RXwildlife Sightings

Yesterday, a visit to Rye Harbour found much wader courtship going on. The hides gave brilliant close views of Redshank and Ringed Plover behaviour.

Granville Davies
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Highlights this morning on the Beach Reserve, 6 Little Ringed Plover (a pair showed well on the new scrape next to Lime Kiln Cottage), 14 Avocet were on the new scrapes, 15 Dunlin and 2 Grey Plover in Summer plumage were at Ternery pool. Along Shore Ridges at Least 22 Little Tern were present. At Castle Water highlights included another 4 Little Ringed Plover, 2 drake Garganey, Marsh Harrier, Hobby and 3 Turtle Dove. In addition, Hairy Hawker, Four-spotted Chaser, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Small copper, Peacock and Red Admiral were all on the wing.

Small Copper at Castle Water

Now is a great time to watch wader chicks, especially from the birdwatching hides - where they don’t run away and hide. Some Lapwing (below) have already fledged, but there are still many younger ones from replacement clutches. As each day goes by there are more broods of Redshank, Ringed Plover and Oystercatcher to be seen. A good indicator of chicks is when the adults chase off Carrion Crow or Kestrel.

I think the Sawfly in the picture below is Tenthredo mesomelas. Sawflies get their common name from the appearance of the ovipositer in females which looks like the blade of a saw. The larvae a rather similar to the caterpillars of butterflies and moths, but there is a difference. Sawfly larva have five or more prolegs on the abdomen, and they have only two ocelli (see post 15th May Drinker detail picture).

A Grey Wagtail flying E along the seawall this morning was puzzling. Maybe it was dispersing from some breeding site?

Pete Rouse reported 3 Roseate Terns offshore yesterday early evening and the Pannel Scrape logbook also noted a Red Kite over the reserve that morning. There are many young Avocets there now, as well as 6 Black-tailed Godwits and 2 pairs of LR Plovers. I saw Marsh Harrier and Peregrine nearby in the morning.
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An excellent morning, with over 40 species of moth. The highlight was the first reserve record of Cypress Carpet (below), a relatively recent colonist to the British Isles (the first British record was in West Sussex in 1984) which is now established in small numbers in south east England (including a record from Winchelsea Beach in 2000). Other notable species included Cream-bordered Green Pea (bottom) and Sand Dart, both relatively uncommon.

Cypress Carpet
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Local schools have been busy this week creating work for events over the coming Rye Wildlife Weekend.

Radiator Arts has run workshops in which children have created banners based on local wildlife. These will be carried in a procession through Rye on Saturday morning (starts at the Ypres Tower 10.45).
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Virtually the only passage migrant in the Dungeness Bird Observatory area was a splendid female Woodchat Shrike which spent most of the day around the southern and western edges of the trapping area.
David Walker from DBO website

Highlights today included a surprising male Garganey on the new pits behind Ternery Pool, along with an an Avocet and at least one Little Ringed Plover, six Grey Plover and a Little Egret on the Quarry, and a pair of Turtle Dove on the Narrow Pit.

… is the title of a new wildlife book that will be available from the start of the Wildlife Weekend, this FRIDAY.
“Motivated by their common interest in the two similar natural environments on either side of the channel, the wildlife painter Rober Greenhalf and the water colourist Noelle le Guillouzic, set out to introduce each other to their favourite locations in the Baie de Somme (Picardy, France) and Rye Bay.
You will discover through this book a celebration of the birds, wildlife, landscape and architecture of the two regions as seen through the sensitive eyes of two painters, each passionate about nature and their art.”

There will also be exhibitions of their work … click here for details.
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