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Wildlife and Conservation Review of 1999
pairs of Herring Gull. Hobbies were seen throughout the county in good numbers, including 13
together over Cornmill Meadows. Rare and scarce migrants included an Osprey on the Blackwater
Estuary; two typical late spring overshoots, Black Kite and Subalpine Warbler at Colne Point; a
Temminck's Stint at the Hythe, Colchester; Hoopoes at Romford and Brentwood; and up to 10
Dotterel at Bradwell. Two Harbour Porpoises were watched swimming up the Thames from East
Tilbury, and towards the end of the month a stunning male Black-headed Wagtail performed before
admiring hordes at Maylandsea, into June.
Essex conservation took a great leap forward in early March with the launch of the Essex Biodiversity
Action Plan. Taking its lead from the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, the aim of BAP is to re focus
conservation efforts and resources towards priorities agreed by all who value the wildlife of Essex.
The key to BAP is its targets for the maintenance and enhancement of important habitats and species,
and mechanisms for delivering those targets. It releases conservation from the philosophical
straightjacket of simply trying to maintain ths status quo - from "holding the line1 to 'wildlife gain'.
Nationally, April saw the formation of the new Countryside Agency, from a merger of the Countryside
Commission with the Rural Development Agency. Its role is to deal with a range of issues which
have a bearing on our wildlife - landscape protection and enhancement, the rural economy, and
sustainable recreation and tourism. And in a move to protect waterfowl, DETR issued guidance on
its intention to ban the use of lead shot over important wetland sites, to corne into force at the
start of the next shooting season. A final national development was the long-awaited publication of
British Red Data Books: 1 Vascular Plants (3rd Edition). This important book details the status of
the 300 or so wild plants in Britain which are most threatened with extinction, and establishes a
baseline against which the success of future conservation actions can be judged. Not surprisingly,
perhaps, many of these plants arc restricted to offshore islands, remote mountain tops or small parts
of the country where climate and geology combine to create a challenging environment. But Essex
is not without its share of Red Data plants: 15 of the listed species are known to occur in our county.
In fact, four - Annual Sea-purslane, Hartwort, Sickle-leaved Hare's-ear and Tendring Rock Sea-
lavender are entirely restricted to Essex; one - Narrow-leaved Cudweed - has its only mainland site
in Essex, and two - Hog's-fennel and Least Lettuce - have the bulk of their UK population here. Four
species - Red-tipped Cudweed, Rough Marsh-mallow, Stinking Goosefoot and Broad-leaved Cudweed
- have only recently been discovered or re-discovered in Essex, showing how even such a populous
part of the country can still throw up surprises. The remainder of the Essex contribution to the
British Red Data Book comprises Cornflower, Saltmarsh Goosefoot, Bermuda Grass and Deptford
Pink.
Each of these plants has its story to tell - of its discovery, the reasons for its rarity, the successes or
otherwise of conservation action, and the likely prospects for its future survival. The publication of
the Red Data Book has put each one at the forefront of our thinking, and local conservation efforts
will now be redoubled to try and ensure that none of these species go down the one way street to
extinction.
Summer
If May's weather was dodgy, June's was dire. Cool, overcast conditions with frequent, sometimes
thundery, rain meant it was wetter and colder than the long-term average. This seriously affected
Lepidoptera emergences: only the grass-feeding butterflies (browns and skippers) were in average
numbers, no doubt a result of the vigorous grass growth triggered by high moisture availability. The
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 17 (2000)