RXwildlife Sightings

Highlights over the past few days have included, 1500 Golden Plover and 700 Lapwing roosting on Flat Beach and the new saltmarsh area, a Merlin has been regular along Shore Ridges along with a flock of around 25 Greenfinch, less expected were 6 Brambling which passed overhead near the Red Roofed Hut, up to 18 Little Grebes are split between Ternery Pool (they can give very close views infront of Crittall Hide), Quarry and Harbour Farm Pools. At Castle Water highlights have been Barn Owl, Kingfisher, Marsh Harrier, 3 Ruff, 135 Teal, 200 Wigeon and 11 Fieldfare. Several Migrant Hawker have still be active during warm sunny periods along with a few Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell.
UPDATE - a late Swallow flew eastward along the shore today and a late Wheatear near River Mouth on 16th.

Little Grebe from Crittall Hide at Ternery Pool 

A Clouded Yellow butterfly was frequently settling on ragwort along the high bank at the back of Bourne’s (Harbour Road) this afternoon.

There has not been much insect news from here of late. I don’t know if others feel the same but it seems that hoverflies, dragonflies and butterflies seem to have been rather thin on the ground this year. Anyway, highlights from Castle Water recently have been 50+ Migrant Hawker (probably due to an influx), several Ruddy Darter, very small number of Common Darter, Emperor and a Southern Hawker. Butterflies on the wing have included Small Copper, Painted lady, Red Admiral and Meadow Brown.

Ruddy Darter

Last week Janet Richardson sent us a couple of pictures taken at the viewpoint, I did not find them untill today. They were the first reported sightings of Marbled White present in the nearby grassland and the two fledged Marsh Harriers which were very close to the viewpoint at the time. Its great to see a picture of one youngster trying to find its balance while tackling a landing amongst the willows.

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A few butterflies were showing themselves in Bixley Wood this morning including, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Small Skipper and this rather beautiful White Admiral.

While out on the weekly butterfly/dragonfly transect this afternoon I came across several weird looking flies on a gate post. They are called Medetera diadema and belong to the dolichopodidae, also called ‘long-legged flies’ or more often ‘dolis’ by enthusiasts. They are generally small flies with a metallic green colouration and are predatory on other invertebrates (the larvae are either predators or scavengers in aquatic or terrestrial habitats). Truth be told they are a group that I know very little about, with this being one of only two species I can identify with any confidence. They are striking looking flies though, with this genus in particular looking very alien indeed.

Medetera diadema
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Around Rye and Playden today: Brimstone, Small White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Speckled Wood.

2011 is the year of our Water Vole habitat management trial along one of the ditches just west of New Gate, Winchelsea. After completing vegetation management in February, creating a wiggly channel of open water with scalloped “bays”, the electric fence went live on 10th March. This will protect the bank from trampling and poaching by livestock and leave the voles a wider strip of grass to feed on. Their activity will be monitored from next month.  Read the rest of this entry »

I saw my first butterfly of the year during a sunny period early this afternoon, a Peacock.  It was probably a disturbed specimen, like two 7-spot ladybirds that were found in our compost bin after a weeding session.

I’m into the last two weeks of the weekly butterfly/dragonfly counts now, and as might be expected there hasn’t really been much to count! Dragonflies consisted of a few tens of Common Damsefly, about the same of Migrant Hawker and a few Common Darter and Ruddy Darter, while butterflies consisted of the odd Small White, Small Heath, Meadow Brown and Small Copper. One interesting invertebrate I did find today was a larva of the Cherry Slug Sawfly (Caliroa cerasi). Sawflies are relatives of bees and wasps, and these bizarre larvae do look like tiny slugs. This one was also doing exactly what it says on the tin and feeding on the leaves of a potted Cherry tree at Lime Kiln, stripping off the top layers of the leaf (you can see the bare areas in the photo below).

Cherry Slug Sawfly larva at Lime Kiln Cottage this afternoon