Wildlife sightings for 16th August 2013
48 Teal - wader scrape, main lake
30+ Shoveler - main lake
4 Snipe - wader scrape
2 Chiffchaff - wildside, South route
Recent bird highlights: Little Egret, Peregrine, Red Kite, Hobby, Redshank, Greenshank, Oystercatcher, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Snipe, Black-Tailed Godwit, Nuthatch, Yellow Wagtail.
Tufted Duck, Pochard, Mallard, Gadwall and Little Grebe all have nests and young on the lake islands and amongst the marginal vegetation. Shovelers have bred here for the first time, raising 3 broods. Mute Swan have successfully raised 5 broods of cygnets (much higher than previous years). The Sand Martins have already fledged and are feeding over the lakes and scrapes. All the Common Terns have fledged now, while the growing Black-headed Gull colony have some second broods on the main lake rafts. The Sparrowhawk pair have 3 fledged young, regularly taking short flights in the wildside area. Redshanks managed 2 fledged broods (4 juvs) and Lapwing at least 4 fledged broods (9+ juvs?).
Other successful breeders this year:- Whitethroats (1 brood), Chiffchaff (1 brood), Coal Tit (1 brood), Goldcrest (2 broods), Lesser Whitethroat (1 brood), Reed Bunting (1+ brood), Sedge Warbler (1+ brood), Cetti’s Warbler (3 broods) and good numbers of young Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Blackbird, Wren, Dunnock, Reed Warbler, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Green Woodpecker.
Butterflies and other invertebrates:
Butterfly transect 6th August 2013: Small White (30) > 6-Spot Burnet (21) > Gatekeeper (18) > Meadow Brown (17) > Green-veined White (12), Common Blue (12) > Large White (6), Silver Y (6) > Peacock (4) , Speckled Wood (4) > Small / Essex Skipper (3), Comma (3) > Purple Hairstreak (2), Holly Blue (2) > Clouded Yellow (1), Small Copper (1), Red Admiral (1)
Dragonfly transect 6th August 2013: Small Red-eyed Damselfly (63) > Azure / Common Blue Damselfly (55) > Blue-tailed Damselfly (11) > Common Darter (9) > Migrant Hawker (2), Brown Hawker (2), Southern Hawker (2), Emperor Dragonfly (2), Ruddy Darter (2) > Broad-bodied Chaser (1 male – very late record for the site), Black-tailed Skimmer (1 female)
Speckled Bush-cricket, Long-winged Cone-head, Roesel’s Bush-cricket, Dark Bush-cricket, Common Groundhopper, Common Green Grasshopper, Meadow Grasshopper, Field Grasshopper and Lesser Marsh Grasshopper.
Water voles: actively feeding in the Wildside ponds in particular (listen out for the very audible munching from the base of marginal aquatic plants like Branched Bur-reed and Greater Pond Sedge). They also often make a distinctive ‘plop’ sound as they leap into the water from the channel edge.
Reptiles: Common Lizards have been seen on log piles on the South Route and pond zone; also around the brick edges of the sluices if quiet enough. Slow Worms are present below the survey tins and sometimes basking on habitat piles. Grass Snakes may be spotted swimming across ponds in wildside.
Flowering plants: Square-stalked St.John’s Wort, Blue Water-speedwell, Branched Bur-reed, Cat’s-ear, Common Mallow, Common Sorrel, Field Scabious, Devil’s Bit Scabious, Great Bird’s-foot Trefoil, Great Burnet, Salad Burnet, Hemlock Water-dropwort, Hoary Plantain, Hop Trefoil, Lesser Swinecress, Mare’s-tail, Meadow Buttercup, Meadow Vetchling, Red Clover, Scented Mayweed, Scentless Mayweed, Short-fruited Willowherb, Smooth Hawk’s-beard, White Clover, Wild Clary, Wild Strawberry, Wild Thyme, Yellow Iris, Yellow Water-Lily, Purple Loosestrife, Yellow Loosestrife, Valerian, Fleabane, Meadowsweet.
