My first real day out birding since marchand I loved it. There was a great welcome from the staff and volunteers of Rainham marshes.

A solitary Heron

The only facilities open are the toilets which is very welcome and a must for many people who frequent the reserves.You can bring your own refreshments, so bring plenty of water.

It’s been such a long time since the reserves have been open and like me the place needs a haircut as you can see from the picture above.This is why volunteers are always welcome and are much appreciated.The fact that reserves were closed down is an indication of the huge worry of the pandemic,unnecessarily so in my opinion.Most people who use reserves are sensible ,experienced people who are capable of following simple restrictions. As far as I am aware there were no mass demonstrations near any nature reserves.

The rules were” one way only “; we did that without protest. No cafe ,we brought our own “simples”.

Reed Buntings

Marsh frog

Little egret , there were many around today.

I spent a good hour in one of the hides watching the herons feeding in very shallow water much to the delight of a mother and her son who were determined to catch a photo of the heron with a huge fish.They got the shot of a heron with fish but not a huge one. My efforts were the same but it was very enjoyable.

Heron catching fish from a very shallow pool.

Click on individual photos for best results.

Little grebe

Something startled these birds

Dragonfly

Canada geese

Willow warbler.

A brilliant day but a quiet one with most people trying to see the bearded tit ,Rainham’s signature bird Plenty of “pings”and a few sightings but no clear shot on the day.

My best attempt at a” Beardy”

Finally ,my sincere thanks to Paul for helping to get me out, it can be so hard to take that initial first step and also to Karen for her love and patience.