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Wildlife Reports for August 2005
Betty Childs, Dunmow Road has had five Robins nests in her back yard, one in each of the steam engine tenders, one in a stationary engine, one in a cubbyhole of the workshop and one in a sack of coal. Though the same parents may have had more than one nest it is unusual for what must have been at least three pairs of this territorial bird nesting so close together.Ben Rawlings has seen many Common Lizards in the Rayne School wildlife area. I would like confirmation of this, as the number involved is very significant. There have been only a few reports over the years of single individuals in the Parish.
Alan Spooner has sent me pictures of what appears to be a House Sparrow with a totally white head feeding on his nut feeder.
David Whitehurst has recently brought us a nymph of the Hawthorn Shield Bug and he also said that he had six partly grown Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillars on a large fuchsia. He will soon have six large caterpillars on the skeleton of a fuchsia. David and Rosemarry should be congratulated as this is not the first year they have acted as hosts to this voracious caterpillar.
Barry Mouser saw a pair of Bullfinches not far from the Gore Road bridge, the first he had seen in Rayne for several years
Harold Giles found a dead fox on the road by the Duckend Green allotments and also heard a bird making a squeaking sound, which turned out to be young Kestrels. As this was over a period their nest must be quite close.
Andy Goodey sent me several emails while our BT phone line was down. He found several oaks with Purple Hairstreak butterflies along the Flitch way. One only gets close views of these butterflies when they come down usually to nectar on bramble flowers. He is also hoping to find White Letter Hairstreaks, which live on elm. I know of only one local colony and that is at the Phyllis Currie reserve at Great Leighs. Andy had a Hobby over Pods Lane being pursued by a Sparrow Hawk and a group of 11 Crossbills in the single Scots pine opposite the Cock. On the set-aside opposite the Cock he has seen the following butterflies in numbers, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Ringlet, Small heath, Essex and Small Skippers and Speckled Wood. Cinnabar Moths are also abundant with their caterpillars on the Ragwort. Dragonflies are also enjoying the uncut grass and are represented by Brown Hawker and Darter species and as I write this Migrant Hawkers are becoming increasingly common. In his moth trap Andy has had Elephant, Poplar and Privet Hawkmoths plus Common and Scarce Footman and Heart and Dart moths. At Goulds we had a Lime Hawkmoth for the first time. To finish Andy’s list he has seeen up to three yellow Wagtails along Pods Lane and a first for the Parish a Marsh Harrier west of the Jones roundabout.
Nigel Wood reports over 80 Brown Argus butterflies on the set-aside south of the Flitch Way this is the largest number I have heard of in the Parish. There was a small colony on the old railway goods yard now Warners close.
At Goulds Farm Syl has seen a small Grass Snake on our compost heap probably this years hatching. Badgers have been active throughout the garden having dug out numerous Bumblebee nests and after rain juvenile and adult badger footprints are everywhere. A heron sat in the top of a tree in the garden mobbed by two Crows, it managed to ignore them for about 5 minutes but in the end gave up and flew off with the Crows in pursuit. Our Grey Partridge pair produced 3 young but their hatching coincided with rain and they must have died.
Roger Jiggins 01376 324 311 or email <r.jiggins@btconnect.com>
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