This blog was set up in mid-March 2020 during the emerging COVID-19 health crisis in the UK. It initially aimed to provide records of wildlife sightings and photographs from sites within walking distance of my home in the SS15 postcode area of Basildon in Essex during lockdown travel restrictions. Even though the pandemic has largely subsided, this blog continues to include my local wildlife sightings, my trips away from home plus some personal thoughts and reflections on other issues.
On 24th June 2020 I made a decision to cease recording sightings on a
daily basis from what is no longer a lockdown window (although it has
resumed that status again temporarily until 2nd December 2020).
However, I also said that I
would continue to post any interesting records as and when they arise.
Yesterday, rather unusually, I heard
a male Blackbird singing from my flat …. see here.
Just to
prove that this was not an isolated occasion, I again heard a male Blackbird
(possibly the same bird) singing today for about 5 minutes from 4:30 p.m. just after
it had gone dark.
Clearly
the expectation that Blackbirds resume singing in late January or early
February is being proved incorrect with some early starters in my local area!
💚🦆🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature
On 24th June 2020 I made a decision to cease recording sightings on a daily basis from what is no longer a lockdown window (although it has resumed that status again temporarily until 2nd December 2020).
However, I also said that I would continue to post any interesting records as and when they arise.
I woke up in the middle of last night (although I am not sure what time) and I heard a Blackbird singing. I hear Blackbirds singing regularly in the spring and early summer and often see them perched up on the TV aerials of the neighbouring houses but, like most song birds, they fall silent after the breeding season and Blackbirds specifically do not normally resume singing until the end of January or early February or even as late as early March.
Therefore it was extremely unusual but pleasing to hear a singing Blackbird so early although its song was a bit disjointed compared to the well-formed melodious and fluty song so evident in spring and early summer.
I think I listened to my night-singer for about 5 minutes before I drifted back off to sleep.
Photo: male Blackbird at Conwy RSPB reserve, Conwy, Wales
"Blackbird singing in the dead of night, Take these broken wings and learn to fly, All your life, You were only waiting for this moment to arise."
For some reason, it reminded me of when I was a student 😀.
A Grey Squirrel in Minnesota in the US has enjoyed an early and especially festive start to the holiday season and has been videoed apparently drunkenly feasting on pears that had fermented and become alcoholic 😀.
My home-prepared "buffet" for my local Badgers includes, amongst other delicacies, apples that have seen better days. Maybe I need to watch out for Badgers drunkenly dancing around St. Nicholas Church and up and down Church Hill 😀.
💚🦆🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature
Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin set up their
daily Self-Isolating Bird Club via
social media channels in mid-March 2020 following the first national lockdown.
It subsequently reverted to every Friday morning and was then suspended in the
lead up to and during BBC Autumnwatch which they both presented along with Michaela Strachan, Iolo
Williams and Gillian Burke.
However Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin both returned
to social media this morning when they hosted “Love Minsmere – the live event”.
RSPB Minsmerehas been a nature reserve since 1947. It is one of the RSPB’s flagship
sites for both wildlife and visitors. It forms part of a wider area of the Suffolk
Coast which is widely recognised as an
outstanding location for wildlife and people alike with a rich and varied
mosaic of habitats such as mudflats, shingle beach, reedbeds, heathland and
grazing marsh, all providing a landscape of wild beauty. It is a safe haven for
an amazing variety of wildlife and it is protected by a range of national and
international nature conservation designations including:
Minsmere-Walberswick
Heaths and Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
Minsmere-Walberswick Special Protection Area (SPA)
Minsmere-Walberswick
Heaths and Marshes Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Minsmere-Walberswick
Heaths and Marshes Ramsar site
RSPB Minsmere is also just one of 5 sites in the UK to have received the Council of Europe European Diploma
for Protected Areas award. A draft resolution for the renewal of this
award was approved in March 2019 on the condition that the proposed Sizewell C
development (see below) does not cause any harm to RSPB Minsmere.
