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.
After seeing 2 Reeves' Muntjacs on my St. Nicholas Church local patch site this morning, my first sightings for several weeks, I also heard a "barking" animal for several minutes from my flat this afternoon from 3:35 p.m.
Records of Red Foxes from my flat continue and have increased in frequency over the last 2 months or so, possibly as a result of this year's grown cubs dispersing from their natal areas. Most of my records have been very late at night or very early in the morning but yesterday I heard at least 2 vocalising Red Foxes at 11:10 a.m. in the wooded area beyond the houses opposite where I live.
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It was a lovely sunny
morning for my latest visit to the site, albeit cold with some remaining ground
frost.
I recorded 24 species of birds during my visit which is a good total for the site in late autumn/early winter.
The highlights were as follows: a single Sparrowhawk seen flying over the paddock in
to the northern section of the site, c.5 Redwings seen in bushes
adjacent to the access track from Larkins Tyres and at least c.25 more seen in
the northern section of the site, a briefly calling but unseen Fieldfare
in the northern section of the site, a male Chaffinch seen briefly in the northern section of the site, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers with
single birds seen from along the access track from Larkins Tyres, in the northern section of the site and in the paddock, a single Green
Woodpecker heard calling in the northern section of the site, 3 Jackdaws flying
over Larkins Tyres heading towards the northern section of the site and a
calling but unseen Ring-necked Parakeet over the northern section of the
site.
In addition, I saw what
was probably a male Blackcap in the boundary area between the paddock
and the northern section of the site. However, the bird was heavily obscured by
dense vegetation and it failed to call so I was unable to confirm a definitive identification.
I had extended views of
a Red Fox evidently hunting in the northern section of the site which I
managed to photograph plus 2 Reeves' Muntjacs, the first sightings for several weeks (the first seen crossing the access track just after Larkins Tyres and the second seen running across the field in the northern section of the site).
Species recorded during
this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Robin
Dunnock
Wren
Fieldfare
Redwing
Song Thrush
Blackbird
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Starling
House Sparrow
Sparrowhawk
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted
Woodpecker
Ring-necked Parakeet
Jackdaw
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Woodpigeon
Herring Gull
Red Fox
Reeves' Muntjac
Here are some photos
from my visit ….
Photo: Red Fox
Photo: Red Fox
Photo: Red Fox
Photo: Red Fox
Photo: Herring Gull
Site totals for 2024 to
date (2023 totals in brackets):
Birds
= 48 (47)
Mammals = 3 (3)
Butterflies = 17 (23)
Dragonflies and
damselflies = 11 (12)
Reptiles = 0 (0)
Amphibians = 0 (0)
Total species list for
the site
Birds = 66
Mammals = 7
Butterflies = 25
Dragonflies and
damselflies = 14
Reptiles = 1
Amphibians = 0
Love nature .... act now
Restore and rewild our natural world
Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife
💚🦆🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature
Weather: dry,
sunny/cloudy, light wind, 6°C to 8°C
After an extremely
windy and rainy few days, it was enjoyable to get out on a calm and sunny day!
There were several bird
highlights during my visit to the site this morning: a single Common Buzzard
flying over the trees at the northern edge of the site, a single Sparrowhawk
flying high and direct over the northern section of the site in an easterly
direction, c.10 Redwings flying over the northern section of the site
and briefly landing before quickly flying off again, a male Greenfinch
in the northern section of the site, 1 or possibly 2 Great Spotted
Woodpeckers in the northern section of the site and another in the eastern
section of the cemetery, 2 Jackdaws flying over the eastern section of
the cemetery and a single Goldcrest in a roving mixed tit flock in the
wooded area in the southern section of the site.
I saw no mammals at
all during this visit.
Species recorded during
this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Goldcrest
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Robin
Dunnock
Wren
Redwing
Blackbird
Greenfinch
Common Buzzard
Sparrowhawk
Great Spotted
Woodpecker
Jackdaw
Jay
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Woodpigeon
Black-headed Gull
Herring Gull
Here are some photos
from my visit ….
Photo: Great Spotted Woodpecker
Photo: male Greenfinch
Photo: Evidence of a murder! .... possibly the remains of a Magpie
Photo: London as seen from Church Hill!
Site totals for 2024 to
date (2023 totals in brackets):
Birds
= 48 (47)
Mammals = 3 (3)
Butterflies = 17 (23)
Dragonflies and
damselflies = 11 (12)
Reptiles = 0 (0)
Amphibians = 0 (0)
Total species list for
the site
Birds = 66
Mammals = 7
Butterflies = 25
Dragonflies and
damselflies = 14
Reptiles = 1
Amphibians = 0
Love nature .... act now
Restore and rewild our natural world
Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife
💚🦆🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature
Red Squirrels will soon disappear
from England unless the Government funds a vaccine against squirrel pox.
Conservationists say
the English population of non-native Grey Squirrels has exploded this
year, triggered by warmer winters which enable mating pairs to feed and breed
all year round, and estimate that 70% are carrying squirrel pox, a virus which
is lethal only to Red Squirrels.
Here are some of my photos from LNR Dingle, a small local nature reserve in the town of Llangefni in Anglesey and one of the few remaining strongholds for the Red Squirrel in Wales.
