PHOTOGRAPHY: Monday 18 May 2026
Visit to Thameside Nature Discovery Park
Organised by Marion Coleman – Thank You.
After sheltering from a heavy rain shower, we were able to walk around some of the park, an Essex Wildlife Trust reserve, in pleasant weather. We stopped at the Estuary Hide, sitting to watch numerous starlings feeding enthusiastically from a bird table.
From here we had an excellent view of the cranes, ships and containers at the Thames Gateway Port. Apart from one distant tug there was little shipping to be seen. However, we were entertained by Shelducks being rather aggressive and Sue Q managed a shot of a Cetti's Warbler!
Leaving the hide we continued along the path, passing a very active bee hotel with a variety of bees flying in and out of the holes. Moving along the path through a bank of dog roses already in bloom, we stopped to watch some Greylag and Canada geese in the field.
A number of wildflowers were coming into flower, including Purple Tufted Vetch, Ox-eyed Daisies, Buttercups and Brambles. We continued onto the Harris View Hide, which was erected in 2025 with a living roof and numerous bug hotels. We sat here for a while watching a number of birds including Greylag geese, White Egret, Moorhens and Black headed gulls.
Taking the footpath across the field, we were lucky enough to spot a skylark, flying above our heads. Using the Merlin app, we were able to identify a huge number of birds singing around us though sadly not seen clearly enough to photograph.
We continued back up the road to the car park, spotting more birds and flowers including scarlet poppies. As we had taken longer than planned to wend our way around there was no time left to sample the delights of the cafe in the Information centre.
Nevertheless, a very enjoyable, informative visit.
Best wishes, Marion
PS: in the morning Ian and Alan visited the so called ‘Golden Gates Lakes’ area about ½ mile from the reserve entrance. In addition to the usual suspects, we saw a Green-veined white butterfly, a Cinnabar moth with striking red and black colours, Dunnock, Reed Warbler and Sand Martins.
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