RXwildlife Sightings

There are now several broods of Shelduck at Rye Harbour - the best place to see them is at Ternery Pool. It seems to be a good year for them, they missed all the previous bad weather when they were in their underground nest …

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The Small Heath is a restless little butterfly and hard to get close to. They fly only in sunshine and rarely settle more than a metre above the ground, its wings are always kept closed at rest. Adults are on the wing from april to september.

A few more species of dragonfly are begining to emerge at Castle Water, the picture below is an immature male Common Darter. Emergence of this species takes place in the early morning and can occur as early as mid june. Other dragonflies on the wing at Castle Water at the moment include Emperor, Four-spotted Chaser and Black-tailed Skimmer.

Some Mediterranean Gull chicks have fledged at Ternery Pool, but many will do soon. They are greyer, and more scaly on the back than the Black-headed Gull chicks. These two chicks were practising flying, but stopped when the next snack of regurgitated earthworms arrived… they feed directly from the open bill of the parent.

Smooth Newts are one of the commonest amphibians in Europe, they emerge from hibernation around March and head for breeding sites. They return to land in july and are one of the most terrestrial of newts. During the day they hide under logs and stones coming out to feed at night. The one in the picture was crossing the track that leads down to Crittall Hide, it must have had a late night and was looking for a hiding place.