Date: 24th May 2023
Time: from 10:30 a.m.
Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 16°C to 19°C
After the complete “no show” of the Red Fox vixen and her cubs around St. Nicholas Church earlier in the morning (see here), the warm and sunny weather prompted me to visit Noak Bridge Nature Reserve in the hope of seeing butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies and reptiles.
The grass strip adjacent to the flats where I live which leads down to the main road has been left uncut (so far) by Basildon Council so there is plenty of overgrown vegetation and many wild flowers. Along this short strip, I saw a male Brimstone, 2 male Common Blues, a single Speckled Wood and 3 Small Whites. This suggested that I should at least be in luck with butterflies at Noak Bridge Nature Reserve.
I had an excellent visit which provided the following records:
Butterflies: Brimstone (1 female), Speckled Wood (1), Holly Blue (1 male and a male and female), Orange Tip (3 males), Small White (1)
Dragonflies: Hairy Dragonfly (1)
Damselflies: Large Red Damselfly (at least 5 coupled/mating pairs), Azure Damselfly (c.20 with some coupled/mating pairs), Blue-tailed Damselfly (1)
Reptiles: Grass Snake (1 or possibly 2)
Amphibians: Edible Frog (at least 3)
All of these species were new site records for 2023 other than Orange Tip which I had previously recorded.
I spent around an hour at Meadow Pond which provided all of these records other than the single male Holly Blue and the single Speckled Wood which I saw elsewhere.
As I arrived at Meadow Pond, I immediately saw a Grass Snake swimming across the far end. Over the next hour, I saw what I presume was a different Grass Snake (given the smaller size) on numerous occasions. It seemed to be actively hunting and moved surprisingly quickly both on the surface of the pond and underwater.
Photo: Grass Snake
Photo: Grass Snake
Photo: Grass Snake
Photo: Grass Snake
There were at least 20 blue damselflies either flying over Meadow Pond or coupled and mating on the surface vegetation. I believe that all or most of these were Azure Damselflies rather than Common Blue Damselflies and all the photos that I managed to get suggested that this was the case.
Photo: Azure Damselfly
Photo: Azure Damselfly
The only other blue damselfly that I saw was a single male Blue-tailed Damselfly.
I saw at least 10 Large Red Damselflies, all of which were coupled as pairs or mating on the surface vegetation.
Photo: Large Red Damselflies
Photo: Large Red Damselflies
Photo: Large Red Damselflies
Photo: Large Red Damselflies
Photo: Large Red Damselflies
Photo: Large Red Damselflies
I saw a single Hairy Dragonfly which appeared and flew around the pond for a few minutes before disappearing. Unfortunately, it did not settle to allow a photo but I confirmed identification since it is the earliest flying hawker species and smaller than the others.
Meadow Pond also provided sightings of 3 Edible Frogs plus occasional calling from the centre of the pond.
Photo: Edible Frog
Photo: Edible Frog
I slowly walked round the boardwalk several times but, despite the warm and sunny weather, I failed to see any Common Lizards which can show well on the southern section bordering East Meadow.
There were plenty of insects across the site including a bee-fly species which I was able to photograph on the boardwalk.
Photo: Bee-fly species
With regard to birds, it was relatively quiet being later in the morning than when I usually visit but highlights during my visit included the following: Common Whitethroat (a singing male heard at the eastern end of the reserve whilst I was at Meadow Pond), Blackcap (2 singing males heard), Chiffchaff (3 singing males heard), Moorhen (1 heard briefly calling on Willow Pond and another heard calling a few times on Meadow Pond although both birds unseen)
I also managed to photograph an unusually confiding Jay.
I also saw 2 Grey Squirrels in the wooded area between the boardwalk and the storage shed.
Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Here are some other photos from my
visit:
Site totals for 2023 to date (2022 totals in brackets):
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