The Watching Wildlife Archive
Joe Firmin's Watching Wildlife column has been documenting the natural
history highlights of North Essex since 1952, running for a staggering
52 years in the Essex County Standard before being adopted by Colchester
Natural History Society as an online journal. Please feel free to browse
the 'back issues' of the column by clicking on the relevant month but
note that the descriptions below only highlight some of the main topics
and species covered and there is much more to discover in each edition.
2006
October - hummingbird hawk moth,
a rare Ni moth, Camberwell beauty butterflies
November - little egrets, late
dragonflies and red admiral
December - osprey, little auk,
short-eared owl and winter birds
2007
January - waders and wildfowl,
fieldfare and redwing and the earliest Essex hummingbird hawkmoth
February - minotaur beetle,
peregrine falcon, great northern diver and slavonian grebe
March - moths and butterflies,
wheatear and amphibians
April - spring flowers, nightingale
and warblers, lesser spotted woodpecker and a rare long billed
dowitcher
May - swifts and swallows,
green hairstreak butterfly, oxlips and orchids
June - early damselflies
and dragonflies, rose chafer beetle, buzzard and privet hawk moth
July/August - painted
lady immigration, camberwell beauty, stag beetle and waders
September - hobby, black-tailed
godwit and a remarkable Long-tailed blue butterfly
October - pallas warbler,
brent geese, short-eared owl, fieldfare and redwing
November - golden plover,
siskin, redpoll and a great white egret
2008
January - reed bunting, yellowhammer,
mistle thrush and smew
February - rookeries, song thrush,
peacock butterfly and Fisher's estuarine moth
March - wheatear, sand martin,
early swallows, and spring plants
April - warblers, house martin,
the early moth, orange tip butterfly and news of bittern at Abberton
May/June - beautiful demoiselle,
turtle dove, otter, whimbrel, small tortoishell declines and spoonbill
sightings
July - elm disease, white-letter
hairstreak butterfly, woodland butterflies and common sandpiper
August - saltmarsh, sea lavendar,
wading birds and rare moth finds of beautiful snout and dark crimson underwing
September - fungi, lesser whitethroat,
wading birds and good news for butterflies
October - woodcock, dark-bellied
brent goose, short-eared owl, comma butterflies, wheatear and a barred
warbler
November - goldcrest, waxwing,
kestrel, golden plover, spoonbill, lapwing, goosander and the december
moth
December - thrushes, blackcaps
and sawbills
2009
January - skylark, common scoter,
finches, snow bunting and a cattle egret at Abberton
February - bittern, rook, water
rail, early moths and a wild boar called 'Miss Piggy'
March - peacock and brimstone
butterflies, brownhare, frogs, cormorant, sand martin and the 'Quaker'
moths
April - roe deer, nuthatch,
treecreeper, orchids, yellow archangel, lapwing, martins and common sandpiper
May - linnet and turtle dove,
small copper and peacock butterflies, an emperor moth and the huge butterfly
immigration
June - cuckoo, house martin,
skylark, spoonbill, hummingbird & tiger moths plus the rare beautiful
demoiselle
July - white admiral, small
tortoishell, linnet, spotted flycatcher and the broad-bordered bee hawk
moth
August - common blue butterfly,
magpie, stag beetle, small balsam and rare moths the sorcerer and white
spotted pinion
September - The willow emerald
new to Essex, clouded yellow, wryneck, white-rumped sandpiper and blue
underwing
October - Harlequin invasion,
short-eared owl, cep mushrooms and dark-bellied brent geese
November
- Rare blue-underwing moth, the year of the painted lady, redpoll,
siskin and blackcap
December - Winter waders, raptors,
rare spotted sandpiper, twite and shorelark
2010
January - The Great Freeze,
kingfisher, reed bunting, bearded tit, harbour porpoise
February - Great northern diver,
'storm cock', bird courtship, finches, buntings and hazel catkins
March - Early nesters, chiffchaff,
marsh marigold and butterflies out of hibernation
April - Bluebell woods, lesser spotted
woodpecker, returning swallows and house martins.
May - Hobby, yellow wagtail,
worries about declining turtle dove, spotted flycatcher and little tern.
June - Spotted flycatcher, immigrant
moths, dragonfly and damselfly emergence.
July - Butterflies on the wing including
silver washed fritillary, ringlet, hairstreaks and the Essex skipper.
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