I have been monitoring one of the Black-headed Gull nests infront of parkes hide at ternery pool. Last thursday and friday three chicks had hatched and were doing well. This morning there is only one chick left and at five days old is growing fast. While I was watching this morning a huge meal of earthworms was brought back to the nest which fed the chick and the brooding adult.
common tern courtship
It seems that there is now plenty of fish in Rye Bay for the terns. The Sandwich terns arrived back in good numbers way back in March, but did not start nesting, so it’s good to see around 500 pairs have now settled at Ternery Pool. The common terns are still arriving but there is much courtship display and feeding going on, so all looks good for them. But little terns are few and far between and they are struggling with the windy weather… perhaps they will find food in the sheltered channels of the new saltmarsh. Read the rest of this entry »
At Castle Water the background noise is a continuous squeaky sound. It is the begging calls of nestling cormorants demanding to be fed. They peck at the yellow patch around the bill until the adult lets them in… and the chicks head and neck goes right into the parents throat where their fishy meal is waiting.
Listen to the chicks by clicking here.
For two more photos Read the rest of this entry »
I can’t believe that it’s been five years since I first found Downy Emerald as a new breeding species of dragonfly at Castle Water. Last year I did not find any exuvia or see any adults on the wing, so thought it was just a short term thing as the species had been expanding its range in the south east and had just used Castle Water as a stepping stone to find other woodland habitats. While at the viewpoint this morning I checked the margins to see if the sunny weather had encouraged any dragonflies to emerge, and was delighted to find 3 Downy Emerald in the process of emerging and 5 exuviae. Several Hairy Dragonfly and small numbers of Red-eyed Damselfly were also emerging in the margins.
Downy Emerald at stage four of emergence Read the rest of this entry »
Highlights over the past few days have included 33 Whimbrel and a Spotted Redshank in summer plumage on flat beach, the new saltmarsh area has attracted the first pair of Avocets with chicks (they had to walk a long way too get there), 90 Dunlin, 125 Ringed Plover and a few Bar-tailed Godwit. This morning at least 54 Avocet and 6 Litte Ringed Plover were spread over several pools on harbour farm, Lapwings with good sized chicks were also present in the fields nearest the barns. At ternery pool Black-headed Gull chicks have started to hatch in good numbers now and are best seen from parkes hide. At Castle Water two or three Hobby have been regular at the viewpoint at day break, Bearded Tit and a Turtle Dove were also of note this morning.
Lapwing with chick on harbour farm Read the rest of this entry »
Plenty of action now at Ternery Pool with the first Black-headed Gull chicks yesterday. As long as the weather does not get too bad the wet conditions should help provide plenty of food in the nearby grazing fields. The drier conditions in recent years have not helped the success rate of fledged chicks. The bulk of the Sandwich Tern colony have now settled so there is increased activity with hundreds of birds flying around with fish. Little Tern presence has also picked up with 16 birds on Flat Beach this morning. Numbers of Common Tern and Mediterranean Gull are increasing and starting to settle as the season progresses.
At last some signs of Hairy Dragonfly emergence at Castle Water, in recent years the first few exuviae and adults have been found from the 24th April onwards. This morning I found a male and female that had successfully reached stage four of emergence and hopefully if the temperature rises a little today should manage to take a maiden flight. The highlight though was watching the first few steps of a larva as it left the water and crawled up its chosen emergence support. This part of the process always fascinates me as the aquatic life is left behind and an aerial life beckons, if only for a brief time.
Perhaps not as many birds on the new saltmarsh today but the quality has not decreased. The kentish plover was still present, as was the Temminck’s stint, one or two little stint , at least one curlew sandpiper and a little ringed plover. Elsewhere on the reserve a peregrine was seen early on, at least 10 little tern and six wheatear were on Flat Beach mid-morning, and a turtle dove was sitting on the telephone wires just south of the Narrow Pits around noon.
Kentish plover
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Its been an incredible few days for waders around the reserve, 22 species so far. This morning 34 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Ruff and 2 Curlew Sandpipers were feeding around the flooded fields at the northern end of Castle Water. A Peregrine and 200+ Swallow were also of note. On the Beach Reserve the Kentish Plover showed well again very close to Lime Kiln Cottage, a good selection of waders are still feeding on the new saltmarsh area a Temminck’s Stint, 2 Little Ringed Plover and a Curlew Sandpiper provided additional interest this morning. More details on waders seen here by clicking here.
Kentish Plover this morning near Lime Kiln.
With this declining summer visitor so much in the news recently - click here I havent heard anyone question their food supply here in Britain. They specialise on eating hairy caterpillars and it is generally accepted that populations of moths have declined. Here at Rye Harbour the population of cuckoos is steady AND there are many hairy caterpillars available. Even in this cold wet weather it is easy to find two species of large hairy caterpillar on the shingle habitat - the irritating brown-tail moth and the nationally rare pale grass eggar - and it is easy to watch the cuckoos eating them… Read the rest of this entry »
