Had a toil day from work yesterday and spent it at Rainham. Before the reserve opened I walked from the car park to the serin mound and back. The weather was overcast with short occasional showers, they were short because the strong south westerly was moving them through pretty quickly. It also meant that most things were keeping their heads down. Four Avocets in Aveley Bay were good to see and probably my first here this year, also Curlew and Redshank noted.
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| The twin towered visitor centre |
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| a Redshank with a lot to say! |
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| this Wren had found a sheltered spot near the serin mound |
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| Mistle Thrush on one of the visitor centre's towers |
Late morning and the sun had broken through so I spent a bit of time in the woodland area as it was sheltered from the wind.
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| there were a number of Common Green Shieldbugs on the bramble leaves |
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| Blue Tit |
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| Long-tailed Tit |
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| a couple of Common Darters still around |
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| Hoverfly |
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| male Common Wasp |
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| Common Carder Bee |
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| Comma butterfly |
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| Hoverfly |
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| Comma again |
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| young Marsh Frog on path near Butts hide, I moved him to the vegetation where he hopped off and disappeared before I could get a more natural looking shot! |
From the Marshland Discovery Zone these two Little Grebes were munching their way through the sticklebacks and showing very well.
