Wildlife and Conservation Review of 2001
tested positive for FMD antibodies (ie although not infected, they had been exposed to the virus).
All were destroyed, and transportation of the corpses to a rendering plant (in Bradford) began,
until a container carrying them was found to be leaking fluid. The consignment was turned back,
and the roads over which it had travelled disinfected; it was not treated by MAFF as a new outbreak,
which would have necessitated extension of the restrictions. Of course, this was condemned by the
farming community who feared a cover-up, pandering to other countryside interests.
May continued the unsettled theme, cool and cloudy until mid-month, when it suddenly became
very hot (to 27°C) and humid, albeit cooler along the coast under the influence of north-easterly
winds. Overall it was more than a degree warmer than average. The start of the month saw the first
really big influx of summer birds, overnight on 2nd / 3rd May, as lots of Swifts, hirundines and
Yellow Wagtails flooded in, along with a couple of Garganey at Cudmore Grove. By the end of
the month, we would expect all summer migrants to be here, even in a late year, but where I was
(still admittedly under partial restriction from FMD) there seemed to be a notable and worrying
dearth of certain species, such as Lesser Whitethroat, Cuckoo, Turtle Dove and Nightingale.
As naturalists started to get out and around the county, a good number of unusual birds were
reported. Most notable perhaps was a Wilson's Phalarope at Old Hall, but this had unfortunately
to be kept quiet because of ongoing access restrictions. A Blue-winged Teal was at the same site,
but this did at least have the grace to improve its accessibility by moving on to Abberton Reservoir.
Throughout the month, in common with the rest of the south-east, there were good numbers of
migrant raptors, including Montagu's Harriers at Bradwell and Rainham, Red Kite at
Fingringhoe, and Honey Buzzards at Chingford, Dagenham Chase and Wivenhoe. Possibly not
unrelated to the weather conditions which brought large raptors here, a Crane was seen at
Fingringhoe Wick, a White Stork in the Ingrebourne Valley, and a Night Heron over Weald Park,
but what could account for the record of a Gannet at Fisher's Green in the Lee Valley on the 6th? A
Corncrake was heard near Saffron Walden, and Kentish Plover and Red-backed Shrike were at
The Naze, while even smaller migrants included good numbers of singing Grasshopper Warblers
(including 4 at Hornchurch, 2 at Rainham, and 1 at Dagenham Chase), two sites with Marsh
Warblers and a Subalpine Warbler at Fingringhoe Wick. Unseasonably, there were still Waxwings
around, including 12 at Leigh until 5th May. Those casting eyes seawards also reported pairs of
Harbour Porpoises in Harwich Harbour and at Holland Haven.
At the end of May, the Dovercourt area produced two Toadflax Brocades, with another just across
the water at Landguard. Viewed in the context of my first record a year earlier, it is possible that
there is a small local breeding population of this rare southern moth somewhere in the vicinity. And
taking advantage of the lifted restrictions, the Essex Spider Group paid a visit to the Foulness
MoD establishment. It produced an excellent haul of records, including the RDB2 Haplodrassus
minor; Zodarion italicum, a range extension for this East Thames Corridor speciality; and best of
all, a wolf spider Arctosa fulvolineata, the first Essex record for many years.
Again making up time for FMD-enforced inactivity, habitat management resumed. Most dramatically,
the MoD at Friday Woods undertook further clearance of encroaching trees and scrub from the
grass-heath areas. This was much larger in scale than in previous years, and was indeed only the
first phase of a four-year restoration scheme; despite the resulting appearance of devastation (all in
a good conservation cause) in a very public area, extensive proactive publicity ensured that these
vital works were completed with minimal concern from the general public. Perhaps the message
that we have long been trying to get over, that even trees can be weeds in the wrong place, is
finally getting through? And what's more, the work was done at very low cost, as the contractors
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Essex Naturalist (New Series) 19 (2002)