Date: 30th September 2023
Time: from 8:30 a.m.
Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 11°C to 15°C
It was a beautiful autumnal morning for my visit although in terms of wildlife I had a very slow start.
In fact, the most memorable sighting to begin with was a hot air balloon away to the north in the direction of Billericay.
Fortunately, my visit around the whole of the site eventually provided some notable records.
With regard to birds, I saw at least 2 Chiffchaffs foraging in the bushes surrounding the pond in the northern section of the site, including a male which decided that autumn was still the appropriate time to sing, albeit very briefly. I failed to hear or see any Blackcaps so I assume that this other summer visiting warbler has now left the site.
Also, in the northern section of the site, I had sightings of a fly-over Common Buzzard and a fly-over Sparrowhawk plus I heard a calling Greenfinch. The most surprising record, as I left the northern section of the site, was a single fly-over Ring-necked Parakeet, only my 3rd record for the site after sightings of a single bird on 18th January 2023 and 2 birds on 25th June 2020.
In addition, I saw a single Green Woodpecker in the central section of the cemetery and another 2 birds in the northern section of the site near the pond plus I heard 2 calling Great Spotted Woodpeckers, the first in the northern section of the site near the pond and the second in the wooded area at the end of the access track from Larkins Tyres.
With regard to mammals, Grey Squirrels were very conspicuous, as they often are in autumn as they gather acorns, and I saw 6 animals at various locations across the site. In addition, whilst at the pond in the northern section of the site, I had a very close encounter with what I believe was a Red Fox cub as it came to drink, seemingly oblivious of me standing only around 10 feet from it.
As I approached the pond, there were some very obvious patches of light purple flowers which the Seek app on my phone identified as American Aster. How this plant native to central and eastern North America came to Laindon in Essex I have no idea! However, the flowers proved very attractive to probably the last few remaining butterflies of the year: Small Copper (2), Holly Blue (1) and Red Admiral (1 or possibly 2).
I failed to see any dragonflies or damselflies at the pond or anywhere else across the site during my visit.
Blackberries, hips, haws, sloes and acorns have been evident for some time but the holly bushes in the cemetery now also have berries and the horse chestnut trees in the cemetery have a large number of conkers ready to drop. The abundance of fruits, berries and nuts this year is in strong contrast to the relative scarcity last year.
Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Site totals for 2023 to date (2022 totals in brackets):
Total species list for the site:
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