Recent Sightings
February 2010
February is usually a month where transition from winter to spring becomes more obvious, and this year was no exception. At one extreme, one of the coldest and snowiest spells of weather in the area for many years brought large numbers of ducks, at least six Bittern, and a up to of nine Smew to the reserve. At the other, this month also saw displaying Ringed Plover and Great Crested Grebe, the appearance of the first Mediterranean Gull and Black-headed Gull on Ternery Pool, and the first sightings of Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies.
A good selection of wintering waterfowl included up to six Bittern, a maximum of nine Smew (above) at Castle Water, 12 White-fronted Goose over the Beach Reserve mid-month, five each of Scaup and Goldeneye on the Long Pit and a Slavonian Grebe on Ternery Pool from the 3rd to the 18th. In addition, up to 18 Pintail were present on Castle Water while 12 Little Egret were seen entering the Castle Water roost at dusk on the 7th. A combination of melting snow, high rainfall and high tides meant that Flat Beach held a lot of water this month, attracting good numbers of waders. This included up to 600 Lapwing, 92 Golden Plover, 48 Knot, 36 Ringed Plover and an Avocet. In addition, up to 15 Dunlin, 60 Sanderling and 38 Grey Plover were present along the shore during February, while up 420 Curlew roosted on Harbour Farm.
Notable sightings at Castle Water included 46 Ruff on the 3rd (the highest ever count at Rye Harbour), two Woodcock on the 7th and a Jack Snipe on the 20th, while the occasional Green Sandpiper was present on Harbour Farm and a Spotted Redshank (above) was on Ternery Pool from the 2nd to the 18th. Passerines this month included 419 Fieldfare on the 1st, a record count for the reserve, and small numbers of Redwing. Also at Castle Water, up to 10 Bearded Tit were recorded during February while two Raven flew over the Beach Reserve on 8th. Raptors included up to four Marsh Harrier, the occasional Merlin, a Buzzard at Castle Water on the 13th and best of all a ringtail Hen Harrier over the Beach Reserve on the 13th.
The occasional warmer spell during February encouraged a little invertebrate activity. On the 3rd, a sheltered spot at Winchelsea Beach harboured a Small Tortoiseshell, a Seven-spot Ladybird and a Honeybee, while an immature Nursery-web Spider (above) was at Lime Kiln Cottage on the 5th and a Peacock butterfly at West Beach on the 20th. In addition, mammalian sightings during February included the occasional Common Seal swimming in the Rother, and evidence of Water Vole on Harbour Farm. Plants in flower included Lesser Periwinkle and Winter Aconite.