Bearded Tit poses on the boardwalk at Rainham Marshes

On Monday my camera and I went for another walk round RSPB Rainham Marshes nature reserve.  The sun was shining and it was quite a still day - so I was lucky enough to encounter a male Bearded Tit that popped out of the reed bed for a few minutes in order to search for tasty titbits on the wooden boardwalk.

At first he was in the normal pose birds get into when I am around - with his backside facing me while he scoured the ground looking for tasty morsels.

He then turned sideways so that I could get a better photograph.

He then hopped around and was looking in the other direction.

The bird flew off into the reeds for a few seconds and then popped out again and began looking for food again.

 He had got such an amazing face and I love his little yellow-ringed eye.

This last photograph shows how tiny the Bearded Tit was and how tall the reeds were.  Once he had flitted back into the reed bed, there was no chance of me seeing him again.  I knew where he was for a short while as I could see his movement as he hopped from reed to reed and the stems swayed with his weight.  Then all went still!

Birds on a rowan tree in Kensington Gardens

During November my camera and I went for a couple of walks in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.  I spent several hours lurking near a rowan tree that was covered with lots of bunches of red berries, hoping that the birds would not spot me near their tree.

With patience I managed to take photographs of the following birds:

A Jay hanging upside-down as it reached for a small bunch of berries

A Starling with a berry at the end of it's beak

A male Blackbird reaching out towards a small bunch of berries

A Blackbird with a berry in it's beak

A Magpie contemplating the world while sitting amongst a huge amount of bunches of rowan berries

A close-up of a Jay sitting on a branch where there were hardly any berries left

A Mistle Thrush reaching out towards a huge bunch of berries

A Mistle Thrush staring into space while perching amongst the berries

A Wood Pigeon was looking around searching for more berries

A Redwing was wondering why there were so few berries left on the tree!

Needless to say, this is just a small selection of the photographs I took while getting cold near the rowan tree!

Greylag Goose with large piece of French bread being followed in Hyde Park

The last time my camera took me for a walk round the Serpentine in Hyde Park, on Sunday, I saw a Greylag goose with a large piece of French bread in it's beak.  This caused a lot of interest from the other geese in the area and ended up with a game of pass-the-parcel!

A Canada goose was closely following the Greylag.

The Greylag was quickly surrounded by other hungry geese.

The goose managed to stop off for a quick bite, but was being pursued by a Canada goose.

The Canada goose managed to steal the bread, but it was soon it was harassed by a young gull, who managed to get the largest piece.  Meanwhile two Greylag geese were having a loud argument.

Then it was time for the Canada goose to get into action and try to get the large piece of bread back.

The young gull managed to hang onto it.

No, it was back in the Canada's beak.

Not for long - a Greylag was running off with the spoils stuck onto the end of it's beak.

Time to get a quick bite before someone else grabbed the bread.

November wildlife and nature at Rainham Marshes RSPB nature reserve

At the beginning of November I went on the train from London's Fenchurch Street station to Purfleet and then walked along a short part of the Thames Path to Rainham Marshes RSPB nature reserve.

Just before I reached the reserve I came across a group of sparrows in a twiggy bush with just a scattering of leaves remaining on it's almost bare branches.

This plant covered with autumn leaves and lots of red berries was at the top of the path that is just outside the visitor centre.

A male Stonechat was hopping around on the reeds in front of the Purfleet hide.

He was joined by a female Stonechat.

There were plenty of teasel plants and the feathery remains of tall cow parsley dotted around the edges of the boardwalk.

A Kestrel was obligingly sitting on the branch of a plant that was covered with red rose hips.

In the distance was a pretty shrub that was covered with lovely yellow leaves.

Flocks of Greylag geese flew regularly into the reserve during my walk.

Teal and Wigeon were resting on the muddy banks or swimming in the water of the lagoon in front of the Shooting Butts hide.

Here there was also a solitary Black-tailed Godwit.

A Pied Wagtail was hopping about in the mud on a distant bank.

As I turned a corner during my walk along the boardwalk round the reserve, I disturbed a pair of Bearded Tits.  They abruptly disappeared into the reeds, but I was very lucky as they were kind enough to pop out again in order for me to take a quick photo of their cute bottoms before disappearing permanently.

As the reeds looked like this, I knew there was no chance of me finding the Bearded Tits again, but I was grateful for just that very short glimpse of them.

Around the other end of the reserve, at Aveley Flash, there were lots of Shelducks standing around in the water while a Marsh Harrier perched on reeds at the edge of the lagoon.

Further round the reserve I saw a Ruff looking for food in the mud.  The photo was taken from the Ken Barrett hide.

Still in the Ken Barrett hide, I was fascinated by the industrial nature of Rainham Marshes - wind turbines and lots of electricity pylons.

A flock of geese flew across the blades of a wind turbine.

 A Pintail drake swam across the water in front of the KB hide.

Back near the visitor centre, I took this photograph of the London skyline in the distance.

A Magpie perched in the leaves of a tree that was covered with berries.

Back in the Purfleet hide, I saw lots of Lapwings in the distant lagoon.

Wading birds, ducks and boats at Two Tree nature reserve, Essex

In the middle of September my camera took me on a train journey to Leigh-on Sea in Essex.  I had decided, on a lovely sunny day, to visit the Two Tree Island nature reserve that is on the outskirts of the town.

When I arrived it was low tide in the estuary and the boats were all grounded.

I walked along a ridge along the side of the estuary to the end of the reserve, where there was a bird hide that overlooked a lagoon.  To my delight, standing in the lagoon were a large number of mainly sleepy redshanks.  A group of them were standing in the water in front of one of the islands in the lagoon.

There were redshanks and lapwings on another little island in the lagoon. 

In the distance on the other side of the estuary there were six Little Egrets.  Unfortunately they were too far away for the zoom lens on my camera and appear as tiny white blobs.

When I walked away from the hide and back along the ridge above the edge of the estuary I saw a curlew digging away in the mud in front of one of the grounded boats.

After a little while the curlew headed over to a pool of water on the mud and had a bath.  In the photograph below it is scratching it's head with it's foot.

I then went for a walk into Leigh-on-Sea and had fish and chips while sitting outside in the sunshine.  I decided to go back to Two Tree Island for another look round.  The tide was in by this time and, when I walked down the jetty, I found a black-tailed godwit.  In this photo is on the right near the edge of the estuary.

I took rather a lot of photos of the godwit and managed to get some close-ups.  In this photo, the black-tailed godwit has caught a small something that it is holding at the very end of it's beak.

I had another walk along the ridge above the estuary from where I saw what appears to be a juvenile lapwing.

There was also a little egret wading in the river.

A redshank was fishing.

Before I went home I went round the other side of the Two Tree Island nature reserve.  In the late afternoon sunshine, from a hide that was quite high up, I found a large group of teal in the water below.

Further round the island lots of curlews had settled down for the night.

As an added extra, when I was walking back to the road through the nature reserve, I saw this furry caterpillar.  I have no idea what it is - any comments?

I had a great day out at this nature reserve and wish I lived nearer so that I could visit it more often.