Recent Sightings
April 2010
The breeding season at Rye Harbour really gathered pace during April, and this month saw almost the last of our breeding summer visitors arrive, with the first Cuckoo on the 18th and the first Little Tern on the 21st. On the Beach Reserve Wheatear, Ringed Plover and Oystercatcher had all staked out their territories by the end of the month, while the same was true of Avocet, Little Ringed Plover and Redshank (below) on Harbour Farm, and on Ternery Pool around 2200 pairs of Black-headed Gull, 175 pairs of Mediterranean Gull and 400 pairs of Sandwich Tern were present towards the end of the month! For some species, the breeding season was already quite advanced, with Lapwing, Mallard and Coot all producing their first chicks before April was out!
Waterfowl during April at Castle Water included regular Bittern, Garganey on the 18th and 22nd, and Black-crowned Night Heron and Great White Egret on the 20th, while a Spoonbill was present briefly on Flat Beach on the 12th. A fine selection of waders included up to 400 Golden Plover on Flat Beach Level on the 2nd, 107 Whimbrel leaving the Quarry roost on the 26th and 50 Curlew on the shore on the 1st, while other notable passage birds included 24 Knot on the shore on the 16th, a Spotted Redshank on Harbour Farm on the 18th, with two Black-tailed Godwit here on the 21st, and the occasional Greenshank and Green Sandpiper. In addition, up to 44 Avocet and four Little Ringed Plover were present on Harbour Farm pools. Quite a bit of activity offshore this month, with good numbers of terns in particular moving through. This included two Arctic Tern on the shore on the 29th, Arctic Skua on a couple of dates and up to 17 Little Tern, while up to 100 Common Scoter, 74 Brent Goose and a couple of Eider were also
recorded during April. In addition 800 Common Tern (above) were present at dawn on the Quarry on the 27th, with the Bonaparte’s Gull seen briefly here on the 2nd and six Little Gull on the 6th. Raptors this month included up to four Marsh Harrier, Merlin, Hobby and Peregrine, with the highlight being a Red Kite which passed over Castle Water on the 2nd. Hirundine passage included up to 35 Swallow, 15 Sand Martin and eight House Martin, while Swift began to appear in small numbers towards the end of the month. Plenty of Yellow Wagtail moving through during April, with a maximum of 60+ at Castle Water on the 15th. This also included a Blue-headed Wagtail of the subspecies flava on the Bittern Excavations on the 20th. Bearded Tit were regular through the month, with a maximum of six on 10th, while Raven were recorded on several dates.
Much more insect activity this month as might be expected with the increasingly warm weather. Highlights at Lime Kiln included the first Ethmia bipunctella of the year, with three on the 29th, a Streamer, the first record for the reserve proper, and several Great Silver Water Beetle, while butterflies on the wing included Orange Tip, Speckled Wood, Comma and even a Clouded Yellow. At Castle Water, emergence of dragonflies and damselflies picked up towards the end of the month, with several Hairy Dragonfly, a few Blue-tailed Damselfly and Large Red Damselfly recorded. Invertebrate highlight this month was the finding of a queen Red-shanked Carder Bee (Bombus ruderarius, above) at Lime Kiln Cottage on the 7th, the first record of this uncommon species on the reserve for over 20 years. Plants in flower included Blackthorn, Goat Willow, Coltsfoot and Common Cranesbill.