RXwildlife Sightings

I’ve been watching for the Harlequin ladybird in Northiam for a couple of years now. It finally appeared this week with five specimens in our garden.

In the early morning darkness as I cycled towards the Old Lifeboat House hundreds of Curlew could be heard calling from the shore. A walk down to the low water line and a wait for some light revealed 515 birds feeding along the shore, the birds gave fantastic views pulling lugworms from the sand. Amongst the many gulls roosting and feeding, a group of 700 Great Black-backed Gull attracted the most attention. On the journey back to Lime Kiln, a Wheatear was hanging around the River Mouth and 12 Brent Geese (pictured) had gathered on the Wader Pool.

Althhough Emmelina monodactyla is one of the commonest ‘Plume’ moths all over Britain, and one of the few to be found in all months of the year, it has only be recorded a few times on the reserve and at two locations. Most of the records come from Rye Harbour Village (like the one pictured below found in my garden yesterday).

Friday 26th: A black redstart was hanging around the car park and a Dartford warbler was in the bushes near the start of the return trail. Single brambling and grey wagtail flew over calling and three chiffchaffs were in the bushes around the trail.

Thursday 25th: Most of the action was concentrated around ARC where little stint, knot and bar-tailed godwit all dropped in to feed. Two Caspian gulls were on the islands in front of the viewing screen and a woodcock was flushed from the pines near the railway line at the far end of the track. A continental coal tit, also in the pines, was a good bird for the reserve. The male merlin was over Burrowes pit and the bittern was seen briefly in flight dropping into the reeds at the back of Hooker’s Pits.

Highlights from Castle Water this morning included, 400 Wigeon, 2 Goldeneye and 12 Little Grebe on the main pit, a Bittern and Marsh Harrier gave flight views over the new excavations. From the Viewpoint at dawn, 700+ Starling had roosted overnight in nearby reeds, much to the delight of a pair of Sparrowhawks which had no trouble picking off a bird each for breakfast. A Woodcock also gave flight views infront of the viewing platform. On the Beach Reserve, 104 Brent Geese (pictured), 28 Grey Plover, 325 Oystercatcher and 46 Ringed Plover were present on Flat Beach, the two Little Stints continue to show well on the scrape next to Lime kiln Cottage. 3 Red-throated Diver were fishing close inshore out from Crittall Hide, and a Merlin was again present along Shore Ridges. 

On Harbour Farm this morning, two Little Stint and a pair of Grey Partridge gave good views on the new pits adjacent to Lime Kiln Cottage, while Flat Beach Level held 28 Brent Goose and small numbers of Grey Plover, Redshank, Dunlin and Ringed Plover. In addition, a pair of Rock Pipit were present on the saltmarsh near Lime Kiln.

The green saltmarsh vegetation has recently changed to red as the Annual Seablite matures. Today the Mallard were feeding on the wader pool, selecting seeds(?) from the Seablite and then washing/sorting them in the water nearby… all lined up along a channel.

A sunny, but cold day was ideal for getting close to some late insects as they soaked up the warmth in sheltered places. A Common Darter were very approachable on my garden bench…

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Monday 22nd: A little stint spent the day feeding in front of the Visitor Centre and the spoonbill remained at the ARC site.

Tuesday 23rd: A bittern was seen in flight between Hooker’s pits and Denge Marsh, mid-morning.  Also of note were a garganey at Denge Marsh and four swallows, heading south.

Highights from the Beach Reserve today, an Arctic Skua (pictured) gave good views at Ternery Pool, Merlin and Kingfisher were present around the Quarry and Flat Beach. 2 Little Stint were on the scrape near Lime Kiln Cottage and a Marsh Harrier hunted around Harbour Farm.

A brief seawatch late morning found a good range of species offshore. This included over 500 Gannet, 12 Kittiwake, eight Razorbill, a Red-throated Diver and a Great Skua.