The Veolia ES scrape beside Wat Tyler Country Park, can be viewed from the two-teir hide located opposite, the former motorboat museum. You can also get stunning close views from within our visitor centre via CCTV, or from the comfort of your own home you can follow the action HERE on our local groups website.
Yesterday on the scrape it was fascinating watching a pair of little grebes feeding their four chicks, now little grebes as ttheir name would suggest are our smallest grebe, and these stripy necked chicks were tiny. The parents would dive for food, and the chicks would look temporarily lost, then, they would whizz across the water like tiny speed boats to where their parent emerged and beg for food, nature is amazing!
There are at least two families of pochard on the scrape and with breeding pairs in the UK at probably less than 500 this is a significant, albeit annual occurence. Little egret numbers are now beginning to increase, August is the peak count month, with birds dispersing away from their breeding grounds in Europe and swelling our numbers. Over twenty can be seen roosting with grey herons in the trees behind our camera.
Wading birds have begun to appear back on the scrape, with five spotted redshank, green and common sandpiper along with the regular oystercatchers and lapwings all seen this week.
Vange Marsh is looking particularly good and continues to hold good numbers of spotted redshank, green sandpiper and common sandpiper. The black-tailed godwit flock remains, and are superb, with many still in their brick-red breeding plumage. On West Canvey Marsh the muddy edges of the reservoir attracted three each of green and common sandpipers and an adult mediterranean gull was on the water.
Across the whole of the South Essex Marshes the butterfly numbers are impressive, over 50 marbled whites can be seen on West Canvey with hundreds of both small and essex skippers at Wat Tyler and Vange. This is a great time to take a gentle stroll across the marshes, what are you waiting for?
Get out there and enjoy it!