RXwildlife Sightings

Not much of note at Pett this morning apart from seeing a duck Pochard with four or five young chicks at the pools, theres been a drake around for quite sometime now, with the duck only seen off and on. Also there was a drake Wigeon which is not seen to often at this time of the year. Last week was much better with 3 Garganey flying around Carters, also 2 Buzzards and Barn Owl, and Curlew numbers went up to around 30/40 on the marsh. The sky all over the marsh last week ( 20/06/10) was alive, Swift, Swallows and a few House and Sand Martin feeding very well. Good bird watching Pete.

The purple herons have been showing beautifully all weekend giving excellent views from the Hooker’s pits viewpoint and Denge Marsh hide. A bittern continued to boom regularly and on Saturday there was plenty of activity with three individuals seen in flight. At least six hobbies were seen and the red-footed falcon was spotted early on Saturday morning - this is actually a different bird than the one seen earlier in the month. A family party of bearded tits, several cuckoos, marsh harriers and three common tern chicks were also of note.

At last, some decent catches on the Lime Kiln moth trap! Last night I had 49 species, and probably about 300 individuals, with the majority either Dark Arches (138) or Heart & Dart (42). Notable species included Ethmia bipunctella (not a great year for this rarity, but still getting a few), Synaphe punctalis and Obscure Wainscot. Yesterday a moth trap at Pestalozzi in Sedlescombe was also very fruitful, the highlights being Beautiful Golden Y and a splendid Blotched Emerald.

Blotched Emerald at Sedlescombe yesterday