Date: 7th July 2023
Time: from 6:45 a.m.
Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 14°C to 19°C
On 3rd July 2023, I attended a meeting of Noak Bridge Nature Reserve Society where Frank Street from Basildon Council’s Parks and Countryside Service explained the plans to start a series of regular surveys in many of the Council's parks, nature reserves and open spaces involving local people as well as regular volunteers and, at Noak Bridge Nature Reserve, members of Noak Bridge Nature Reserve Society …. see here.
Unfortunately, the level of interest was low but I found Frank’s plans not only interesting but also very valuable in beginning to build datasets of wildlife at Noak Bridge Nature Reserve. In essence, if we don’t know what we have, we are unable to effectively argue for the protection of the site for wildlife.
I volunteered to undertake structured periodic surveys of birds, butterflies and dragonflies and damselflies and provide the data to Frank Street and his colleague Josh Childs who I had previously had an e-mail discussion with regarding my other local patch site around St. Nicholas Church.
This morning was my first survey at site and I had an excellent visit which provided the following records:
Butterflies: Purple Hairstreak (1), Red Admiral (4), Ringlet (1), Comma (1), Peacock (1), Meadow Brown (4), Gatekeeper (1)
Dragonflies: Ruddy Darter (1 female), darter species (Common Darter and/or Ruddy Darter) (2 females)
Damselflies: Emerald Damselfly (at least 10), Azure Damselfly (1), Blue-tailed Damselfly (2)
All the butterflies, other than Red Admiral, were new site records for 2023.
Ruddy Darter was also a new site record for 2023.
With regard to butterflies, there was a definite increase in the number of species compared with my previous 2 visits to the site.
Photo: Purple Hairstreak
Photo: Red Admiral
Photo: Red Admiral
Photo: Red Admiral
Photo: Red Admiral
Photo: Ringlet
Photo: Comma
Photo: Gatekeeper
Photo: Meadow Brown
The abundance of dragonflies and damselflies at Meadow Pond was less than on my previous 2 visits to the site but my first Ruddy Darter of the year was a welcome sighting.
Photo: Emerald Damselfly
Photo: Emerald Damselfly
Photo: Emerald Damselfly
Photo: Emerald Damselfly
Photo: Emerald Damselfly
Photo: Emerald Damselfly
Photo: Emerald Damselfly
Photo: Emerald Damselfly
Photo: Azure Damselfly
Photo: Ruddy Darter
Photo: Ruddy Darter
Photo: Ruddy Darter
Photo: Ruddy Darter
In addition to butterflies and dragonflies and damselflies, I also recorded my first Hornet Mimic Hoverfly for the site.
Photo: Hornet Mimic Hoverfly
Photo: Hornet Mimic Hoverfly
When I arrived at Meadow Pond, it was quite evident that the pond vegetation had grown very significantly since my last visit on 13th June 2023. In fact, it was difficult to actually see any water so there was no prospect at all of locating the Grass Snake that I had successfully watched and photographed on my 2 previous visits.
I slowly walked round the boardwalk several times but, despite the warm and sunny weather, I again failed to see any Common Lizards which can show well on the southern section bordering East Meadow.
With regard to birds, it was generally quiet but highlights during my visit included the following: Blackcap (5 singing males heard but none seen), Chiffchaff (3 singing males heard but none seen), Moorhen (1 seen on Willow Pond and another adult plus at least one juvenile heard on Meadow Pond)
Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
#DefendNature .... Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife
excellent set of photos!
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