More spring-like weather has seen a flurry of activity but rather frustratingly the Sand Martin and Wheatear seen on Saturday have not been followed by friends. The level of Lapwing and Redshank activity is increasing by the day and the latter are now also engaging in full towering display flights which is promising. Up to seventeen Curlew are still coming in at high tide and today a flock of Golden Plover briefly dropped in. We have not seen a Jack Snipe since the weekend but there were still over 20 Snipe around the edges of Purfleet today and Oystercatchers are already noisily engaging in lengthy courtship flights over the river.
Lapwing - Tony O'Brien
The Bearded Tit pairs are still favouring the Perimeter Ditch and showed very well by the MDZ while the Kingfishers are still on the Mardyke for the most part with occasional sorties to the MDZ pool where Little Grebes were getting very aggressive while I was working down there before work.
Male Bearded Tit - Paul Rigby
We saw at least seven Marsh Harriers across the marsh today – two males and four females – almost mirroring my six birds of Saturday. They appear settled and I do not think that they are passage birds moving through. Buzzards were similarly obvious with about ten birds seen ranging up and down the pylon line and circling over the reserve – again with no obvious sign that they were anything other than locals. Red Kite has been on the cards on every nice day we have had and at last today Andy and Phil found one, albeit a rather tatty immature that very slowly drifted east but any day with a Kite is a good one!
Buzzard - John Humble
The Short-eared Owls continue to show well in the Enclosed Bay in the late afternoons and our tame Kestrels are still performing with the male currently favouring the area around the approach to the Ken Barrett Hide.
Short-eared Owl - Ian Plume
Female Kestrel - Barry Tranfield
Cetti’s Warblers have actually been showing quite well at times and four Chiffchaffs were singing on the drive in along with a couple of Blackcaps that have not quite warmed up yet.
Cetti's Warbler - Joanne Gates
Chiffchaff - Barry Tranfield
The Woodland Feeding Station is still operational and is attracting the usual Great and Blue Tits as well as some transitional plumaged Reed Buntings and the attentions of several very plump and handsome Brown Rats all of whom posed very nicely for some shots!
Great Tit - Dawn Cowan
Reed Bunting - HTV
Rather sadly I have also discovered this evening that ET never actually made it home 35 years ago and was actually standing quietly behind me when I was snapping Mr Rat on Sunday. He must have been lurking there for a while as he is in every shot I took. I reckon his arm must ache after all these years and his finger light appears to have run out of juice... poor little sod.
Pairs of Long-tailed Tits are flitting around with nesting material and I suspect that some Blackbirds and Robins may even be feeding young. One of our Robins was also found to be sporting a BTO ring today... I wonder where he came from?
Long-tailed Tit - Joanne Gates
Robiin with a ring - Paul Rigby
In my last post I mentioned that the Sallows were just about starting to break into flower, well now the car park is a sea of fluffy yellow catkins and on a sunny warm t-shirt day like today there were Honeybees, Bumblebees, at least two Hoverfly species and many Small Tortoiseshells, Brimstones, Comma and the odd Peacock hastily nectaring. The Marsh Frogs were getting going today and were revving their croaky engines to get into practice for those deafening summer night to come.
Brimstone - Jerry Hoare
Comma - Andrew Rodger
Small Tortoiseshell - Chris Barnes
Honey Bee covered in Sallow pollen - Jerry Hoare
Marsh Frog - Tony O'Brien
It was so nice to feel that warm sunshine on my back as I sat down at the end of the ramp having my lunch today and I am sure the wildlife was feeling much the same way.
15-2-17
Howard Vaughan, Information Officer