Species recording at Abbotts Hall Farm, Great Wigborough
We expected the outside lights to prove attractive to moths, but some of the other creatures found
by them were rather more surprising. One of these was the harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus.
recognisable by its strongly bifid pedipalps. In an increasingly familiar manner, this creature formerly
had a restricted distribution nationally, confined to a few southern counties, but it has now been
recorded as far north as Yorkshire and Lancashire.
Miscellaneous invertebrates (14 species)
A variety of creatures fall into this category including three species of lacewings, a jellyfish, a
springtail, a flea and several millipedes and centipedes.
Fish (8 species)
There is little freshwater habitat available for fish on the farm and for quite some time the fish list
was restricted to a single enormous Eel Anguilla anguilla in the farmhouse pond. The warden's
angling efforts in the Saltmarsh creeks and some research into the coastal realignment project (which
revealed a large number of fry of several species) have added a few saltwater species, including
Herring Clupea harengus and Greater Pipefish Sygnathus acus.
Amphibians and Reptiles (7 species)
The seawalls support Common Lizard Lacerta vivipara. Adder Vipera berus and Slow Worm Anguis
fragilis, as would be expected, and Grass Snakes Natrix natrix have been seen around the garden
and its pond. The pond also holds populations of Frog Rana temporaria and both Smooth Triturus
vulgaris and Great Crested Newts T. cristatus.
Birds (137 species)
The bird list was, predictably, one of the earliest to achieve a reasonable number of records. Breeding
bird surveys alone revealed an interesting range of species including some of the significant RSPB
Red List farmland birds that were targets of the farm's management. These include Com Bunting
Alniaria calandra. Grey Partridge Perdix perdix, Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur, Skylark Alauda
arvensis, Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella, Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus and Linnet
Carduelis cannabina. A pair of House Sparrows bred in the farm buildings in 2003, but none was
found in 2002. One of the most surprising breeding records was the six broods of Pochard Aythya
ferina that were successfully raised on the new lake in its first year (2003). This is a significant
proportion of the British population, for which coastal Essex as a whole and the Blackwater Estuary
in particular is very important.
A few passage migrants have been recorded on the farm, the more significant of which include
Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus, Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros. Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis
and Garganey Anas querquedula twice. Some of the records are rather more tenuous, the best
example being the Montagu's Harrier Circus pygargus seen by Chris Tyas flying from Old Hall
Marshes northwards over the farm!
The presence of Old Hall Marshes on the other side of Salcott Creek has no doubt increased the
rapidity with which birds have adopted the new habitats of the farm. The new coastal grasslands
had barely started growing late in 2002 when the Brent Gccsc Branta bernicla started grazing
them. Peregrines Falco peregrinus and Avocets Avosetta recurvirostra could also realistically be
considered to be borrowed from our neighbours.
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 20 (2003)
99