On Sunday the flock of White-fronted Geese that passed over Rye Harbour landed on the levels. Four arrived initially and landed with the Canada Geese, these were followed by a further 49 that flew in about ten minutes later. Over 1,500 Lapwing were present plus 119 Golden Plover. The sea held 150 plus Great Crested Grebe.
A good photo of the long staying Rye Harbour Shore Lark, taken yesterday by Reg Bell. It shows the little black horns…
A couple of years ago a neighbour of mine turned up with a worried expression on his face. He thought he had found a cockroach on his bathroom floor. It turned out to be our largest species of great diving beetle Dytiscus dimidiatus. I have to say that I suspected that the Balfour-Brown Club would not accept the unlikely record for this rare water beetle from a bathroom, but I was relieved to hear that it was recorded in the 1960’s in ditches at Newenden, just down the road from Northiam. It is evidently still there, and this one was attracted by the bathroom light, like a moth. This is not the only very odd record for this species, however. Read the rest of this entry »
On neutral soils False-oat-grass Arrhenatherum elatius is a coarse leaved grass that tends to take over grasslands when they are abandoned. It is frequently found along road-side verges which are irregularly mown. Here it forms dense tussocky grassland, often with coarse herbs. This sort of grassland is great for small mammals and reptiles, but to the botanist it is an impoverished community, as the dense leaf litter smothers smaller interesting plants. As a result it is often regarded as a sign that a grassland is in uunfavourable condition if this community is widespread. So why am I writing about a common plant that is regarded as an indicator of bad habitat management?
A party of 110 white fronted geese flew in and circled Burowes pit during the morning, eventually departing towards Lydd and out of sight (a group of 60 were seen at Scotney pit later in the day). Like the last group to appear on the reserve, part of the flock reappeared to roost on Burrowes pit late afternoon. The two Slavonian grebes, one on Burrowes and the other on New excavations, were still present, and a Dartford warbler was seen in the bushes near the start of the return trail. Peregrines put in a couple of flight appearances over the back of Burrowes pit and the shag was still present on the islands in front of Makepeace hide, resting with the cormorants.
On Long Pit late morning, a single Long-tailed Duck, two Scaup and four Goldeneye (two drakes) were visible from the eastern end of the pit (near Harbour Farm Barns). On the Beach Reserve the Shore Lark is still present near the Red-roofed Hut. On the shore more than 100 sparkling white Sanderling feeding at the edge of the shore (below) and about 45 White-fronted Geese flew over late morning.
Ed Banks found the body of a queen of the early-nesting bumblebee Bombus pratorum yesterday by the roadside in Northiam yesterday. Many bees are killed by passing road vehicles, and this was an early casualty as it was foraging for nectar or a suitable nest site.
The colours are now fading on this insect so I am not providing a picture, but this is a bee you will probably see commonly in your garden. Nests are established early in the year, indeed we had workers on Rosemary in early April last year. The queens are only 16mm long, and the workers are much smaller, and it is a short plump looking insect. This is one of the bumblebees that has a yellow stripe at the front of the thorax (the bit of the body with the wings attached), a yellow band in the middle of the abdomen, and a ginger tail. Read the rest of this entry »
At Dungeness, large numbers of Black-headed Gulls, Common Gulls, Kittiwakes and Guillemots again and also the regular adult Little Gull, a Sandwich Tern and a few Razorbills. A small number of duck also moved west including 41 Wigeon and five Velvet Scoter.
David Walker, from DBO website
As part of the Marine Conservation Society’s Adopt-a-Beach scheme a merry band of volunteers are meeting at 10am this Sunday next to the Pett Level Rescue Boat Slipway (near the Smuggler Pub) to conduct a winter survey on the marine debris. Read the rest of this entry »
Hundreds of ducks are concentrated on flooded meadows from which areas of rush have been scraped clear. They appear to prefer this habitat to the shallow riverside lagoons which they frequented last winter, and move only small distances if disturbed. With flocks flying back and forth between fields, accurate counts continue to pose a challenge, but there must be 300 Teal, 150 Mallard, 50 Shoveler, and 20 each of Gadwall and Wigeon.
Breeding species which have already returned are Mute Swan, Coot and Lapwing. Read the rest of this entry »