Birding Braunie

It’s mid July and the strangest of phenomenons has befallen us all, a mini heatwave in the UK. People have gone from moaning about the overlong and severe winter to moaning about the heat and an inability to sleep at night. I moan too. I moan about the lack of birds about at this time. Sure if you’re in the right place, crowds of waders or seabirds can produce incredible scenes but on my local level, things are pretty quiet. It used to fascinate me when I saw birders turning to the world of butterflies, moths and dragonflies to get their kicks. I didn’t really get it. I tried a few times to get excited by spotting and naming butterflies and moths but the thrill was always short lived. But I’ve changed. The reason for this is fairly simple and quite obvious (to me). Photography. Just seeing and noting down these creatures wouldn’t be enough for me. I get a kick out of shooting a butterfly as they are so delicate and beautiful and people go Wow! when I show them. But more importantly...

Decisions, decisions. There are some amazing places on this planet to go birding. The Amazon, The Galapagos Archipelago, The Camargue, Cley etc..... and of course, the A13. To be fair, the RSPB reserves along this strip of tarmac from Canvey to Rainham are rather good. West Canvey Marshes The day was getting very hot and my mum would have had a fit as I forgot to wear a hat or carry any fluids. This was the first time I had been to the West Canvey Marsh reserve but found it small and simple. A couple of open hides and well signposted directions made the whole experience pretty good. Headless Mediterranean Gull Birdlife was a bit thin on the ground with only the odd Skylark or Whitethroat calling . There was however a Mediterranean Gull in with the Black-headed Gulls, exactly as the information board said there would be. Actually, there was more happening in the world of lepidopterology. Now I don’t know much about butterflies and moths except they’re a lot easier to sn...