On an afternoon that quite honestly felt, weather-wise more like late October, it was pleasant to see quite a few species around still.

Butterflies, there were Speckled Wood, Ringlet, Red Admiral, Meadow Browns and Small Heath, but not much else.

A very battered and tatty Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) gave me my first photo opportunity, followed by a Green Sheildbug (Palomena prasina).

Up onto Sweeney Viewpoint with the usual stunning views across the North Kent Marshes to the River Thames to Essex and beyond, the only place one can witness massive cargo bearing ships seemingly gliding through a field of green.

Sitting on the bench dedicated to and bearing the memorial plaques to Linda and Owen Sweeney, a lone Hobby swooped fast and low over the water, no doubt snatching dragonflies along the way.

Ravens kronked out on the reservoir as hundreds of their corvid cousins gathered for their nightly roosts in the sanctuary, in amongst them a single buzzard surveyed the grasslands below for carrion.

In the distance, flitting from area to area were the now resident Cattle Egrets including, as ever an increasing number of this years juveniles.