three Green Sandpipers and a wisp of 18 Snipe which must have been new in as we have only seen singles up until now.

    Do not laugh!  They are Snipe!

    Golden cap plunging after p…

  • Flies are on me!

    Had to pop out on the reserve yesterday afternoon to look at the electric fence and as I wandered back I managed to get some good shots of the multitude of insects on route in the humid conditions. More to come on the hoverflies as I spent yesterday evening going through my images to see if I could identify them.  Reckon I have given it a good go but will send them off to Joan at RSPB Rye Meads to see what she thinks first…

  • Building cloud

    Looks like more rain on the way with looks of looming clouds piling up over the river this afternoon.  Not raining yet but lots of hoverflies, butterflies and bees out in the humid conditions.... more of that later...

    7-8-12

  • Still popping them out!

    Never tire of these cute little bundles of giggling fluff!  A great shot of yet another baby Little Grebe.  This one by Julie Dent.  Sure there is a grebelet production factory out there somewhere in the reeds!

    7-8-12

  • Coneheads are coming! Will it be sabres or scimiters at dawn??

    At long last the little tiny baby Conehead Crickets are getting to a size where we can identify them!

    This one has nice short wings and is therefore a Long-winged Conehead..... hang on a minute? that makes no sense whatsoever!

    There are clues that tell you that it is (or will be!) a Long-winged rather than Short-winged Conehead.....  honest!

    • the dark stripe down the back means that it is not yet adult and it will…
  • Skipper challange

    They look like tiny orange moths fluttering in and out of the grass but they are in fact energetic and fiercely territorial butterflies with attitude.  Hopefully this little guide will help you out!

    6-8-12

  • Arty Hide

    Just a quick reminder that our staff and volunteer art exhibition in the Purfleet Hide is still on until 19 August. Artwork is on display by David James (Field Teacher), Annie Jackson (Shop Queen), John Chandler (Field Teacher), Nicole Khan (warden), Sam Shippey and Tom Burchell (Volunteers) and even me!


    6-8-12

  • Incoming!

    On a day when Wellington Bombers cruised over the reserve it was good to see one of our top predators on the prowl in the skies and Les Harrison captured this female Sparrowhawk in full flow as iot zoomed over head on its way to a Starling flock!

    5-8-12

  • Happy Hovers Part IV

    Now for some mimics....

    The Volucella family includes the largest hoverfly species and those best adapted to look like Hornets and Bumblebees...

    Volucella inanis- the Yellow-nosed Hoverfly (Brenda Clayton)


    Volucella zonaria - the Hornet Hoverfly (Brenda Clayton)

    Volucella pellucens - the Pied Hoverfly (Brenda Clayton)

    Volucella pellucens - the Pied Hoverfly (Howard Vaughan)

    4-8-12


  • Early sun

    Had a short walk this morning in the sunshine along the river wall and back. Slugs and snails everywhere as they made their way back into cover and there were plenty of hoverflies around including various Volucella bumblebee mimics and lots of dragonflies including Emperors and a couple of Migrant Hawkers.

    Female Emperor eating Ruddy Darter... even the hunter gets hunted... (Jerry Hoare)

    Many Reed Warblers calling…

  • Mud and Mowing

    Last night's pumping has left us with another great area of exposed mud and very shallow water on Purfleet Scrape and Nicole has been out there this afternoon with the tractor, topping the taller vegetation for the first time this season so it should see more waders dropping in to this inviting habitat. Waders today are much as yesterday and the Egrets quickly found the newly drained area to their liking!