SS15 wildlife watching

This blog was set up in mid-March 2020 during the COVID-19 health crisis in the UK and aimed to provide records of wildlife sightings and photos from sites within walking distance of my home in the SS15 postcode area of Basildon in Essex during lockdown travel restrictions. This blog continues to include my local wildlife sightings, my trips away from home plus some personal thoughts and reflections on other issues. NOTE: Format best viewed on a laptop/desktop PC rather than a mobile phone.

Thursday, 30 October 2025

Trip away from SS15 - Bushy Park, London

Bushy Park is located in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and is the second largest of London's Royal Parks, at 1100 acres in area, after Richmond Park. The park, most of which is open to the public, is immediately north of Hampton Court Palace and Hampton Court Park and is a few minutes' walk from the west side of Kingston Bridge.

In September 2014, Bushy Park was designated a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest together with Hampton Court Park and Hampton Court Golf Course as Bushy Park and Home Park SSSI. It includes a range of semi-natural habitats such as acid and neutral grassland, scrubland, woodland and wood pasture.

The main purpose of my visit was to photograph the Red Deer and Fallow Deer.

See here for more information on the deer in Bushy Park.

I didn't record all my bird sightings but a single Raven, repeatedly calling from the top of a tree, was notable and Ring-necked Parakeets were very conspicuous.

Here are some photos from my visit ....

Photo: Red Deer

Photo: Fallow Deer

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Monday, 27 October 2025

Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 27th October 2025

Date: 27th October 2025

Time: from 8:30 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, moderate/strong wind, 11°C to 12°C

I wasn’t expecting too much from my visit this morning due to the moderate to strong winds. However, it turned out to be an excellent visit for wildlife.

I was able to add another species to my 2025 site list taking the total to 50 species: Stonechat.

This sighting was totally unexpected. I first spotted a male Stonechat perched largely obscured in some scrub in the paddock in the northern section of the site ….

Photo: Stonechat

It then did the decent thing and perched up conspicuously, as Stonechats do, at several points around the northern section of the site. This enabled me to get several photos ….

Photo: Stonechat

Finally, I managed to get my best photo of the series ….

Photo: Stonechat

With this Stonechat sighting, my 2025 site list has now reached 50 species, an all-time record. Not only that but my all-time site list has now reached 70 species. I doubt that the bird realised the importance of his presence!

The other highlights with regard to birds during my visit were as follows:

Redwing: at least 2 birds heard calling overhead but none seen

Common Buzzard: 1 seen briefly in the northern section of the site

Grey Heron: 1 flushed from the pond in the northern section of the site

Goldcrest: 1 heard calling in the wooded area in the southern section of the site

Chaffinch: 4 seen flying over the northern section of the site

Starling: at least 150 seen in flight over and around the northern section of the site

Green Woodpecker: 1 seen in the central section of the cemetery

Great Spotted Woodpecker: 1 seen flying high over the northern section of the site

With regard to mammals, I saw 2 Reeves' Muntjacs in the woodland in the southern section of the site as I returned home.

Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):

Stonechat

Goldcrest

Blue Tit

Robin

Redwing

Chaffinch

Goldfinch

House Sparrow

Starling

Common Buzzard

Green Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Jay

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Woodpigeon

Grey Heron

Herring Gull

Reeves’ Muntjac

Here are some other photos from my visit ….

Photo: Grey Heron

Photo: Reeves' Muntjac

Site totals for 2025 to date (2024 totals in brackets):

Birds = 50 (49)

Mammals = 4 (3)

Butterflies = 23 (17)

Dragonflies and damselflies = 11 (11)

Reptiles = 0 (0)

Amphibians = 0 (0)

Total species list for the site

Birds = 70

Mammals = 8

Butterflies = 26

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

Monday, 20 October 2025

"Wage war on nature to build new homes: that’s Labour’s offer, but it’s a con trick"

The Government’s new Planning and Infrastructure Bill proposes to tear down environmental protections to benefit developers. It is a full-scale assault on our nature and wildlife which is already significantly struggling due to habitat destruction, pollution and climate change!

I voted for a Labour Party that was going to implement nature-friendly and wildlife-friendly policies as they promised prior to the General Election.

I thought there is no way that any Government can be as bad as the last one which totally ignored protecting and restoring the natural environment.

I was wrong.

Today's column is about the government's huge, unprecedented assault on nature ... and about the eerie, astonishing silence of the big nature groups. The RSPB, National Trust, Wildlife Trusts have 7.5m members between them. A vast force, completely unmobilised. 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

[image or embed]
— George Monbiot (@georgemonbiot.bsky.social) October 16, 2025 at 6:52 AM

The Guardian - Wage war on nature to build new homes: that’s Labour’s offer, but it’s a con trick

The Guardian - UK Government putting pressure on nature groups to drop opposition to Planning and Infrastructure Bill

The Guardian - Revealed: 5,000 English nature sites at risk under Labour’s planning proposals

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

Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 20th October 2025

Date: 20th October 2025

Time: from 9 a.m.

Weather: dry/drizzly, cloudy, light wind, 13°C to 14°C

I had a short visit this morning to the northern section of the site, primarily to assess possible suitable locations for bird feeders. However, it turned out to be an excellent visit for wildlife.

I was able to add another species to my 2025 site list taking the total to 49 species: Skylark (I initially heard a single calling bird and then saw it distantly flying over the paddocks in an easterly direction)

My 2025 site list has now reached the same number as my 2024 site list, which, at 49 species, was an all-time record …. just one more species to record in the remaining weeks of the year to set a new record!

The other highlights with regard to birds during my visit were as follows:

Redwing: the first sightings of the autumn with probably at least 5 flighty birds present in the northern section of the site

Common Buzzard: 1 seen being hotly pursued by 3 very persistent and vocal Carrion Crows in the northern section of the site

Goldcrest: 1 seen foraging in the wooded area the end of the access track from Larkins Tyres and another heard calling in the same area

Chaffinch: male seen in the northern section of the site

Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Robin

Wren

Dunnock

Redwing

Blackbird

Song Thrush

Skylark

Goldcrest

Chaffinch

House Sparrow

Common Buzzard

Jay

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Woodpigeon

Site totals for 2025 to date (2024 totals in brackets):

Birds = 49 (49)

Mammals = 4 (3)

Butterflies = 23 (17)

Dragonflies and damselflies = 11 (11)

Reptiles = 0 (0)

Amphibians = 0 (0)

Total species list for the site

Birds = 69

Mammals = 8

Butterflies = 26

Dragonflies and damselflies = 14

Reptiles = 1

Amphibians = 0

Saturday, 18 October 2025

Record from my flat - Grey Wagtail

This morning at 9:45 a.m. as I was leaving home, I heard the distinctive flight call of a Grey Wagtail.

Unfortunately, I failed to spot it. Maybe it was heading towards the lake at nearby Gloucester Park where I have previously seen this species?

This is the first time that I have recorded Grey Wagtail from my flat and I am yet to record it this year on my St. Nicholas Church local patch.

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