More than 6000 different animals,
plants and fungi have been recorded at RSPB Minsmere, more than on any other
RSPB reserve and amongst the highest number of any nature reserve in the UK. Its habitats include 4 of national conservation priority: reedbeds,
lowland wet grassland, shingle vegetation and lowland heath. These habitats
support a wide range of bird, plant and invertebrate populations of
international conservation importance.
Among the diverse wildlife are
nationally important populations of Bittern, Marsh Harrier and Avocet. Other
wildlife in the wetlands include Otter, Water Vole, Kingfisher, specialist
wetland plants and many rare dragonflies and other invertebrates. Across the
heathland there are many rare species including Nightjar, Woodlark, Dartford Warbler,
Adder, Natterjack Toad and Silver-studded Blue butterflies.
But …. the Sizewell estate, which
bordersRSPB Minsmereto the south, is one of 8 sites which have been
identified by the Government as potentially appropriate locations to construct
new nuclear power stations. The existing Sizewell nuclear power stations
consist of Sizewell A, 2 reactors now in the process of being decommissioned,
and Sizewell B, a single reactor. The proposals for Sizewell C by a consortium of EDF Energy and China General Nuclear Power Groupconsist
of 2 reactors to the north of Sizewell B. This will bring the existing
development right up to the boundary ofRSPB Minsmere. In addition to the
permanent buildings, infrastructure and access roads, there is a significant
area of land identified for temporary storage and construction use during the
development. If permission is granted, construction is expected to take up to 12
years.
What impact could the development of Sizewell C
have onRSPB Minsmere?
At this stage, the concerns with the proposed
Sizewell C development stem from its proximity to nationally and internationally important and designated wildlife sites, including RSPB Minsmere. This could be catastrophic for wildlife. The
building work may increase erosion and upset the delicate balance ofRSPB Minsmere.
It could affect the water levels in the ditches and adversely impact rare wetland wildlife. Once construction is in progress, it
may increase levels of noise and light pollution causing disturbance to
sensitive wildlife. The effects would be long-term.
“Love Minsmere – the live
event” enabled Chris Packham andMegan McCubbinto convey the biodiversity value and the beauty of the Suffolk Coast together with the huge threat being posed by the proposed
Sizewell C development. They also encouraged
viewers to support the e-activist campaign led by the RSPBand the Suffolk Wildlife Trust …. see here and please sign.
On 24th June 2020 I made a decision to cease recording sightings on a daily basis from what is no longer a lockdown window (although it has resumed that status again temporarily until 2nd December 2020).
However, I also said that I would continue to post any interesting records as and when they arise.
Today I had 2 interesting records.
Firstly, a Black-headed Gull flew through. I occasionally see this species from my window but what was so interesting was it had a full chocolate-coloured head (the head is never black as it is in the Mediterranean Gull) and it certainly shouldn't be showing its summer plumage at this time of year. Was this a bird which was long overdue in reverting to its winter plumage or extremely early in adopting its summer plumage? Very strange what ever was going on!
Photo: summer plumage Black-headed Gull at Sango Bay, Sutherland
Photo: summer plumage Black-headed Gull at Blue House Farm EWT reserve, North Fambridge, Essex
Photo: winter plumage Black-headed Gull at Walcott, Norfolk
Photo: winter plumage Black-headed Gull at Slimbridge WWT reserve, Gloucestershire
Secondly, I saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker fly over and land and cling to the very tall tree away to the south west. I have seen this species before in this tree and of course I see and/or hear it on almost every visit to St. Nicholas Church and the surrounding areas, including most recently this female on 23rd November 2020:
Photo: female Great Spotted Woodpecker at St. Nicholas Church, Laindon, Essex
💚🦆🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature
My last 2 evening visits on 7th November 2020
and 10th November 2020 provided no sightings at all of the Badgers and I
have still not seen them since the day after National Badger Dayon 7th October 2020.
As always, when I arrived at the site, I scattered some
chopped apple, peanuts and dog biscuits at the usual location. I then settled
down to wait to see if the Badgers would emerge.
However, yet again, in 1.5 hours, I unfortunately failed to see
a single Badger.
This is now the third successive evening visit that
there has been a “no show”.
In my last blog post, I commented:
Since early June, when I first started watching
them, I have only had one “no show” on my many evening visits.I am not sure why tonight was a “no show”.
