Monday, 29 September 2025

Record from my flat - Common Buzzard

The sightings of Common Buzzard keep on coming!

My last sighting was on 23rd September 2025 when I saw FOUR Common Buzzards soaring together over the woodland beyond the houses opposite my flat and almost certainly over my St. Nicholas Church local patch site.

This morning at 11.40 a.m., I saw just a single soaring bird in the same area.



















Sightings of Common Buzzard have been much lower in the last few years after a peak of activity during 2022 but there has been a significant and welcome increase in sightings recently following a scarcity during the first half of 2025.

Whilst I have no firm evidence, it seems quite likely that a pair of Common Buzzards bred locally this year with some of these birds that I am now seeing being juveniles.

Summary of Common Buzzard records during the last 5 years:

2021: 11 dates involving 13 birds

2022: 26 dates involving 38 birds

2023: 8 dates involving 8 birds

2024: 3 dates involving 3 birds

2025: 13 dates involving 21 birds

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

Saturday, 27 September 2025

Record from my flat - Red Foxes

Visible and audible Red Fox activity will doubtless begin to increase with the onset of autumn and pairing and mating behaviour.

I have already heard barking Red Foxes close to where I live during the last 2 nights: 26th and 27th September 2025 at 5:30 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. respectively.

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

Thursday, 25 September 2025

Trip away from SS15 - Canvey Point, Canvey Island, Essex - 25th September 2025

Canvey Point is located at the easternmost end of Canvey Island and faces out in to the River Thames.

It is a well-known location for recording seabirds (including Gannetsskuasshearwaterspetrelsauks, rarer gulls, etc.) blown in to the outer estuary from the North Sea in strong north or north east winds during the period August to October.

In a 3 hour visit, I recorded my first Arctic Skuas of the year, taking my UK year list for 2025 to 184 species.

The highlights from my visit were as follows: Arctic Skua (3 flying up-river west and 2 flying up-river east), Common Tern (at least 100 but possibly many more, most seen distantly in the outer river and presumably this species although possibly including Arctic Tern), Sandwich Tern (at least 3), Turnstone (at least 65 in various small flocks flying along the foreshore), Curlew (at least 40 in various small flying flocks plus 2 on the foreshore), Oystercatcher (4 on the foreshore), Great White Egret (1 flew over the river from Kent), Little Egret (5), Grey Heron (1), Cormorant (at least 20), Great Crested Grebe (3), Wigeon (2 flying flocks of c.30 each), Mediterranean Gull (2), Swallow (at least 50 all in small groups heading east), Rock Pipit (1)

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

Tuesday, 23 September 2025

Record from my flat - Common Buzzards

The sightings of Common Buzzard keep on coming!

This afternoon at 1:45 p.m., I saw FOUR Common Buzzards soaring together over the woodland beyond the houses opposite my flat and almost certainly over my St. Nicholas Church local patch site.

This sighting from my flat follows three previous sightings in July, four in August and one already in September.

Sightings of Common Buzzard have been much lower in the last few years after a peak of activity during 2025 but there has been a significant and welcome increase in sightings recently following a scarcity during the first half of 2025.

Whilst I have no firm evidence, it seems quite likely that a pair of Common Buzzards bred locally this year with some of these birds that I am now seeing being juveniles.

Summary of Common Buzzard records during the last 5 years:

2021: 11 dates involving 13 birds

2022: 26 dates involving 38 birds

2023: 8 dates involving 8 birds

2024: 3 dates involving 3 birds

2025: 12 dates involving 20 birds

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

Friday, 19 September 2025

Trip away from SS15 - EWT Two Tree Island, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex - 19th September 2025

This morning I had a visit to EWT Two Tree Island, a site that I can easily reach from home by public transport.

EWT Two Tree Island is situated adjacent to the internationally protected Thames Estuary and it is a winter refuge for a huge diversity and abundance of winter wildfowl (most notably Dark-bellied Brent Geese) and waders plus a wide range of breeding and migrant birds during the rest of the year.

EWT Two Tree Island was reclaimed from the sea in the 18th century when a seawall was built around the saltmarsh and it was originally used for farming. It is now managed as a nature reserve.

Approximately 4 miles of trails, which are a mixture of gravel and grass paths, provide access through the grasslands and scrub areas. At the end of the western section of the reserve is a bird hide which overlooks a lagoon which provides a valuable habitat for roosting and breeding water birds. The eastern section is part of Leigh National Nature Reserve where the saltmarsh is one of the best surviving in the Thames Estuary. 

There are excellent views of Hadleigh Castle from the western end of EWT Two Tree Island.

I arrived at EWT Two Tree Island at 10:30 a.m. after walking down to the bridge over Leigh Creek from Leigh-on-Sea railway station.

I initially walked down to the slipway overlooking the marshes and Hadleigh Ray before then walking along the seawall to the westernmost point of the island and "Monty's Lookout", the hide overlooking the lagoon.

I timed my visit so that I was in the hide for more than an hour before high tide when the lagoon normally becomes packed with roosting waders.

As I arrived at "Monty's Lookout", there were already large numbers of birds on the lagoon either roosting or feeding.
































It proved to be a very productive 3 hour visit to EWT Two Tree Island with 12 species of waders recorded.

The highlights from my visit, including the walk from Leigh-on-Sea railway station to the entrance to EWT Two Tree Island were as follows: Black-tailed Godwit (at least 300 on the lagoon), Avocet (at least 100 on the lagoon), Ringed Plover (at least 100 on the lagoon), Common Redshank (at least 100 on the lagoon), Dunlin (at least 50 on the lagoon), Lapwing (at least 15 on the lagoon), Knot (5 on the lagoon), Greenshank (4 on the lagoon), Common Snipe (4 together on a pool between the railway station and Two Tree Island), Oystercatcher (2 on the lagoon), Grey Plover (2 on the lagoon including a summer plumaged bird), Sanderling (1 on the lagoon), Little Egret (c.100 on the saltmarsh outside the railway station, c.50 more distantly at the east end of Two Tree Island and at least 3 on the lagoon), Grey Heron (2 between the railway station and Two Tree Island and 2 on the lagoon), Wigeon (200 flew over heading west), Teal (c.30 on a pool between the railway station and Two Tree Island and c.10 on the lagoon), Shelduck (5 on the lagoon), Common Gull (4 on the river), Lesser Black-backed Gull (2 on the lagoon), Cormorant (3 on the river), Swallow (3 flying south), Chiffchaff (3) Cetti's Warbler (3 singing males, none seen) 

Here are some other photos from my visit ....
















Photo: Black-tailed Godwits
















Photo: Black-tailed Godwit

Photo: Black-tailed Godwits
















Photo: Black-tailed Godwits
















Photo: Black-tailed Godwits
















Photo: Avocet
















Photo: Avocet
















Photo: Ringed Plovers, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwits, Common Redshanks and Grey Plover
















Photo: Grey Plover
















Photo: Grey Plover
















Photo: Grey Plover and Ringed Plovers
















Photo: Grey Plover and Common Redshank
















Photo: Grey Plover and Ringed Plover















Photo: Lapwing
















Photo: Little Egret
















Photo: Little Egret, Ringed Plovers, Dunlin and Black-tailed Godwits
















Photo: Little Egret















Photo: Little Egret
















Photo: Grey Heron

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