The rain still seems to be passing us by; we see the clouds, get a few spots and then watch the heavens open somewhere else followed by people coming in saying ' oooh, Romford is under three inches of water!' Pah!
At least Aveley Pools are still wet and the birds are still dropping in. Today we had : 25 Little Egrets, 73 Lapwings, 4 Green Sandpipers, Common Sandpiper, Greenshank, Redshank, Ruff, 4 Dunlin, 5 Little Ringed Plover, Snipe, Wigeon, Kestrel, 3 Yellow legged Gulls,2 Swift, 120 Sand Martin, Oystercatcher. A female Marsh Harrier spent quite a while today quartering both Aveley and Wennington and could be seen from the newly opened Shooting Butts Hide (and yes I did say open...). Seven Whimbrel were seen over high tide and there was a new brood of Shelduck in the Bay.
No bird pictures today but a new bee for the reserve with several Wool Carder Bees around the Lemon Balm in the herb garden.
Also found the first Wasp Spiders today. The area near the Ken Barrett hide opposite the big nettle bed had at least six today viewable from the path so no need to go wandering off piste in search of them. Will try and get some shots tomorrow.
Wool Carder Bee (Barry Jackson)
Howard Vaughan, Information Officer
When was Romford under water - we haven't had any rain in Gidea Park!