Recent Sightings
March 2007
The arrival of March brought with it the first flush of spring migrants on the reserve. The first Wheatear (below) of the spring was seen on the 23rd, with up to four present by the end of the month, and the first Swallow and Sand Martin on the 31st, while both Chiffchaff and Blackcap could be heard singing around the reserve by the 31st. Another sign of spring on the reserve was an increase in seabird numbers on the main seabird colony at Ternery Pool, with up to 1700+ Black-headed Gull, 236 Mediterranean Gull (a record count for the reserve) and 50+ Sandwich Tern present by the months end, while on Harbour Farm, up to 15 Avocet were present on the new excavations where nine pairs nested during 2006.
As might be expected at this time of year, the reserve increasingly played host to a number of passage visitors, as birds began to migrate to their breeding grounds. Best of the bunch were two Black Restart near Harbour Farm barns on the 28th, and Firecrest on a couple of dates, including two at West Beach on the 13th. At Castle Water two Little Gull were present from mid-month, with a Ruff here on the 13th, there were several sightings of Little Ringed Plover, with a maximum of two on the Harbour Farm excavations on the 26th, and up to 11 Knot were recorded on Flat Beach. However, there were still one or two more
typically winter visitors present during March. On Long Pit, up to two Black-necked Grebe and five Goldeneye were present throughout the month, a maximum of 167 Golden Plover roosted on Flat Beach on the 28th, and there were regular sightings of Green Sandpiper at Castle Water. On the 1st, two Long-eared Owl were at the Narrow Pits Roost, while a single Short-eared Owl was behind Ternery Pool on the 8th. Passerines included a Fieldfare at Castle water on the 10th, Grey Wagtail here on the 3rd, up to 59 Corn Bunting on Harbour Farm, and small numbers of Bearded Tit at Castle Water to mid-month. Raptors during March included regular Marsh Harrier and the odd Peregrine and Merlin, while an unexpected treat was a Buzzard over Rye Harbour Village on the 29th!
There was a marked increase in the number of moths attracted to the Lime Kiln Cottage trap during March. New species for the year included Common Quaker, Clouded Drab, Small Quaker and Early Grey, with the highlights being an Oak Beauty (above) on 15th, the first record at Rye Harbour since 2000, and a Humming-bird Hawk-moth feeding in the Lime Kiln garden on the 28th. Butterflies on the wing included Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock, while more notable invertebrate sightings during March included Dotted Bee-fly (below) on 27th and the striking blue beetle Helops caeruleus on several dates, both of these being nationally scarce species. This month also saw an increase in reptile sightings on the reserve, with Common Lizard, Slow Worm and even Grass Snake putting in an appearance, while the first Marsh Frog of the year heard singing on the 12th! Plants in flower during March included Ground Ivy, Hairy Bittercress, Coltsfoot, Alexanders and Danish Scurvygrass.
