The last week has been quite strange at Rainham with clear blue skies and no evidence of non-feathered air travel anywhere to be seen. It made trying to point out passing buzzards and the odd peregrine difficult with no reference points to get visitors onto. A hobby has been seen today over the Silt Lagoons.
We are now back to normal with a ski full of crisscrossing vapour trails and white fluffy clouds. At least there has been something to point out with a pair of buzzards displaying regulalrly over the site and several other birds heading through. A couple of marsh harriers have also been seen with crows hot on their heels.
The first swifts are back and good numbers of sand martins, house martins and swallows are starting to appear. Eleven yellow wagtails were around the cattle on Tuesday and reed warblers are now chundering along in the phragmites along the already settled and madly scatty sedge warblers. Whitethroats are scatching away and lesser whitethroats have now arrived and have been heard chattering from the scrub.
We have had a little flurry of wheatears and a male whinchat was a good find this morning down at the Stone Barges. A glow worm larvae was found crossing the path and several great silver diving beetles have been seen out of water.
Great Silver Diving Beetle by Brenda Clayton
Glow-worm larvae by Julie Peeling
Howard Vaughan, Information Officer