It's been a breezy week here - we had a little bit of rain so the Purfleet scrape is getting a few puddles now! During the very hot summer the scrape dried, which is a natural part of a scrape habitats and believe it or not, occasional drying out can help the marsh thrive.
Many of the summer wildlife visitors have departed and the winter visitors are starting to arrive. Some of the wildlife highlights this week include:
The pectoral sandpiper has been seen for a few days - it was first spotted on 23 September, and was seen yesterday at the Shooting Butts Hide. Please see the end of this blog for more details on the pectoral sandpiper! Other waders have included a couple of ruff seen from the Shooting Butts hide, lapwing, large numbers of black tailed godwits (up to about 100!) and avocet are being seen on the Aveley Pools or Aveley Bay.
Some of our winter ducks are arriving with wigeon and pintail showing nicely on the Aveley flash.
A hand full of swallows passed through and the yellow wagtails were still with the cattle (see video below) possibly the tail end of migrants heading south for the winter.
Yellow Wagtails closely following cattle by Pat Hart
There is a kestrel that has been very obliging - showing very well near the visitor centre and the Purfleet hide.
Kestrel having a spot of lunch by John Humble
A male kingfisher has been seen around the Purfleet and Marshland Discovery Zone hides and ditches fishing!
Bernard Bradshaw took this stunning picture.
The bearded tits have been seen around the reserve - the best place has been the northern boardwalk.
Stunning picture of the male bearded tit by Barry Jackson
There has been lots of other wildlife around as well. The sunny days are still bring out the common lizards to sunbathe on the paths, and the marsh frogs still showing nicely in the ditches around the reserve. Butterflies and dragonflies are still whizzing around as well!
Clouded yellow butterflies have been very active over the last week - they are looking stunning so brightly coloured!
Clouded yellow butterfly by John Humble
Steve Lewington saw this stunning stoat the other day - lovely!
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Other than the wildlife there has been lots happening on the reserve - we had National Grid repainting the pylons that run down the edge of the reserve!
Picture by Howard Vaughan.
The wardening team have been doing an amazing job cutting sections of reedbed and vegetation on site. It's a big job - there are lots of plants that need to be cut all around the reserve and the team are fantastic! They work really hard to make sure that the reserve is brilliant for wildlife and for people. It's a big area and we only have a small team so they do a brilliant job!
The other day we had a team visit from HSBC to help with reserve management. The team were working with our volunteers in the Dragonfly reedbed, several areas had been cut and HSBC did an amazing job bagging and removing the reed.
It is a mammoth task removing all the reed, our wonderful work party were on hand to help cart away all the cuttings.
All this work will ensure we maintain a healthy reedbed and give visitors a better chance of seeing the wildlife that inhabits it.
The shop have some new Christmas items - get in early and stock up on cards, wrapping paper, crackers and some gifts!
You have until 2 October to get 20% off packs of mealworms - so grab yourself a bargain!
Pectoral Sandpiper
The pectoral sandpiper has been one of the wildlife highlights this week, so I just wanted to share some more details including where it's been seen and some information about the species.
It was first seen on the Tringa Pools (see map below) on 23 September, and is still around in front of the Shooting Butts Hide.
Pectoral sandpiper by Andy Tweed
The sandpiper has been seen first on the Tringa Pools and from the Shooting Butts Hide. Here is a map of the reserve with these two locations pointed out to give you an idea - if you are not familiar with the reserve and you are coming to visit please do ask at reception and we can show you the locations
The pectoral sandpiper is a wader that is a bit larger than a dunlin. It has a brown, streaky breast, white belly and slightly downcurved bill and yellow-brown legs. The brown breastband (which gives the species its name) and white belly are its most distinctive features. They eat small creatures that live in shoreline mud. Click here for more details about pectoral sandpipers.
Pat Hart got this little clip of the bird showing nicely on 30 September:
Pectoral sandpiper video by Pat Hart
There are some ruff on the scrapes as well - they can be a similar looking species:
Tricia Cambell took this picture of the two together - you can see the pectoral sandpiper on the left and and a ruff on the right. The ruff is a larger wading bird, and at this time of the year has similar makings to the sandpiper.
The markings on the back are similar - brown, speckled and with some striping. A good id tip is to look at the markings on the chest:
Ruff by Rog Warner
Pectoral sandpiper by Ian Plume
The pectoral sandpiper has a very distinct change in colours from the speckles on the chest to the white.