Essex mammals in 2000
JOHN WRIGHT
4 7 Chalkwell Park Drive, Leigh on Sea, Essex SS9 1NH
Unfortunately, one of the side-effects of producing a distribution atlas, is that the number of records
submitted in the following year immediately drops - observers perhaps resting after their previous
efforts! In 2000, fewer records were received than the previous year but notable contributions were
made by Martin Heywood, Ray Ruffell and John Dobson. The highlight was confirmation of the
return of the Polecat to north-west Essex but other interesting records were as follows:
Harvest Mouse Micromys minutus (Pallas 1771)
The successful survey of earlier autumns continued with nearly 100 new tetrads reported for this
diminutive species. Once feared to be in decline, the Harvest Mouse is proving to be one of our most
widespread mammals, now recorded from around 40% of Essex tetrads.
All new sites have been identified from a car - the subsequent search of suitable sites yielding many
new records of abandoned nests. As before, the critical feature is the presence of rough grass supported
by other vegetation, notably Bramble or Blackthorn.
Harvest mouse
Stoat Mustela erminea (L. 1758)
An ermine was seen at the Abberton Visitor Centre during March (Richard Allen pers. comm.).
Common Seal Phoca vitulina (L. 1758) and Grey Seal Halichoerus grypus (Fabricius 1791)
During the summer, both species were counted during natural history cruises to Foulness Sands. The
following details were submitted by Brian Dawson;
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Essex Naturalist (New Series) 18 (2001)