Maybe it was just a matter of bad luck. There are no guarantees with wildlife
watching but, other than that one previous occasion, I have always seen at
least one Badger within 30 minutes to an hour of darkness
falling. Maybe the Badgers have become so disturbed and
frightened by the noise of fireworks which started well before 5th November 2020 that their behaviour has changed and
they have been emerging much later in the evening or in the middle of the night
when the fireworks ceased. I will obviously try again over the coming days and
weeks and see what occurs.
Plan A used to be so reliable …. arrive
at site …. scatter the Badger "buffet" …. watch Red Foxes in the last half
hour before darkness …. relocate and wait for Badgers to emerge …. watch
Badgers within 30 minutes of darkness falling …. return home after sharing the “twilight time” with a Badger .... and repeat on the next evening visit.
I need a plan B although I am not
sure what that is. It is obviously getting darker many hours earlier now
compared with the summer months so maybe I will try arriving at the site at
around 8 p.m. rather than 4:30 p.m. when it will perhaps be a little quieter around the area.
Whilst I saw 3 Red Foxes
during my visit earlier in the day, surprisingly I had no sightings at all
during my evening visit. As far as I can recall, this is the first time that an
evening visit has failed to produce a single Red Fox.
With regard to birds, I heard
several Robins and Blackbirds alarm calling
before they settled down to roost for the night.
It was mainly overcast and cloudy
during my visit. However, as on my last evening visit, it did clear slightly
during some of the time to reveal Jupiter and Saturn still in close conjunction in the
southern sky.
Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
It was definitely a wintery start this morning with a temperature of
just 2°C and with frost on the ground until the
brilliant sunshine got to work.
I accessed the site via the track from Larkins
Tyres and immediately got off to an excellent start with a Reeves’ Muntjac
in the field to the north closely followed by a Red Fox slowly walking
across the Laindon Park School playing field to the north.
I saw a further 2 Red Foxes during my visit:
the first which provided 3 brief sightings in the area behind the church and
the second on my way home and seen distantly in the field to the north of the
track back to Larkins Tyres. The Red Fox behind the church did enable me
to get 2 photos: an all too frequent "bum shot" but also a more acceptable pose, albeit slightly soft and blurry.
Photo: the classic Red Fox "bum shot"
Photo: Red Fox
Grey Squirrels have
been very evident recently, often with up to 6 animals seen on a single
visit, but this morning I only had a very brief sighting of an individual in
the south west corner of the site.
With regard to birds, the most
notable records were a distant view of a female Chaffinch in the field
to the north of the site and a single Collared Dove in the
trees along the track back to Larkins Tyres. Although it is a common bird in the UK and there is plenty of
suitable habitat around the site for the species, I have rarely seen Chaffinch. During
the spring and early summer, I regularly saw a pair of Collared Doves on
or close to the telegraph pole and wires at the top of Church Hill but today’s
sighting was the first for several months.
I was able to watch a female Great Spotted
Woodpecker for several minutes as it worked its way through the trees at
the rear of the church and I also heard a Green Woodpecker in the same
area.
BlueTits, Great Tits and Long-tailed
Tits were again conspicuous today and I saw at least 4 Goldcrests
in the wooded area along the track from Larkins Tyres.
As on my last visit, a small hawthorn bush behind
the church hosted up to 10 Blackbirds which visited regularly to
gorge on the red berries.
Finally, I saw a noisy group of around 20 Magpies in the western
area of the cemetery.
Species recorded
during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Goldcrest
Robin Dunnock
Blackbird Song Thrush Chaffinch Goldfinch Starling Green Woodpecker Great Spotted Woodpecker
Jay
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Woodpigeon Collared Dove
Herring Gull Red Fox Reeves’ Muntjac
Grey Squirrel
Here are some photos from my visit:
Photo: Reeves' Muntjac
Photo: female Great Spotted Woodpecker
Photo: Collared Dove
Site totals to date:
Birds = 50
Mammals = 6
Butterflies = 21
Dragonflies and damselflies = 7
Reptiles = 1
Amphibians = 0
💚🦆🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature
