Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 16th September 2026

Date: 16th September 2026

Time: from 8:45 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 14°C to 16°C

Again, it was a relatively quiet visit with few birds seen or heard given that many of the summer visitors will have left and the resident birds will be trying to remain inconspicuous during the post-breeding moult period. The super-abundance of butterflies is now no longer evident either.

However, I did record my first Common Darter of the year around the bushes bordering the grassland area at the bottom of “Hilly Road”.

Other notable records during my visit included the following:

Chiffchaff: 3 seen foraging in bushes at the far end of the northern section of the site

Common Whitethroat: 1 heard briefly alarm calling in the northern section of the site but not seen

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

Great Spotted Woodpecker: 1 seen in the northern section of the site

Wall: 4 seen flying around and resting on the eastern wall of St. Nicholas Church

Small Copper: 1 seen in the meadow in the northern section of the site

Common Blue: 2 seen in the meadow in the northern section of the site

Speckled Wood: 1 seen in the northern section of the site and 2 seen in the southern section of the site

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

Chiffchaff

Common Whitethroat

Green Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Blue Tit

Robin

Dunnock

Jay

Carrion Crow

Magpie

Woodpigeon

Herring Gull

Grey Squirrel

Wall

Common Blue

Small Copper

Speckled Wood

Here are some photos from my visit ….

Photo: Common Darter

Photo: Wall

Photo: Wall

Photo: Wall

Photo: Small Copper

Photo: Common Blue 

Site totals for 2026 to date (2025 and 2024 totals in brackets): 

Birds = 39 (50) (49)

Mammals = 3 (4) (3)

Butterflies = 22 (23) (17)

Dragonflies and damselflies = 7 (11) (11)

Reptiles = 0 (0) (0)

Amphibians = 0 (0) (0)

Total species list for the site

Birds = 70

Mammals = 8

Butterflies = 26

Dragonflies and damselflies = 15

Reptiles = 1

Amphibians = 0

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Visit to Noak Bridge Nature Reserve – 14th September 2026

Today I visited the Reserve for the purpose of an on-site meeting with Basildon Council, Froglife and one of my Noak Bridge Nature Reserve Society colleagues to discuss a project to improve and restore our ponds. 

Whilst this was not a wildlife watching visit, I did record the following whilst walking around the Reserve:

Emerald Damselfly (1) .... first record for the year and the first since 2024

Ruddy Darter (2)

Clouded Yellow (at least 3)

Common Blue (2)

Speckled Wood (4)

Chiffchaff (1 unseen calling bird)

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Record from my flat - Grey Heron

Grey Heron is a species that I see occasionally from my flat and usually flying past possibly to/from the lake at nearby Gloucester Park. 

This afternoon at 1:05 p.m., I saw a Grey Heron flying over the block of flats where I live and indeed heading in a south-easterly direction towards Gloucester Park.

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Record from my flat - Common Buzzard

This afternoon at 3:10 p.m., I saw a Common Buzzard flying slowly in a northerly direction beyond the houses opposite where I live.

This is only my 5th sighting of a Common Buzzard from my flat this year, the first being on 7th June 2026, although I have also seen them on my nearby St. Nicholas Church local patch site.

Summary of Common Buzzard records during the last 6 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: 16 dates involving 25 birds

2026: 5 dates involving 5 birds

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Visit to Noak Bridge Nature Reserve – 7th September 2026

Date: 7th September 2026

Time: from 9 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 19°C to 21°C

The main reason for my first visit to the reserve in September was to hopefully see and photograph the Clouded Yellows that had been reported in recent days.

It didn’t take long to find the Clouded Yellows in the eastern section of the reserve ranging widely from the start of the East Meadow path right up to and including the path to Meadow Pond. There were at least 2 but possibly 3 individuals in this area which were almost always in constant flight and sometimes interacting. This made photography very challenging but I did succeed in getting a couple of record shots.

This was my first record of Clouded Yellow for the reserve but I did see an individual on my St. Nicholas Church local patch on 10th August 2025.

From the path to Meadow Pond, I also recorded Small Copper (2), Common Blue (at least 5), Small White (2) and Common Blue Damselfly (1).

In addition to Clouded Yellow, I also recorded another first for the reserve: Greenshank (4 calling birds flying high over the eastern section of the reserve heading in a northerly direction).

I record Greenshank each year during spring and autumn migration in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, with the closest sites locally been RSPB Vange Marsh and Wat Tyler Country Park, but this sighting was totally unexpected.

Other than Greenshank, it was exceptionally quiet for birds with few seen or heard given that many of the summer visitors will have left and the resident birds will be trying to remain inconspicuous during the post-breeding moult period. However, I did see a single silent Chiffchaff foraging in the bushes around Meadow Pond.

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

Greenshank

Chiffchaff

Blue Tit

Robin

Woodpigeon

Magpie

Clouded Yellow

Common Blue

Small Copper

Small White

Common Blue Damselfly

Here are some photos from my visit ….

Photo: Clouded Yellow

Photo: Clouded Yellow

Photo: Small Copper

Photo: Small Copper

Photo: Small Copper

Photo: Common Blue

Photo: Common Blue Damselfly

Photo: Common Blue Damselfly

Site totals for 2026 to date (2025 and 2024 totals in brackets):

Birds = 33 (34) (39)

Mammals = 2 (3) (3)

Butterflies = 17 (17) (12)

Dragonflies and damselflies = 5 (7) (11)

Reptiles = 0 (1) (0)

Amphibians = 1 (1) (1)

Total species list for the site:

Birds = 53

Mammals = 5

Butterflies = 25

Dragonflies and damselflies = 15

Reptiles = 2

Amphibians = 3

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Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 1st September 2026

Date: 1st September 2026

Time: from 8:15 a.m.

Weather: dry, bright/sunny, light wind, 14°C to 16°C

For my first visit in September 2026, I walked the whole site. Predictably, it was relatively quiet with few birds seen or heard given that many of the summer visitors will have left and the resident birds will be trying to remain inconspicuous during the post-breeding moult period. The super-abundance of butterflies is now no longer evident either.

However, I did have some notable records during my visit:

Chiffchaff: 1 silent individual seen foraging in the bushes near the pond in the northern section of the site

Blackcap: 2 birds heard alarm calling in the northern section of the site but none seen

Green Woodpecker: 1 heard calling in the paddock adjacent to the access track from Larkins Tyres and 1 heard calling in the northern section of the site but neither seen

Jackdaw: 1 flew over St. Nicholas Church

Wall: 3 seen flying around and resting on the eastern wall of St. Nicholas Church

Small Heath: 1 seen in the meadow in the northern section of the site

Common Blue: 1 seen in the meadow in the northern section of the site

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

Chiffchaff

Blackcap

Green Woodpecker

Jackdaw

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Robin

Dunnock

Blackbird

Carrion Crow

Magpie

Woodpigeon

Herring Gull

Wall

Common Blue

Small Heath 

Here are some photos from my visit ….

Photo: Wall

Photo: Small Heath

Photo: Common Blue

Site totals for 2026 to date (2025 and 2024 totals in brackets): 

Birds = 39 (50) (49)

Mammals = 3 (4) (3)

Butterflies = 22 (23) (17)

Dragonflies and damselflies = 6 (11) (11)

Reptiles = 0 (0) (0)

Amphibians = 0 (0) (0)

Total species list for the site

Birds = 70

Mammals = 8

Butterflies = 26

Dragonflies and damselflies = 15

Reptiles = 1

Amphibians = 0

Love nature .... act now

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Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature