A Wood Warbler was a nice find at the viewpoint this morning (the last one I saw was on the 27th August 1999 and was also at Castle Water), additional highlights included Grey Wagtail, Stonechat, Marsh Harrier, 85 Little Egret leaving the roost and an amazing 16 Little Ringed Plover.
Grey Wagtail
Out and about in Peasmarsh was a bit of a surprise today first I found an adult Adder sunning itself in an area I have not seen them before. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get a photo as by the time I had organised myself it slid off into the bushes. However a short time later I found a small group of Adonis’ Ladybird (Hippodamia variegata) They were amongst a group of 7 spot ladybirds and I very nearly missed them. They are a first for me.
A purple heron was seen briefly at Denge Marsh this afternoon. It’s a juvenile bird, not one of our youngsters from last year, so has presumably strayed over from the continent.
Also today: hobby, green sandpiper, common sandpiper, Sandwich tern.
Sadly there has been no sign of the white-rumped sandpiper since Sunday.
A white-rumped sandpiper was found on the ARC site at about 3 o’clock. It was still there ten minutes ago (4.10pm) on the island nearest the hide.
Also of note today: wood sandpiper, knot, dunlin, great white egret and whimbrel.
A few weeks ago I found a very small weevil in the woods at Peasmarsh. I couldn’t get a decent photo before I lost it and so I have been keeping an eye open for it. Today I was successful and found a pair mating. I believe they are Curculio sp. possibly C. betulae or C. rubidus.
UPDATE from Ispot: Have compared to specimens and they’re clearly a match for Curculio rubidus (Nationally Scarce (Nb)). C. betulae is similar but would show a much longer rostrum. Both birch species.
Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 August, 10 am - 5 pm. A fun-packed weekend for all the family. Free entry all weekend. Pond-dipping, face-painting, bug hunting, competitions, games, guided walks and much more! Free goody bag for all kids.
The female goosander remains on the ARC site and the great white egret is still being seen on Denge Marsh. A little gull, 154 golden plovers and a single bar-tailed godwit were also seen at the ARC site this morning along with whimbrel and wood sandpiper.
This small Harbour Porpoise was found on the shore at Winchelsea Beach last evening. It was freshly dead and measured about 1 metre, a lot less than the adult size of 1.8m. Read the rest of this entry »
Wildfowl numbers are begining to pick up at Castle Water, with at least 250 Mallard dispersing from the main pits at dawn, Shoveler, Gadwall and Teal are more obvious now and can be seen feeding amongst the islands out from the hide. Four Garganey have also been present on some days in the shallows around the islands but you need to look carefully. Additional highlights from Castle Water have included 50 Linnet, 20 Yellow Wagtail, Whinchat, Wheatear, Kingfisher, Hobby, Little Ringed Plover, Green and Common Sandpiper. On the Beach Reserve there are still a few Common Terns on the Quarry and Ternery Pool, 45 Golden Plover and 170 Oystercatcher have roosted on Flat Beach, along the shore Curlew, Dunlin, Sanderling and Turnstone are present at low water. Yellow Wagtail numbers have also increased with at least 300 present around Shore Ridges and Harbour Farm at first light, small groups are also encountered during the day at almost any part of the reserve.
Two Garganey
For the last two Sundays, its been hard to see anything of note, but here it goes, on the 31st July, waders were in with my first sighting of 1 Wood Sand ( which was still there on the 7th Aug), at least I got to see it this time not like on the 10th July, when I just heard it. BL.T.Godwits, between Carters, marsh and the pools, on the first date, there still 20/30, but by this weekend there was only 6 left at the pools, the maxium number was on the 12th June when I counted 92 on Carters. Green Sands between 2/4 birds at Carters, 1/2 birds at the pools. I’ve only seen singles of Common Sands anywhere at Pett. Other waders seen Dunlin largest number being 4,L.R.Plover 3, Greenshank 1, Whimbrel, and Curlews have built upto around 200. This weekend I counted 98 Sandwich Terns roosting on the bank to the wader pool, which made a great sight. There’s still Little Owl, Buzzards, and Sparrow Hawk fairly easy to see. Good bird watching Pete