A Mid-summer Visit to Rainham Marshes

27th June 2025

Time for a quick visit to Rainham Marshes before the heat-wave kicks in, starting with the usual breakfast pit-stop in the Purfleet Hide. Fairly quiet as would be expected at this time of the year but you can always rely on the Little Egret to put on a show.

This, however, was bettered by the Heron which virtually stuck its head through the window.

The rest of the cast was a single Shelduck and a male Wigeon, one of a pair that for whatever reason has spent the summer here.

At the MDZ were just an adult and juvenile Little Grebe and a rather overgrown Kingfisher bank.

The only other bird of note today was a rather tatty Peregrine Falcon that was soaring over the Ken Barrett Hide.

Even on quiet days you can usually find a Marsh Frog.

Flowers were fairly well represented with swathes of Goat Rue along the paths. Goat Rue is a very invasive plant and can easily take over a reserve if not controlled. You certainly wouldn't want it out on the marsh.

Other flowers seen were Lesser Bindweed, Mallow, Creeping Cinquefoil and Birds-foot Trefoil.

Dragonflies were surprisingly few and far between with just Blue-tailed Damselfy and Small Red-eyed Damselfly photographed.

Butterflies faired a little better with Large White, Small White, Meadow Brown, Small Skipper, Peacock and Red Admiral.

And have you ever wondered how the Comma butterfly got its name? Well here is a photo of the underwing showing the white comma.

And also my first Cinnabar Moth caterpillars of the year feeding on their food plant Ragwort.

And nice to finish off the day with a Buff-tailed Bumblebee and Thick-legged Flower Beetle

But the memory I shall take away today is the large shoals of Rudd present in all of the ditches. I have seen them here before but today broke all records.