It's not all Birds at the Ingrebourne Valley

Went to the visitors centre for a cuppa and someone said, " there's a mouse outside on top of  some weeds and it's very small "
So out I went with the camera. Yes it was a mouse, not a House mouse, but a Harvest mouse. A beautiful little creature.

 Harvest mice are extremely active climbers and feed in the stalk zone of long grasses and reeds, particularly around dusk and dawn. Their hearing is acute and they will react sharply; they either freeze or drop into cover in response to rustling sounds up to 7m away.

They eat a mixture of seeds, berries and insects, although moss, roots and fungi may also be taken. Harvest mice sometimes take grain from cereal heads.

Records of this species are taken because they are thought to have become much scarcer in recent years and they require conservation plans to reverse the decline. Changes in habitat management and agricultural methods are thought to be the main cause for the loss of populations from certain areas.

Rainham Marshes visit

A few photo's from the Purfleet hide and around the reserve on the 11th January:
 Robin, Redwing, Dunnock, only one Bar-tailed Godwit sighted on the Purfleet scrape. Plenty of Wigeon, Teal, Lapwing, Shoveler. 3 Meadow Pipits and 2 Curlew. 
A little cloudy, breezy but a joy to get out.

Waxwings !

10th January 2017

Last post before Christmas !

11th December 2016  - A great Christmas met up at Rainham Marshes with some of the B.I.E members, group photo taken in the Purfleet Hide.  A nice sunset at the end of the day.

Ingrebourne Valley

6th December 2016

Photo's from the Ingrebourne Valley visitors centre. Great Spotted Woodpecker and love or hate them Ring-necked Parakeets.

Rainham Marshes

30th November 2016

A few from Rainham - Wigeon, Teal, Pintail and Coot. All taken from the Butts Hide.

The Ouse Washes

26th November 2016

Another day trip out with  Havering local group of the RSPB. Click on photo's to enlarge.

Some nice Whooper Swans -

A terrible photo of  a male Tree Sparrow

From left to right Female Stonechat, Male Stonechat and Pied Wagtail

Moorhen....like he's Wellington boots,surely not he's legs.

Green Sandpiper

Titchwell RSPB Reserve

29th October 2016

A nice coach trip with the RSPB Havering group to Titchwell, a few photo's of the day.

Hundreds of  Golden Plover on one of the Islands, Teal,  Dunlin,  Redshank and a naff photo of a Kingfisher ( to far away really)

Holland Haven

26th October   Holland Haven.          Click on photo to enlarge

 Only stayed for an hour - Mainly Greylag geese , but sometimes they are accompanied by friends


                                                  Greylag with Snipe.

                                                       
                                  Greylag and you can just about see middle left a Curlew lying low.

                                                                                           
                                          Greylag grazing.

                                                Pied Wagtail

                                                     
                                        ....and as the sun was setting boats on the Walton backwater.

   

...and a few from October '16

A couple of photo's from the Ingrebourne Valley - Hornchurch Country Park;
Yellowhammer , Chiffchaff and a male  Pheasant.

A nice surprise - a Hedgehog which visited us in our Cranham garden for a couple of days,then seen no more.

Into September '16 - Barking Quay

A couple of  photo's from Barking town quay, an unlikely place to spot wildlife you would think, but there's plenty in urban area's if you look. On this day I saw a Kingfisher there, unfortunately by the time I had my camera set up....it flew !
Mute Swans, Herring Gull, Moorhen and a good old Brown Rat.

Other Wildlife from August

A few more from August '16.

Buff tailed Bumblebee, Green Veiled White Butterfly, Migrant Hawker Dragonfly  and a nice little Reed Warbler.
Best to click on photo for an enlarge picture.