Hi all, just a quick post to tell you about the excellent Kids guided Bird walk my Daughter and I took part in on Saturday 12th at 10am. We were led by the incredibly knowledgeable and resident blogger Howard Vaughn and we cannot wait to go back!
My Daughter is seven and to be honest I'm not sure who got more out of it as I was just as keen as her to expand my knowledge of the birding world. I've been a few times to Rainham marshes now, a couple of times by myself but mostly with my two Daughters (the youngest is four). The difference with the guided walk is definitely the amount that is noticed. When you are by yourself you can easily miss things but being as there were quite a few of us on the walk someone was constantly pointing something out and not least Howard himself. I expected him to know a lot but it didn't stop me from being amazed at his ability to identify a bird that flies over for just a second or just gives you a single call to go off.
For both of us though one of main the highlights was definitely seeing a Seal relaxing on the mud on the south side of the river! We had the use of Howard and Angie's telescopes as well so we really had a good view. On top many other sightings we saw some Bearded Tits from 1m which was very special, 2 Peregrines (which are my personal favourite) and a young Marsh Harrier.
All in all we had a brilliant time so thank you very much Howard and Angie.
Anyone else who is considering going down to Rainham with the Kids this is recommended. :-)
Thank you!
Howard Vaughan, Information Officer