My son Andrew and I do Rainham Marshes.

It was such a beautiful morning I thought Rainham Marshes was worth a visit and as Andrew is still off school I thought it would give him a break to come with me. We had a lovely walk clockwise around the reserve and it seems everyone there was also enjoying the weather including the large group led by Howard Vaughan, who we met and passed down at the bottom of the reserve near the shooting range near the river. There was a few Reed Buntings out and there was one showing nicely for everyone in the group as well as ourselves having said that my shots of that one were not the best. Anyway heres a few taken today by both Andrew and myself.

How about this site for a nest, up in one of the pylons.

The resident Brown Rat near the feeders in the wood.

Chiffchaff also taken in the wood area.

Robin singing it little heart out also in the woods.

All below are from Andrew.

Regards

Shane & Andrew

Hiya Shane and Andrew.

A great set of photos from you both (you have competition there Shane lol)

Doesn't everything look better when the sun is shining.The Robin photos from you both have got to be my favourite with the blue sky along with Andrews spider and ladybird photos

Hi Alan

Thank you very much, he does better with that camera than I do, i tend to stick to my old one, it was a nice walk for both of us. I have passed on your remarks about his photos and he had a smile from ear to ear.

Shane

How did you go in the heat i went to Old Moor yesterday and the heat was very nearly unbearable.

It was 21 degrees with a gentle breeze so it was quite pleasant.

Doesn't a bit of sunshine and warmth make all the difference!  You certainly do have competition there from Andrew. His spider and ladybird are excellent, and his rat pics are better than yours!! (Sorry!!!! LOL). I love your heron, and of course the robin.

I'm glad you had such a lovely day, and hope Andrew is back at school before too long. Fancy meeting Howard Vaughan!

Nice photos, fellas :) glad you made the most of another lovely day. That spider photo in particular is something special, a really imaginative take on the subject.

Hi Shane & Andrew,

Great to see you are both getting out & enjoying the weather,

you are going to be on your guard as i think Andrew will soon be a better photographer than you  lol,

I love his rat & "flying spider"brilliant,

Hope he is better soon & able to get back to school .

Hi You two

Whos the daddy Andrew , well done.

What type of Frog/Toads are they or have you been painting

 Ray

Thanks Linda, Andrew is buzzing since getting back and kind comments like yours are making his day, your right about the rat I didn't even realise he had taken photos of it. Shane

Thanks Aiki, Andy won't be able to get his head through the front door at this rate but then again credit where credits due.

Hi sugar, many thanks for your kind remarks I will pass them on when he gets in as he has gone out to play.

Hi Ray, guess if  "he's the daddy" lol that's good he can fork out the pocket money this weekend ;-)

Great photos guys. You've got some serious competition there Shane. I love the swan with an almost mirror image and the side on view of the rat is a cracker. I have to agree with aiki though, the spider photo is rather special. You can't see the web so it appears to be floating in mid air. Spooky!

What a fabulous day it's been.

Hi Ray, I missed the question, they are Marsh Frogs but at rainham their colours have a wide range, hopefully Howard will see this post and explain better than I can. Shane