Love nature .... act now
Restore and rewild our natural world
Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife
💚🦆🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature
We expect the new Labour Government to finally take action on Fox hunting and all hunting with dogs!
Fox hunting still exists, hiding behind the lie of "trail hunting." It's barbaric, illegal, and has no place in modern society. Foxes deserve protection, not persecution. End this cruel tradition for good! 🦊❌
East Anglia, and especially Essex, would like some White-tailed Eagles please!
For the avoidance of
doubt and contrary to the hysterical “experts” in some of the right-wing press,
White-tailed Eagles will not exterminate your children and pets!
Love nature .... act now
Restore and rewild our natural world
Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife
💚🦆🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature
EWT Blue House Farm is a 242.8 hectare nature reserve and farm in North Fambridge on the north bank of the River Crouch between Burnham-on-Crouch and South Woodham Ferrers in Essex. It is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust.
Most of EWT Blue House Farm was originally saltmarsh until sea walls were constructed to capture land from the sea. It was then used as grazing pasture for cows and sheep and this practice continues today. Some of the higher, drier fields were used for crops but have now reverted to grassland. The site includes marshland, ponds, creeks and ditches, reedbeds and a 20 hectare field is flooded during the winter to provide feeding grounds for large numbers of wildfowl and wading birds.
The wildlife of EWT Blue House Farmis internationally important, particularly for over-wintering birds (most notably around 2000 Dark-bellied Brent Geese) but also breeding Avocets, Lapwings, Common Redshanks, Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and Yellow Wagtails. It is also an important site for spring and autumn passage waders plus Water Voles, Brown Hares, butterflies, insects and coastal plants.
EWT Blue House Farm is a working farm managed by maintaining high water levels and balancing livestock farming with wildlife conservation.
Access is only available via a permissive footpath through the farm, which has 3 bird hides along it, or along the sea wall.
The main purpose of my afternoon visit was to hopefully see hunting Short-eared Owl and HenHarrier .... I didn't!
Having arrived at North Fambridge railway station, I walked down through the village where I saw 2 fly-over Grey Herons and several noisy Rooks already at their nesting rookery.
After some lunch at the Ferry Boat Inn, I visited EWT Blue House Farm but only as far as Round Marsh Hide. I therefore did not complete the long circular walk taking in the River Crouch seawall.
The highlights from my visit were as follows: Dark-bellied Brent Goose (c.300), Canada Goose (c.300), Barnacle Goose (c.20), Teal (c.300), Shoveler (21), Shelduck (13), Mallard (5), Lapwing (c.200), Curlew (c.15), Water Rail (1 heard calling), Sparrowhawk (1), Marsh Harrier (1), Corn Bunting (10),Skylark (7), Meadow Pipit (several heard calling), Cetti’s Warbler (1 singing male heard only)
In addition, I saw 5 Brown Hares.
Love nature .... act now
Restore and rewild our natural world
Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife
💚🦆🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature
Weather: dry,
sunny/cloudy, light wind, -1°C to 2°C
It was definitely the
coldest day of the autumn/winter so far for my visit to the site this morning,
albeit mostly sunny.
It proved to be an
excellent visit with several bird highlights.
Firstly, I added another
species to my 2024 site list, a fly-over calling but unseen Grey
Wagtail, taking the total to 48 species, my highest ever
annual total.
Secondly, I had my first
record of Fieldfare of the autumn/winter with c.25 birds seen flying
over the northern section of the site.
Other highlights included
6 Redwings in the northern section of the site and at least c.20 in the
western section of the cemetery flying between different bushes, a single relatively
confiding Green Woodpecker seen feeding in the western section of the cemetery
and another calling from near the church, 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers (1
seen flying over the northern section of the site, 2 more birds seen in the
wooded area adjacent to the footpath heading down to the A127 and another heard
calling in the wooded area of the southern section of the site on my way home),
a single Goldcrest heard calling in the wooded area down Hilly Road from
the church and a single Cormorant and a single Jackdaw flying over the northern section of
the site.
With regard to mammals,
I saw just a single Grey Squirrel in the wooded area in the
southern section of the site.
Species recorded during
this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Goldcrest
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Robin
Dunnock
Starling
Fieldfare
Redwing
Blackbird
Grey Wagtail
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted
Woodpecker
Jackdaw
Jay
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Woodpigeon
Cormorant
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed
Gull
Grey Squirrel
Here are some photos
from my visit ….
Photo: Green Woodpecker
Photo: Green Woodpecker
Photo: Redwing
Photo: Jay
Photo: Jay
Photo: Cormorant
Site totals for 2024 to
date (2023 totals in brackets):
Birds = 48 (47)
Mammals = 3 (3)
Butterflies = 17 (23)
Dragonflies and
damselflies = 11 (12)
Reptiles = 0 (0)
Amphibians = 0 (0)
Total species list for
the site
Birds = 66
Mammals = 7
Butterflies = 25
Dragonflies and
damselflies = 14
Reptiles = 1
Amphibians = 0
Love nature .... act now
Restore and rewild our natural world
Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife
💚🦆🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature
