Evening visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 30th August 2020

Date: 30th August 2020

Time: from 7:45 p.m.

Weather: dry, cloudy, dark, 14°C

This was my first evening visit since 17th August 2020 and, given that the summer solstice was over 2 months ago, with earlier and earlier sunsets, I am arriving on site much earlier in the evening now.

This proved to be the most successful evening visit for many weeks with a lot of Red Fox activity and extended views of 2 Badgers.

The visit got off to a good start: as I passed Laindon Park School before walking up Church Hill, I saw my first Red Fox sat on the playing field opposite.

At the top of Church Hill, there was a beautiful sunset in the west and an apparently large and almost full Moon. However, the next full Moon does not occur until 2nd September 2020: this was a waxing gibbous Moon.

When I arrived at the site, I scattered some chopped apple, peanuts and dog biscuits at the usual location where the Badgers emerge.

Before settling down to wait for the Badgers, I found a location where I could watch the grassy strip that runs parallel to Church Hill down to St. Nicholas Lane, a normally reliable area to see Red Foxes. 

At 8:05 p.m., I saw a Red Fox cross Church Hill but shortly afterwards I saw 4 Red Fox cubs in the grassy strip running, chasing and play fighting. After a few minutes, 2 ran off and did not return but the remaining 2 continued to be very active for over 5 minutes.

This is only the second time that I have seen all 4 cubs together and it is very encouraging that all of them have survived from early May 2020 when I first found them given the high mortality rate of Red Fox cubs. However, the period when cubs become fully independent and disperse from their natal area is fast approaching and this is when many more deaths occur, primarily as road traffic casualties.

At 8:25 p.m. and after the interaction between the cubs had ended, a Red Fox cub appeared in the church car park and slowly walked around the perimeter.

It was now almost dark so I moved to my location to wait for a Badger to emerge. The first sighting occurred very quickly at 8:30 p.m. when a Badger appeared at the gap in the hedgeline. However, this sighting and further sightings at 8:45 p.m. and 8:55 p.m. were very brief and probably 2 minutes each at most.

However, a Badger again appeared at 9:15 p.m. and slowly emerged to eat the trail of food that I had left. After about 5 minutes, another Badger emerged and they both fed together for a further 5 minutes or so before one of them returned to the hedge. The remaining individual continued to forage for what was left of any food for another 5 minutes before it also returned to the hedge. At one point during this 15 minute period, there was some noisy shrieking and  “geckering” of Red Fox cubs which I assumed were in the vicinity of the church car park.

This was the first time that I had seen more than a single Badger for many weeks.

After watching the Badgers, I walked down to the church car park and scanned the grassy strip with my torch and picked up the eye shine of what turned out to be a Red Fox .... given the pointy ears also emerging from the long grass! Eye shine is the visible effect of the tapetum lucidum which occurs in many nocturnal mammals but it is absent in diurnal mammals including primates and ourselves as humans.

Shortly after this, I saw a Red Fox crossing Church Hill which I assume was the same individual that had moved from the grassy strip, through the wooded area and out in to the road.

As I walked home, I also scanned Laindon Park School playing field with my torch and I again picked up the eye shine of a Red Fox.

With regard to birds, I heard several Robins and a Magpie alarm calling plus 6 Herring Gulls flew over before it went dark.

Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):

Badger

Red Fox

Robin

Magpie

Herring Gull

Site totals to date

Birds = 49

Mammals = 6

Butterflies = 20

Dragonflies and damselflies = 6

Reptiles = 1

Amphibians = 0

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature

Fiddling while Rome burns .... but don't forget to wash your hands!

The Great Fire of Rome occurred in 64 AD. It destroyed much of the city but despite the well-known stories, there is no evidence that the Roman emperor, Nero, either started the fire or played the fiddle while it burned. However, he did use the disaster to further his political agenda.

Meanwhile, fast forward to 2020 .... political leadership and governance at its best (not) ....

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature

Common Buzzard seen from the non-lockdown window (again)

On 24th June 2020 I made a decision to cease recording sightings on a daily basis from what is no longer a lockdown window.

However, I also said that I would continue to post any interesting sightings as and when they arise.

After seeing a single Common Buzzard from my flat window on 9th July 2020 and 8th August 2020, I had a further sighting today.

At 1:50 p.m., I heard the distinctive “mewing” flight call of a Common Buzzard.

However, on this occasion, I saw 2 birds flying together in a south westerly direction past my block of flats. The Common Buzzard, like the majority of birds of prey, shows sexual dimorphism in terms of size: the females are larger than the males. The 2 birds that I saw today did appear to show a difference in size so they are likely to have been a male and a female.

As I wrote in my previous blog posts, compared with when I first started birding, when Common Buzzards were mainly found in upland areas in the west and north of the UK, I now see this bird of prey on a regular basis in Essex and other parts of East Anglia following their significant range expansion.

These were my 4^th and 5^th record of Common Buzzard from my flat window.

Flat window recording continued with 2 Swallows at 3:05 p.m. flying in a southerly direction and presumably heading off towards their wintering range in South Africa.

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature

Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 27th August 2020

Date: 27th August 2020

Time: from 9:15 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny with increasing cloud, light wind, 15°C to 17°C

This was my first visit to the site during the day since 12th August 2020 due to following the Virtual Birdfair, some unseasonally wet and windy August weather and some other personal commitments.

However, with the strong winds eventually subsiding and having checked the weather forecast last night, I decided that a visit was long overdue given the dry and sunny morning.

What was immediately evident compared with my last visit 2 weeks ago was that many of the wild flowers have died and have been replaced by the variety of autumn fruits, berries and nuts.

Some wild flower species were still obvious, most notably Common Knapweed and Common Yarrow, but it was the blackberries (Bramble), haws (Hawthorn), hips (Wild Rose), sloes (Blackthorn), elderberries (Elder), Honeysuckle and Holly plus the acorns (Oak) and conkers (Horse Chestnut) that were most evident.

The reduced diversity and abundance of wild flowers has led to an decline in butterfly species although I still managed to record 4 species: Holly Blue (2), Small Copper (1), Small White (3), Gatekeeper (5 to 10)

With regard to birds, it continues to be exceptionally quiet with few birds seen and only sporadic singing and calling. However, the increase in Robin song was very noticeable which is not surprising since this species is usually the first to return to singing after the breeding season and summer moult is over.

A momentary lapse led me to believe that I heard a Swift (which would have been a late record since this summer visitor has largely disappeared now and migrated south for the winter) but then I realised it was the distinctive, repetitive, high-pitched begging call of a juvenile Herring Gull. Sure enough, an adult Herring Gull appeared overhead pursued by 2 juveniles.

Speaking of summer visitors, I thought that this visit would fail to provide any sightings or singing/calling records from both Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs but towards the end of my visit I did hear an alarm calling Blackcap from the wooded area at the top of Church Hill.

I saw a single Great Spotted Woodpecker in the cemetery plus I heard a single calling Green Woodpecker around the top of Church Hill.

Like my last visit, I saw 3 individual Grey Squirrels, the first along the entrance track to the site from Larkins Tyres, a second at the eastern edge of the cemetery and a third along the woodland track approaching my flat.

Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):

Blackcap
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Herring Gull

Grey Squirrel

Holly Blue
Small Copper
Small White
Gatekeeper

Here are some photos from my visit:


























Photo: St. Nicholas Church



























Photo: Small Copper

Photo: record shot of Great Spotted Woodpecker

Photo: Common Knapweed


Photo: Common Knapweed

Photo: Common Yarrow 

Photo: Blackberries

Photo: Blackberries

Photo: Blackberries

Photo: Haws   

Photo: Haws

Photo: Haws

Photo: Haws

Photo: Haws

Photo: Haws

Photo: Hips

Photo: Hips

Photo: Hips



























Photo: Sloes

Photo: Sloes

Photo: Sloes

Photo: Sloes

Photo: Elderberries

Photo: Honeysuckle

Photo: Honeysuckle

Photo: Holly

Photo: Acorn

Photo: Acorns

Photo: Acorns

Photo: Horse Chestnut conkers

Photo: Horse Chestnut conker

Photo: Horse Chestnut conkers

Photo: Horse Chestnut conkers

Site totals to date:

Birds = 49
Mammals = 6
Butterflies = 20
Dragonflies and damselflies = 6
Reptiles = 1
Amphibians = 0

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature

Red Foxes seen from the non-lockdown window

On 24th June 2020 I made a decision to cease recording sightings on a daily basis from what is no longer a lockdown window.

However, I also said that I would continue to post any interesting sightings as and when they arise.

I see Red Foxes from my flat on a reasonably regular basis, the most recent being on 5th August 2020 and tonight I had a further sighting.

At around 11:45 p.m. I heard the distinctive sound of Red Foxes “geckering” plus other vocalisation.

I had gone to bed but was reading before “lights out”. However, lights were turned out early not to sleep but to try and see the Red Foxes from my bedroom window.

I had very brief views of 2 Red Foxes running in and out of the bushes that run alongside the track at the end of Czarina Rise. When they were not visible, there was still plenty of vocalisation from them and I could hear the noise of them presumably chasing one another in the undergrowth.

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature