September 2020 - Rye Harbour Nature Reserve Sightings

Chris Bentley
, 01 October 2020
September 2020 - Rye Harbour Nature Reserve Sightings
Marsh Mallow Moth

Wildlife highlight during September were two records of Marsh Mallow Moth on the reserve; in the moth trap on Harbour Farm on 9th and on the food-plant at Castle Water on the 15th. This very rare moth only occurs in two areas in the UK, with the population split between the Medway Valley in North Kent and on the Kent/East Sussex border on Romney Marsh. The caterpillars feed the lower stem and roots of Marsh Mallow from around May to July and require large, dense stands of the food-plant. At Rye Harbour we have encouraged this species by growing large numbers of plants from local seed and planting them out at Castle Water.

 120146457 3406577362698712 6862279990187538153 o

Wader numbers during September were provided by Lapwing, with 300+ at Castle Water on the 2nd and Curlew (above) with 141 on Harbour Farm on the 22nd. Obvious migrants this month included up to 31 Dunlin, 16 Ruff and 9 Black-tailed Godwit, regular Green Sandpiper and the occasional Common Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit and Knot. In addition, a Greenshank was present on Harbour Farm and a Sanderling on the shore on the 9th, five Snipe at Castle Water on the 2nd and four Grey Plover on Harbour Farm on the 22nd. Highlights were a Curlew Sandpiper on Castle Water and two Little Stint (below) on Flat Beach on the 28th. This month also saw an increase in waterfowl numbers with 400+ Greylag Goose, 120+ Teal and 100+ Wigeon recorded, with the highlights being a

119048954 3353084964714619 7619411043751140414 o

Spoonbill at Castle Water on the 15th, Garganey here on the 10th, up to nine Pintail and regular Great White Egret with two at Castle Water on the 24th. Raptors included regular Marsh Harrier and Buzzard, several records of Hobby (with two at Castle Water on the 7th and 26th) and a Merlin on Harbour Farm on the 28th. A good range, and some good numbers of passerines were present during the month. Notable counts included 120+ Linnet on Harbour Farm on the 24th, 80+ Meadow Pipit on Castle Farm on the 15th, and 50+ Chiffchaff on the 8th, while some large flocks of Siskin and Wood Pigeon moved through late in the month. Highlights were up to five Whinchat at Castle Farm/Castle Water.

120442396 3416525675037214 6096178274581792932 o

Apart from the Marsh Mallow Moth trapped on the 9th, other notable moths this month included Feathered Brindle, Narrow-winged Grey, Saltmarsh Knothorn and Kent Black Arches, while migrants included several records of Delicate and a Humming-bird Hawkmoth on the Beach Reserve on the 28th. Less welcome was a record of Box-worm on the 10th, the first reserve record for this pest species! Other notable invertebrates during the month included regular Clouded Yellow (above), Great Silver Water Beetle in the moth trap on several dates, Jet Ant on the Beach Reserve on the 20th and yet another record of Locust Blowfly (below) on the 10th, while there were also several sightings of Willow Emerald Damselfly. We also received some exciting news about a fly which was caught on the Beach Reserve on 31st August and which turned out to be the very rare parasitic fly Chrysosomopsis aurata, only the 6th or 7th UK record! Plants in flower included Least Lettuce, Sea Aster, Ivy, Viper’s Bugloss, Red Valerian, Wall Germander, Red Deadnettle and Yellow Horned-Poppy

Rxstomorhina 

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783143102.61750 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783143102.64360.0261Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783143102.64380.0002Server address: 216.73.217.177
1783143102.64390Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783143102.64390Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/september-2020-rye-harbour-nature-reserve-sightings
    [s] => september-2020-rye-harbour-nature-reserve-sightings
    [1] => september-2020-rye-harbour-nature-reserve-sightings
)
1783143102.64420.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783143102.64510.0009 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783143102.64660.0015 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1783143102.64720.0006INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1783143102.6490.0018 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22598656
1783143102.64950.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22598656
1783143102.65010.0006 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-04 05:31:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-04 05:31:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783143102.65130.0013 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='september-2020-rye-harbour-nature-reserve-sightings')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 05:31:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783143102.65380.0025 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783143102.65440.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=2330 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 05:31:00'
1783143102.65510.0007 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783143102.65580.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783143102.65640.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=88 LIMIT 1
1783143102.65690.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=70 LIMIT 1
1783143102.65730.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=36 LIMIT 1
1783143102.65770.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=66 LIMIT 1
1783143102.65810.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783143102.65830.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783143102.65920.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 05:31:00' AND postSlug='september-2020-rye-harbour-nature-reserve-sightings'
1783143102.67980.0206Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783143102.68020.0005 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783143102.68170.0014Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783143102.68190.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783143102.68280.0008 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783143102.68420.0014 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783143102.6870.0029 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783143102.68780.0008 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783143102.68980.002Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783143102.68990.0001 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783143102.69070.0008 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783143102.69110.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783143102.69330.0022 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783143102.69430.001 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783143102.6950.0007 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783143102.69770.0027 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783143102.69850.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783143102.70040.0019 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783143102.70080.0004Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783143102.70110.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='9' LIMIT 1
1783143102.70160.0006Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783143102.7020.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='september-2020-rye-harbour-nature-reserve-sightings')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 05:31:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783143102.7040.0021 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783143102.70450.0004 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783143102.70760.0031Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783143102.70860.001 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=2330 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783143102.75850.0499 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783143102.75870.0002Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783143102.7590.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='9' LIMIT 1
1783143102.75970.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783143102.76040.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783143102.7610.0006 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783143102.76280.0019 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783143102.76340.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783143102.76510.0017 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783143102.76620.0011 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783143102.7670.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783143102.76750.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783143102.76960.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783143102.77010.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783143102.77190.0018 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783143102.77530.0034 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783143102.77590.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783143102.77630.0005 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783143102.77820.0019 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783143102.77870.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783143102.78030.0016 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783143102.7820.0017 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783143102.78260.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783143102.7830.0004 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783143102.78480.0018 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783143102.78530.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783143102.78730.002 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783143102.78870.0014Request time: 0.173
1783143102.78870Process time: 0.1728
1783143102.78870Memory: 1.6528