The Watching Wildlife Archive
Joe Firmin's Watching Wildlife column documented the natural history highlights of
North Essex from 1952-2013, running for an unprecedented 54 years in the Essex County
Standard before being adopted by Colchester Natural History Society as an online
journal in 2006.
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.
2013
January - Bearded tit, avocet, marsh harrier, hen harrier, avocet, pintail ducks
and winter moths.
February - Goldfinch, rook, oak beauty and concerns for the mistle thrush.
March - A farewell to Joe Firmin 1926-2013 - author of Watching Wildlife.
2012
January - Siskin, smew, goosander, waxwing and Abberton Reservoir waders and wildfowl
February - Peacock butterfly, buzzard, corn bunting, green sandpiper, rookery courting
and cormorant
March/April - Woodcock, great grey shrike, Abberton Reservoir Visitor Centre, toads
and frogs
May - Flooding in Essex, ring ousel, turtle dove, swift, hobby, and green hairstreak
butterfly
June/July - Yellowhammer, otter, corn bunting, common blue, brown argus and banded
demoiselle
August - Shrike, wryneck, lesser whitethroat, osprey, whinchat and sea lavender
September - Wading birds, avocet, White-spotted pinion, brent geese, gadwall, waxcaps
and jay ‘invasion’
October - Short-eared owl, woodcock, Fisher’s estuarine moth, great white egret,
fungi and redwings.
November - Pochard, redpoll, desert wheatear, goldcrest, knot, bullfinch and ash
dieback.
December - Shorelark, waxwing, osprey and reed bunting.
2011
January - Kingfisher, reed bunting, Mistle thrush, winter moths and woodcock garden
invaders
February - Tree sparrow, siskin, goldeneye, rookeries, oak beauty and wrens in the
big freeze
March - Brown hare, bullfinch, black redstart, shelduck, wheatear, sand martin and
brimstone butterfly
April/May - Hobby, whimbrel, turtle dove, spotted flycatcher, nightingales return
and good early butterfly numbers
June - White admiral, little tern, corn bunting, wood warbler, swifts and house martins
July - Stag beetle, summer butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies, whimbrel and
avocets
August - Water vole, mink, osprey, hobby, sea aster, sea lavender and coastal moths
and butterflies
September - House martin, red kite, spotted flycatcher, sub-alpine warbler, silver-washed
fritillary
October - Redwing, fieldfare, hen harrier, scoter, skua, gannet, pintail and rare
warblers
November - Shoveller, goldcrest, grey phalarope, glossy ibis, snipe, gadwall and
rose coloured starling
December - Twite, snow bunting, redpoll, merlin, woodcock, December moth, glossy
ibis and red-breasted goose
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
August - Hoverfly invasion, red kite, osprey, warblers, white admiral, silver-washed
frittilary and rose chafer.
September - Black-tailed godwit, brent geese, brown argus, pied flycatcher and death's
head hawk moth
October - Late autumn fungi, goldcrest, firecrest, Clancy's rustic, red admiral,
brambling and wading flocks.
November - Goosander, common scoter, sanderling, rough-legged buzzard and tree sparrows.
December - Wading birds, smew, purple sandpiper, scoter, nuthatch, brambling, waxwing
and fieldfares.
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
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
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
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
