Wildlife and Conservation Review of 2001
included a Melodious Warbler at The Naze, a Wood Warbler at Hanningfield Reservoir, and
some significant counts of migrant waders eg 57 Greenshank and 70 Whimbrel at Wakering, 36
Spotted Redshanks at Fingringhoe, and 21 Common Sandpipers at Hanningfield. At the latter
site, the 'unknown origin' Red-crested Pochards bred successfully, producing 7 ducklings, and
on the Thames the by-now-familiar late summer build-up of Yellow-legged Gulls took place,
with 60 at Rainham, plus one of the Caspian race/species.
During the summer, reports started to come in of an unprecedented assemblage of 18 Griffon
Vultures in the Netherlands, and also an Egyptian Vulture at a second site. One of the Griffons
was ringed, and traced back to Spain. Having made such a long journey, it was surely not too much
to hope that some may potter over to Essex, especially as they were seen to take short flights out to
sea? Hopes were raised still further when a vulture was seen near Colchester, but it was suspiciously
tame, and eventually confirmed as a White-backed Vulture which had escaped a week previously
at Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. As for the Griffons, they remained only dreams...at least for the time
being.
So it was a busy summer in wildlife terms, but also in terms of conservatior issues. A proposal to
locate a wind-farm on the Gunfleet Sands off Clacton became widely known: there is of course
considerable merit in sustainable energy sources, provided they do not have overriding adverse
environmental impacts. In this case, environmental impact assessment will look at the biological
use of the Gunfleets, which may include feeding seabirds, basking seals, or wintering groups of
scoter or divers, but probably the greatest concern is that the installation should not increase or
reduce the stability of the sands which form a first line of north Essex sea defences against the
largest, most damaging waves. At the other end of the county, interest grew in the former Occidental
refinery site on Canvey Island. A classic brownfield site, supporting a vast range of rare and
scarce species (especially invertebrates), further survey and ecological studies by Peter Harvey
have confirmed it as possibly the best site in Britain for the Shrill Carder-bee. But plans were
submitted to develop part of the site for industrial use, unfortunately with damage concentrated in
the very best bits of the site for biodiversity. It may be possible to negotiate an acceptable
compromise, but it is another story which is likely to run and run.
Sadly, August did not continue the summery theme - it was rather unsettled, warm spells alternating
with thunder and wind. On the 8th, we experienced a day of incredible weather -truly four seasons
in one day. It started sunny and warm, but thunderstorms rolled in from the west, the wind got up,
and torrential rain led to local flooding. Up to 15cm of giant hailstones fell on Coggeshall, and
funnel clouds and waterspouts were seen offshore. The storms then moved on, but left an
exceptionally cool night, in places down to 7°C.
The weather conditions had an effect on National Moth Night on the 11th, with moth numbers
somewhat lower than expected, probably much to the delight of Brian Goodey and the rest of the
team collating and interpreting the results! Some of the best Essex records on the night came from
Jon Clifton who set a trap by the Stour Estuary and recorded Sandhill Rustic, Cnephasia genitalana
(second confirmed county record) and Coleophora salicorniae (third Essex site record). On the
previous night he had also come up trumps on Great Bentley Green, with the first Essex Golden-
rod Pug since 1985, another indication of the great potential of this very large grassland site.
Other lepidopteran news came from Brian Goodey who discovered larvae of our local speciality
micromoth Coleophora fuscicornis (known outside the county only from a single Dorset specimen)
to be abundant feeding on Smooth Tare at High Woods, Colchester. Most interestingly, he also
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 19 (2002)
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