Spoonbills at Rainham RSPB Weds 24th july

The 2 Spoonbills were still at Rainham today and when I arrived they were in their usual pose head tucked in,  but a stroke of luck when something spooked all the birds and up they all went giving a good airial display,  ungainly looking birds yet elegant in flight.

Monday 22nd july 4.30pm Ingrebourne Valley.

The Ingrebourne Valley is looking superb at the moment with birds and wildlife appearing again.  The scrape on it's own is looking very attractive and is attracting.  In the last few days we have had a summer adult Spotted Redshank and today there was 5 Green sandpipers (expect this number to grow) 2 Snipe, Wigeon, Teal,  many Gulls and Lapwings,  a Kingfisher was at a usual fishing spot, and a Cuckoo flew past across the scrape.   Be on the lookout something very special is going to turn up.

Kingfisher

Green Sandpiper

Snippy Snipe

Spotted Redshank on the Scrape sun 21st july

An Elegant summer adult Spotted Redshank on the Scrape,  Fabulous! 

A phew moor Flutterbies

Tattered and torn.

The last embrace

Green-Veined White

Peacock.The new Generation.

Abberton Reservoir, Weds 17th july

Loads of double acts,  mainly escapees. Red Breasted Geese.   The Osprey Kept dodging me, annoying.

Those Ruddy Shield ducks

Common Terns

A Barnacle Goose

More Purple Hairstreaks, mon 15th july

Purple Hairstreak

Butterflies are having fun in the sun, Thursday 11th july

Purple Hairstreaks in the evening sun.

Skippers were out in force today.

Marbled White and Clouded Yellow still at Ingrebourne Valley

Marbled White.

Clouded Yellow.

Oooh!  A bird.

Flora and Fauna from the past week in the Valley

Besides this Clouded Yellow I saw a Marbled white today,   the first one that I have seen in the Valley,  but it would not settle.  12 White-Letter Hairstreaks were in the Elms.   All the Skippers are out.

Broad-Bodied Chaser.

White-Letter Hairstreak on Oak.

White-Letter Hairstreak flitting above Elms.

White-Letter hairstreak in Elms

Small Tortoiseshell

Broad-Bodied Chaser.

Essex Skipper.

Small Skipper

Meadow Brown.

Strange Bee Orchids of the Belgarum Type?

Emporer Dragonfly

Buzzards over the Ingrebourne, fri 9.30am

Are these 2 adults with juv in the middle with no missing flight feathers?.  They moved towards Bonnets.

Juv?