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Leigh on Sea

As the weather seemed fine this morning we made a snap decision to visit Leigh on Sea. On arrival at mid day the tide was close to its fullest ebb and the waders were represented by a solitary redshank in Leigh Creek. The brent geese were present in large numbers on the flats very close to the edge of the creek. This was by far the best naked eye view that I have ever had of brents which let me observe some very agressive behaviour between individuals.

In Leigh Creek there were a number of little egrets, I think 6 but they insisted on wandering behind moored fishing boats so I wouldn't be 100% sure. Again it was one of the best views that I had and it was striking how brilliant white they looked when juxtaposed with gulls. It was interesting to observe how they moved around stabbing at food rather than waiting like  heron.

While the trees that we observed on the journey were well into the autumn change with some brilliant reds those on the south facing slope at Leigh were all still green. There were also quite  few wild plants still in flower including a nice display of toadflax along the railway between Old Leigh and Chalkwell.
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