RXwildlife Sightings

A few years ago on one of our work parties at Castle Water we cut and trimmed back the vegetation along the footpath that runs from the hide to the southern end of the main pit. At the time I remember thinking that we had done too much and the path was now big enough to drive a bus down. This morning I went back to cut any bramble that was impeding any progress along the path and was amazed to see parts of the path flanked on both sides by a mass of Viper’s Bugloss. The insect activity around the plants was incredible. With no net at hand, a large all black bumblebee (ruderatus??) which refused to have its picture taken was a frustrating highlight, six other bumblebee species were present Bombus terrestris, lucorum, lapidarius, pascourum, pratorum and hypnorum.

One of the great success stories of modern wildlife gardening has been the increase in the numbers of goldfinch attracted to bird feeders to feast on nyger seed and de-husked sunflower fragments.  In 1995 the BTO Garden Birdwatch Scheme revealed these birds occuring in around 25% of participating gardens.  This year this figure has increased to around 70%, a great success.  Furthermore other species like siskin and redpoll also benefit from these feeders.

However, whilst I enjoy seeing them I don’t think the Read the rest of this entry »

Dusk and high tides are the best times to see a Roseate Tern at Rye Harbour - usually in the Quarry from the Denny Hide. Along with 1500+ Sandwich Terns, 500 Common and a sprinkling of Little. Sandwich Tern productivity very low so far and we are thinking the Mediterranean Gulls are guilty - they have produced lots of young! A Greenshank has also been present for several days plus several fledged Redshank. Oystercatchers have had a very successful season with many of their fledged young around.