This afternoon a hairy caterpillar, about 25mm long, was enjoying a little February sun at Lime Kiln Cottage. It is a Ruby Tiger, they overwinter as large larvae and frequently bask in the sun in spring. A useful caterpillar ID resource is here.
Sunday 24th Feb. What a differance a week can make! Last week it was below freezing and today it was more like a spring day. The birds were much the same as last Sundays with 50 W.F.Geese on the marsh and about 200 Brent Geese east through the morning over the sea. There was 150/200 G.C.Grebes still in the bay,along with 200/300 Common Scoters and 5 Velvet Scoters. The Marsh Harrier seems to be the most common bird of prey now a days, todays bird was a well marked sub adult male.
A new seaweed, Sargassum muticum or Japweed is being found in increasing quantities, washed up along the shore of Rye Bay. First recorded in Britain in 1973, it is now a common feature of the strandline. It has numerous tiny gas bladders along the frond that keep it afloat. There are fears that this alien is dramatically changing the marine ecosystem. Click here for more info.
Mild conditions this weekend have kick-started the breeding behaviour of frogs in our pond again, and the animals finally produced a decent chorus. I think this weekend will be the peak of their breeding season and activity will have sadly declined by next weekend. Today there is much rippling on the water surface as males chase each other, churning up the loose sediments at the bottom of the pond and making it slightly turbid.
Very spring-like at Ternery Pool this morning, with several hundred Black-headed Gull and a few Mediterranean Gulls frequenting the islands and calling loudly. I watched a feeding Chiffchaff near Harbour Farm Barns for about 15 minutes, and every so often it would pause and give a little burst of song, not bad for late February! Still a few winter visitors around though, including the Shore Lark near the Red-roofed Hut and a Long-tailed Duck and two Goldeneye on Long Pit.
Highlights this morning included, Slavonian Grebe and 4 Mediterranean Gull at Ternery Pool, Shore Lark near the Red Roofed Hut, Marsh Harrier over Lime Kiln Cottage and Merlin along Shore Ridges. The Common Seal that has frequented the River Mouth over the past week was once again giving good views.
There are thought to be between 500-1,000 animals living mainly in three populations on the Kent/Sussex border, the Forest of Dean and in west Dorset.
Announcing the first policy and action plan to help local communities manage feral wild boar populations the Minister for Biodiversity, Joan Ruddock, said: “It is important that communities and land owners are allowed to decide the future of their wild boar populations based on their local situation. The Government’s support will help them make the right decisions for where they live.
“We will continue to look at the effect of feral wild boar on the environment, and will review our action plan in three years to ensure it is working.”
Up until now it has been assumed that the common seals that we see along the Sussex coast are either from the wash area or from the Chichester colony. Grey seals have been assumed to come from either further west or east. However a seal tagged in 2007 by the University of Rochelle crossed the English Channel and swam east along the Sussex coast.
About time we had another moth, so here’s one I prepared earlier. This male Dotted Border was the only moth in my trap in Rye today, and was in fact new for my garden. It has to be a male, because like several other umbers and brindled beauties, the females are flightless, having only stubby wings in this case (or none at all in some others). It flies from February to April and can be abundant in broadleaved woodland.
A 1st year glaucous gull, a different bird to the two seen at the fishing boats last week, paid a brief visit to Burrowes pit this afternoon, along with an adult Caspian gull, present in front of the centre in the morning. An oiled red-throated diver appeared on Burrowes late afternoon, later being seen on the bank below Scott hide, and the two water pipits remained around the New Excavations. The seven barnacle geese and two Tundra bean geese remained around Denge Marsh, and a bittern was seen behind Hookers pits, ready to make the most of the recently stocked Rudd pool!
