Recent Sightings
September 2007
At Castle Water the roost of Little Egrets reached 53 on 7th , duck numbers gradually increased and Bearded Tit were regular in the reedbeds there. The highlight however, was an immature Osprey (below) which was present there between the 1st and 20th of the month. Several Cetti’s Warbler were singing all month.
Small numbers of Curlew Sandpiper were present on the reserve throughout the month, with a maximum of five at Castle Water on the 13th, while a Spotted Redshank and Greenshank (below) were present on Harbour Farm and Flat Beach mid-month, and there were small numbers of Little Stint. Other interesting waders included regular Knot, with seven on the 3rd, up to 33 Black-tailed Godwit, five Avocet on the 26th and small numbers of Bar-tailed Godwit, Greenshank and Green Sandpiper. The roosting flock of Golden Plover on the Flat Beach regularly exceeded 200, and from 27th there were regular Brent Geese and these were joined by up to 20 Pink-footed Geese.
Offshore movement included up to 165 Gannet, 25 Common Scoter, 20 Brent Geese and small numbers of Arctic Skua, Great Crested Grebe and Wigeon. Raptor sightings picked compared to August, as numbers of prey built up during the month. Hobby were regular up to mid-month, and Peregrine throughout, while the occasional Marsh Harrier also put in an appearance.
On Rye Harbour Farm there were 15 Grey Partridge and 6 Red-legged Partridge, with large numbers of migrating Meadow Pipit and many Stonechat arriving for the winter.
Every evening, around Rye Harbour Village there was a swirling mass of wings as thousands of Starling roosted in trees near the car park.
Continuing fine weather during September saw decent numbers of both species and individuals in the Lime Kiln Cottage moth trap. Highlights included L-album Wainscot, White-point and Feathered Brindle, while new species for the year included Feathered Ranunculus, Sallow, Light Emerald and Black Rustic. Many butterflies were still on the wing during September, and numbers on the weekly transect counts at Castle Water were the highest recorded all year, with highlights including regular Clouded Yellow, numerous Brown Argus and several Comma. Other notable invertebrate record included Volucella zonaria, an impressive hornet-mimicking migrant hoverfly, the tiny rare ant Temnothrax albipennis, and the first records for the reserve since 1989, and yet more records of the rare jumping spider Marpissa muscosa, (below) including seven at Castle Water on the 8th!
Plants in flower this month included Stinking Hawksbeard, Least Lettuce, Autumnal Hawkbit, Viper’s Bugloss, Yellow Horned Poppy and Corn Sow-thistle. The most disappointing find of the month was that New Zealand Pigmyweed (or Australian Swampweed) Crassula helmsii, (below) has made it to Castle Water. Normally we would be pleased to add a new species to the reserve list, but this is an alien species that can dominate a wetland, so it is being controlled…
