Birds, Butterflies, Little Critters and Wild Flowers

After spending some time in the Garden at Home we decided we might go Out and look for Birds, Butterflies, Little Critters and Wild Flowers (anyone and anything really) elsewhere, so toddled off to Norman Road North, to walk up the Footpath running beside the Waste Incinerator and leading up the Thames Path and from there, up to the Outfall of the Crossness Sewage Works.

Wild Flower' Species seen by the Footpath included:

Black Horehound
Broad-Leaved Everlasting-Pea ~ seen here being visited by a Small White Butterfly viz.

Common Bramble
Common Mallow
Common Ragwort
Common Toadflax viz.

Fennel
Garden Tree Mallow
Goat's-Rue
Greater Knapweed
Lady's Bedstraw
Marjoram
Meadow Vetchling
Mugwort
Narrow-Leaved Bird's-Foot-Trefoil viz.

Narrow-Leaved Ragwort
Oxeye Daisy
Purple Toadflax viz.

(an unidentified) St John's-Wort viz.

Spanish Stonecrop viz.

Spear Thistle
Stinking Iris
Wild Carrot
Wild Teasel viz.

Winter Heliotrope (worryingly, many of the Plants are growing fairly close to the Footpath and at risk from the Council' Strimmers which can be and often are, ruthless. Hopefully however, some Plants will survive to flower later this year or early next year)
Yarrow
Yellow-Wort (flowered out)
and Yellow Melilot viz.

A Peregrine Falcon was resting on the side of the Waste Incinerator viz.

A second Bird arrived shortly afterwards.

Wild Flower' Species seen by the Thames Path included:

Black Horehound
Broad-Leaved Everlasting-Pea
(assumed) Caper Spurge viz.

Common Bird's-Foot-Trefoil
Common Bramble ~ whilst many Blackberries are now ripening there are still a few flowers viz.

Common Field-Speedwell
Common Mallow
Common Ragwort
Common Toadflax viz.

Creeeping Thistle
(assumed) Crow Garlic viz.

Fennel
Field Scabious
Greater Knapweed ~ seen here being visited by a couple of Bee-Type Critters viz.

Hogweed
Hollyhock
Hop Trefoil
Kidney Vetch viz.

Lady's Bedstraw
Lucerne (aka Alfalfa) and/or possible Hybrids &c. of same and similar viz.

Marjoram ~ seen here being visited here by a Gatekeeper Butterfly viz.

Mugwort viz.

Narrow-Leaved Bird's-Foot-Trefoil
Rose Campion
(an unidentified) St John's-Wort
Salad Burnet
Sea Aster (below the Sea Wall)
Sea Beet viz.

Spear Thistle
(an unidentified) Spurge viz.

Viper's Bugloss
White Campion ~ including at least one Plant with a rather pretty pale-pink flower
White Dead-Nettle
White Melilot
White Ramping Fumitory viz.

Wild Basil
Wild Carrot ~ with [i] flowers, the flowers being visited here by an Essex Skipper Butterfly and [ii] Seeds viz.

Wild Mignonette viz.

Wild Strawberry
Wild Teasel
Yarrow viz.

and Yellow Melilot

There was no sign of any Shelducks (and families) as we walked beside the Thames up to the Outfall.  By the Outfall, in addition to the usual massed ranks of Black-Headed Gulls (both adult and juvenile), we noticed:

a Common Sandpiper viz.

a couple of Grey Wagtails including an assumed youngster viz.

a Little Egret viz.

a (juvenile) Mediterranean Gull (our first Mediterranean Gull of the year) viz.

Teals (and a juvenile Black-Headed Gull) viz.

There were at least two Common Terns whooshing and swooshing and we did wonder if a third Bird present might have been an Arctic Tern, seemingly no black at the tip of the beak but we could not be sure.

It is that time of the year when we find Duck identification generally difficult with the Ducks moulting. But we think there was a Gadwall or two present in addition to some Mallards, including a couple of Ducklings viz.

Also present were a Great Black-Backed Gull, Cormorants, Moorhens and Coots.

A Footnote: being somewhat engrossed with the Birds we almost missed Tanker, Bro Nordby, accompanied by Tug, Svitzer Madeline, making their way up to Thunderer Jetty, Dagenham: both seen here in the vicinity of Thunderer Jetty viz.