James Chubb

Pink, Black and Gold

It’s been a week of colour in the East Devon countryside as we finally enjoyed a little balmy weather; I hope you were all able to enjoy it?

Firstly to a National super star which was found at Seaton Marshes. It was a meteoric rise to fame from total obscurity to broadsheet and tabloid column inches literally overnight; I refer, of course, to the pink grasshopper. If the media melee has passed you by, allow me to give you the definitive track on this enigmatic little insect.

Found by 11 year-old Daniel Tate on a guided walk at Seaton Marshes, this neon invertebrate was snapped by local photographer Ben Lee as it was something of a novelty. Axe Wetlands Project Officer Kate Tobin then included the photo in a press release about the event and the phoneline lit up! Calls from photo agencies, web sites and newspapers demanded news on the ‘mutant’, angling for a tasty, edgy, chemical-induced Frankenstein freak it was a little bit like an X-Men comic strip.

Sadly the truth couldn’t live up to the hyperbole and this was merely a pink colour morph of the common green grasshopper, a genetic curve-ball, perhaps but a mutant? Sadly no. Colour variety lies within something called alleles in the genes of every living thing, and sexual recombination of DNA allows for these alleles to be mixed up and exhibited in all manner of different permutations. The pink form of this grasshopper is presumably a recessive gene, hence it is only seen occasionally, but they are seen and in other species aside from the green grasshopper. However, the image of a pink green grasshopper was strong enough to secure its page space, and so I will take the opportunity to insert the photo here too. I might not have been leading the bug hunt (drat) but I’ll crowbar it in somehow!

And so to the black & gold; once again our Dulux colour chart of animals leads us to the Axe Estuary, with a seldom-seen black tern turning up at Black Hole Marsh. Come to think of it, there was probably a much cleverer pun to be found in where it was found! Black terns are a one-or-two a year sighting, but this report from Black Hole Marsh is especially exciting as the saline lagoon is a new feature which might, in years to come, be something this species takes a particular interested in – I will keep you posted.

I am reliably informed by a designer sister-in-law that “black is the new brown, which was the new black”, how about a couple more black specials for this autumn collection? Beer Head is fast becoming the East Devon autumn haunt for birders, with a few stunning pied flycatchers being seen here this spring. There was also a gorgeous wryneck and an Ortolan bunting, but as these are both brown birds they are sooo last year. Pied flycatchers are a woodland specialist, breeding in mature woodland such as Yarner Wood National Nature Reserve, and wintering in West Africa. The males are clad in a natty black and white outfit, hence the ‘pied’ element of its name. It’s a thrill to see them in familiar haunts such as Yarner, and I venture out of the Shire annually to see them, but to spot one on home territory is an extra special achievement and congratulations to the committed guys and girls who scour the Head for these birdie bounties.

The gold refers to a glut of yellow wagtails which have been seen feeding in the wet pastures alongside the river this season, gaudy but gorgeous.

Yellow wagtails are a real joy to find and this time of year they are passing through on migration, so its great chance to venture out to try and see them. On a recent ‘Meet the Birds’ morning at Seaton Marshes seven were saw in the neighbouring fields.  The trick to spotting this yellow beauty lies in knowing its feeding habits. They are insect eaters and habitually follow large grazing animals as they disturb small flies and insects in wet grassland. These days ‘large grazing animals’ means cattle, so scan the grass beneath the feet of cattle in a field by an estuary near you and see if you can be lucky. The juvenile birds and females are a pallid yellow-grey colouring, while the males are resplendent in bright golden!