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):
Here are
some photos from my visit ….
Photo: Small Copper
Photo: Small Copper
Site totals
for 2026 to date (2025 and 2024 totals in brackets):
Love nature .... act now
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