Tilbury delights

A lovely sunny day found Keith and I crossing the Thames to one of our favourite sites at Tilbury Fort.

As we walked along the river embankment there were lots of White Butterflies, a mixture of Green-veined Whites and Small Whites plus a number of Common Blue Butterflies and a few Holly Blues. Meadow browns and Gatekeepers were also present. I found a couple of Bee Wolfs on some vegetation.

Bee Wolfs are parasitic wasps which paralyse and capture bees which it then places in their burrow together with an egg. Then they then seal the burrow. When the eggs hatch they feed upon the bees before spinning a cocoon in order to hibernate through the winter. Once quite rare, I remember being shown my first some years ago at Minsmere, they have expanded over the past decade and are now found in many coastal heath and dune areas.

When we reached the sewage works we turned inland and were rewarded with sightings of Small Heath butterflies, Emporer Dragonfly and Common Darter. At the Northern end of the path, we found that someone had chained the gate and put barbed wire to prevent any further progress, so we were forced to retrace our steps. However, whilst we were deciding what to do we did see 3 Wall butterflies and a Sparrowhawk.

Return along the sea wall, Keith located a Willow Warbler in a bush, probably the highlight bird of the day. Other birds seen included 4 Little Egrets, 6 Egyptian Geese, a party of juvenile Pied Wagtails and some linnets.

As we approached the ferry terminal, I saw some wasps on the vegetation and these turned out to be European Yellowjackets. Although they originated in Europe they are now found on every continent apart from Antarctica. In many places, they are regarded as a pest because of their effect on native food chains.

Sharing the vegetation with the Yellowjackets were a number of 7 spot Ladybirds

A good day with 11 species of Butterfly recorded.