RXwildlife Sightings

Black-headed Gull chick update first. Over a week old now and spending more time at the waters edge rather than in the nest, food still coming in and the regurgitated meal this morning was unidentifiable and looked revolting but Iam sure was pukka tukka for a growing chick. (see picture below)

Additional avian highlights over the past few days have included 8 Black-tailed Godwit and 5 Grey Pover on flat beach and 18 Little Tern have been high flying above shore ridges. On harbour farm good numbers of Avocet are still present and Little Ringed Plover are found on most of the pools. Obviously ternery pool is a hive of activity with 1800 pairs of Black-headed Gull, 650 pairs of Sandwich Tern and 55 pairs of Mediterranean Gull. Pairs of Common Tern are hard to judge at present but can been seen almost anywhere on the reserve. At Castle Water two Hobby are still hunting around the viewpoint, Marsh Harrier, Bearded Tit and a good selection of warblers can aslo been seen from there.

The old shingle ridges around Camber Castle have turned crimson as the flowers of sheep sorrel have come into bloom. Like many other plants it seems to have enjoyed the cool wet spring. Find out more about the plant by clicking here and for a close up… Read the rest of this entry »

In the RX area there are many members of the carrot or umbellifer family, from the tiny marsh pennywort to the 2 metre tall hemlock. Now is the time that they are growing rapidly. Hemlock is widespread along the coast and is one of the poisonous species -famously used to kill Socrates - find out more by clicking here. The leaves of hemlock are similar to those of carrot (which also grows along the coast), but hemlock has distinctive purple blotched stems as in the photo.

A search for more signs of Downy Emerald emergence today revealed 8 exuviae and one adult at the point of taking its maiden flight. Trying to find all the exuvia can be a challenge, especially when its only a few spindley legs grasping a sprouting common reed stem showing, as shown in the third picture below.

On the verge of taking maiden flight Read the rest of this entry »

Not a term of commiseration, or criticism, but the name for one of the scarcest habitats in the RX region.

The poor fen communities in the Cladium Pit at Dungeness RSPB reserve are bursting into life at the moment Read the rest of this entry »

I have been monitoring one of the Black-headed Gull nests infront of parkes hide at ternery pool. Last thursday and friday three chicks had hatched and were doing well. This morning there is only one chick left and at five days old is growing fast. While I was watching this morning a huge meal of earthworms was brought back to the nest which fed the chick and the brooding adult.

common tern courtship
It seems that there is now plenty of fish in Rye Bay for the terns. The Sandwich terns arrived back in good numbers way back in March, but did not start nesting, so it’s good to see around 500 pairs have now settled at Ternery Pool. The common terns are still arriving but there is much courtship display and feeding going on, so all looks good for them. But little terns are few and far between and they are struggling with the windy weather… perhaps they will find food in the sheltered channels of the new saltmarsh. Read the rest of this entry »

At Castle Water the background noise is a continuous squeaky sound. It is the begging calls of nestling cormorants demanding to be fed. They peck at the yellow patch around the bill until the adult lets them in… and the chicks head and neck goes right into the parents throat where their fishy meal is waiting.
Listen to the chicks by clicking here.
For two more photos Read the rest of this entry »

I can’t believe that it’s been five years since I first found Downy Emerald as a new breeding species of dragonfly at Castle Water. Last year I did not find any exuvia or see any adults on the wing, so thought it was just a  short term thing as the species had been expanding its range in the south east and had just used Castle Water as a stepping stone to find other woodland habitats. While at the viewpoint this morning I checked the margins to see if the sunny weather had encouraged any dragonflies to emerge, and was delighted to find 3 Downy Emerald in the process of emerging and 5 exuviae. Several Hairy Dragonfly and small numbers of Red-eyed Damselfly were also emerging in the margins.

Downy Emerald at stage four of emergence Read the rest of this entry »

Highlights over the past few days have included 33 Whimbrel and a Spotted Redshank in summer plumage on flat beach, the new saltmarsh area has attracted the first pair of Avocets with chicks (they had to walk a long way too get there), 90 Dunlin, 125 Ringed Plover and a  few Bar-tailed Godwit. This morning at least 54 Avocet and 6 Litte Ringed Plover were spread over several pools on harbour farm, Lapwings with good sized chicks were also present in the fields nearest the barns. At ternery pool Black-headed Gull chicks have started to hatch in good numbers now and are best seen from parkes hide. At Castle Water two or three Hobby have been regular at the viewpoint at day break, Bearded Tit and a Turtle Dove were also of note this morning.

Lapwing with chick on harbour farm Read the rest of this entry »