Birding walk in Walthamstow Wetlands during late September

I went for another birding walk in Walthamstow Wetlands towards the end of September.  There were lots of young Great Crested Grebes with striped heads on several of the reservoirs, plus other birds.

Juvenile Great Crested Grebe

Light-coloured Egyptian Goose

Juvenile Pied Wagtail at the eddge of a reservoir

Little Egret looking for lunch

Electricity pylons at the edge of the Wetlands, with Little Egret and other birds on the reservoir

Adult Great Crested Grebe

Another juvenile Great Crested Grebe

Adult Pied Wagtail

Adult Mute Swan followed by three juvenile cygnets, including two white "Polish" cygnets

Mute Swan, presumably dad, sailing across the reservoir in order to join his family

One reservoir was almost covered with Tufted ducks

Male Tufted duck

Yet another juvenile Great Crested Grebe

White Egrets at RSPB Rye Meads nature reserve in late September

I visited Ryes Meads nature reserve when there were plenty of Little and Great White Egrets around.

Little Egret walking past two Mute Swans

Great White Egret walking past the same pair of Mute Swans

Great White Egret squawks!

Great White Egret decides to move on!

Great White Egret came a lot closer to the bird hide

Great White Egret in a pose

Little Egret stretched out to make itself taller

Little Egret squawks!

Great White Egret with a snack

Little Egret in the foreground with Great White Egret and Grey Heron in the background

Closer view of Great White Egret and Grey Heron with strange hair-do

Close-up of Little Egret balancing on horizontal piece of wood in front of the bird hide

It was definitely a very white Egret sort of a day - which was great as I love Egrets!

Birds and wildlife during a September visit to Rainham Marshes

In the middle of September I went for a wildlife walk round RSPB Rainham Marshes nature reserve.  The photos below are of some of the birds and insects that I saw there that day.

White butterfly

Cattle Egret

Four Goldfinches

Little Egret looking for fish

Pair of Common Darter dragonflies in a compromising position

Autumn leaves and berries

Speckled Wood butterfly

Lapwings in flight

Lapwing and Curlew

Male Common Darter dragonfly

Juvenile Grey Heron pretending to be a Swan

Pair of Gadwalls

Kestrel not wanting to look at me

I spent a very enjoyable afternoon at Rainham Marshes and only wish that I could manage to go there more often.

 

Birding walk in Rye Meads nature reserve in early September

During early September, on a sunny day, I went for a visit to RSPB Rye Meads in Hertfordshire.  Below are photos of some of the wildlife I saw while I was there.

Two Green Sandpipers were feeding in the lagoon

A Great White Egret stretched itself out to its full height

A second Great White Egret in the centre of the lagoon had a scratch

A Great White Egret followed a Little Egret across the shallow water

The Little Egret was not too keen on being followed and flew away

A pair of Gadwalls were in front of the Great White Egret and the female stood up and had a flap

A Little Egret posed near the bird hide

A Great White Egret wandered across the lagoon between various ducks

There were several female Mallards on the lagoon

A Little Grebe swam across the lagoon in front of the bird hide

A female Shoveler dipped her large beak into the water

A pair of Gadwalls were posing on a log in the Kingfisher pool

Back at the lagoon, a Little Egret showed off its large yellow foot

A female Tufted duck with reflection

A large Migrant Hawker dragonfly was hanging onto a stem in the woodland between the lagoons

Little Grebe with open beak in front of the bird hide

Cormorant trying to keep cool while standing on a submerged log

Leaping Little Grebe 

Juvenile Grey Heron with full reflection

Juvenile Grey Heron did not like being photographs, so flew away