RXwildlife Sightings

I spotted a red kite over Northiam village at 9.30 this morning.
Emma Ivil by e-mail

The warmer weather this morning has encouraged these magnificent insects out on the wing. The one pictured below was hunting around Lime Kiln Cottage.

Read the rest of this entry »

A Terek Sandpiper was present at Rye Harbour at 9am, fairly mobile and moving between saltmarsh and the new pits close to Lime Kiln Cottage. It was last seen at about 2.30pm, having been seen by hundreds of birdwatchers.

At least 8 Little Tern were present around Shore Ridges this morning, although a small number its an improvement on the poor presence of this species on the Beach reserve this year. At Ternery Pool a pair of Oystercatcher and their 3 chicks showed well infront of Crittall Hide, Ringed Plover chicks were also present near the hide entrance. With the calm conditions this morning Common and Sandwich Terns gave fantastic views catching plenty of small fish and sand eels along the nearby coast. A Little Gull was also roosting at Terney Pool.

Oystercatcher chick at Ternery Pool

A brood of three young Lapwing chicks was close to the Wader Pool hide today, giving good views. The adult female with them seemed to be limping, but on closer view it was missing the lower part of the right leg. 

Read the rest of this entry »

As part of the week long RX Wildlife and Culture Festival, a “shrimping along the the shore” event was held today at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve under the guiding eye of Brian Cornish. Good numbers of children turned up and collected a good selection of “denizens of the deep” from the shore and rock pools. The highlight being 8 Long-Spined Sea Scorpion pictured below.

Read the rest of this entry »

Although there was not a huge catch this morning, several species put in their first appearance for the year. These included Elephant Hawk-moth, Straw Dot, Small Magpie, Burnished Brass and Large Yellow Underwing. Thirty two species were present with Flame Shoulder and Angle Shades being the commonest.

Despite the damp and cold conditions, Azure Damselflies and Four-spotted Chasers were emerging around the small pools at the bottom of Guestling Wood yesterday. Unfortunately a trouble free emergence is not guaranteed. The top picture shows a male Azure with the tips of the wings still trapped in the wing cases of the exuvia, which is attached. Pre-flight emergent Four-spotted Chasers (bottom picture) were also waiting for a clear spot in the rain to take their maiden flights.

Read the rest of this entry »

Poor weather often sees an increase in gull chick mortality and today I saw a Black-headed Gull eating a small Mediterranean Gull chick…

… and a Lesser Black-backed Gull eating a large Black-headed Gull chick.

Read the rest of this entry »

Black-tailed Skimmers (pictured) and Emperors are now emerging at Castle Water, teneral skimmers are often encountered in long grass, Emperors can be harder to find untill fully matured although three exuvia were found this afternoon near the hide. Bird highlights from Castle Water this afternoon included, 3 Garganey and 12 Black-tailed Godwit on the new excavations, 3 Black Tern were feeding infront of the hide and 2 Hobby were at the viewpoint.