Carolyn Sheldrake The Street saw Comma Butterflies in her garden; this is the only butterfly that has natural ragged edges to its wings and has a white comma mark on the underside of its hind wing.  It is also a lover of rotting fruit, perhaps it is addicted to the alcohol when the fruit starts to ferment.  The Comma butterfly was almost extinct in this country during the late 19C and early 20C and it was not till the 1930s that numbers started to increase and it is now relatively common within the Parish.  When hops were widely grown its caterpillars used them as its food plant hence the local name for them of 'hop cats'.  As hop growing declined they started using nettles.
Peter Lane Brunwin Road had a Garden Warbler in his garden.  I queried his identification as the Willow Warbler is very similar and both birds rarely give one a good view.  As usual I was wrong as Peter's bird stayed around for several weeks and gave him very close views.  Also Peter has good hearing unlike me and their songs are very different.  Peter also reported a Buzzard over our house that was being harassed by a Crow, it was then joined by a second Buzzard.  I was gardening at the time and missed all the overhead action.

Keith Rawlings has commented on the Horse chestnuts in the village that have gone brown prematurely.  This is caused by the leaves being mined by the larva of a moth called Cameraria ohridella which was first seen in Greece in the 1970s.  It appeared on the edge of Wimbledon Common in 2002 and has now spread over most of the South East and East Anglia and as far north as the Midlands and into Wales.  It can be spread by the transport of infected leaves as well as by the flying moth.  It is claimed that so far the Miner has not caused the death of any Horse chestnut trees despite their very sad appearance but repeated infestations over several years may change that view.  Unfortunately Horse chestnuts also suffer from another more serious problem called Bleeding Canker caused by two separate pathogens and reports of it are increasing rapidly.  This disease can kill large and small trees by girdling the trunk.
Mr Salmon Shalford Road found a Deaths Head Hawkmoth caterpillar when raking in his garden.  This is the third to be found within the Parish.  The caterpillar was also the longest yet at 11.5 cm long and is now pupating in a box of soil.
Matt Hicks has sent me some pictures of a Privet Hawk Moth caterpillar from his garden, in the past he has had the moth.

Neville Walker Brunwin Road has had 17 Goldfinches on his niger seed feeder and several species of butterfly have visited the garden.  Neville's most interesting sighting is of Tortoiseshell butterflies which have shown a dramatic drop in numbers particularly in the south east.  Butterfly Conservation is carrying out a survey of sightings for this year because of their dramatic decline.  It is thought that climatic change and a parasitoid wasp are the cause.  The wasp lays its eggs on nettles that the butterfly caterpillar then eats.  The eggs hatch when the caterpillar has pupated and eat the pupa.  Neville also had an adult female Grey Wagtail with two juveniles visit the garden pond, this is also interesting as there have been several reports in the past of Grey Wagtails on the very small stream that flows under Shalford Road and past Nevilles garden.  It is possible they are breeding nearby but the stream is not large enough for typical Grey Wagtail habitat but like all wildlife they never read books.
Chris Murton Dunmow Road watched a Sparrow hawk take a Blue Tit from in front of him.  One would have thought that the tit would hardly have provided more than a beak full of food.  Celia and Chris have also watched a Kestrel hovering in the area and Celia has had three Robins together in the garden.  I imagine one of the Robins will be sent packing soon as they are very territorial.
Yvonne Marsden saw a small herd of probably Fallow deer on the field near Rectory Lane.  The deer gave Yvonne very good views before moving off.  At this time of the year deer are rutting and groups of females are moving around the district.
Lucy and Shirley Taylor School Road watched two stags and four Red deer hinds from the bedroom window on the field next to the Mill Lane junction.  They provided a wonderful view in the sunlight.  Red Deer sightings are uncommon in the Parish, the present deer may be descendents from the Red Deer released by animal rights protesters many years ago near Felsted.  Shirley picked up an armful of straw for her chickens and in the straw was a hibernating Hedgehog.

Sue Dawson saw an Adder near Pods Brook.  There are no Adder records held by the County recorder for this part of Essex though Robert Bucknall reported an Adder on the rifle range at Saling two years ago.  If you suspect you have seen an Adder please let me know.  Grass snakes have a yellow collar behind the head, general colour and back markings are not always diagnostic of either species.  It would be good to add Rayne Adders to the County list.
Ken Turner found a caterpillar of the Spectacle Moth.  The caterpillar is green or purplish brown with white markings but the moth viewed head on has large white rings round its eyes , hence its name.
We have had a marvellous show of butterflies in the garden during the brief 'autumn' summer.  The badger decided our orchard needed digging over, to view take a walk along the footpath from Goulds Farm entrance.  I have seen it foraging (digging mostly) on the lawn by the house three times within one week.  It is using the ditch culvert along Shalford Road as its present abode despite all the rain we have had.

Roger Jiggins Tel. 01376 324 311, email mailto:r.jiggins@btconnect.com  (please put Wildlife as the subject)