As I Xi It

Woke up to a lovely sunny morning and thought, “lets take the camera out for a spin”.

I went down to Rainham Marshes, something I’d been meaning to do for a few weeks now, in search of water voles! I spent about an hour in one spot surveilling the river bank by the bridge, but no luck. To pass the time, I shot a dragonfly in flight, some fish in the water and the visitors centre. I heard a splash at one point but it was a false alarm, just a duckling taking a dive.

As I walked along the ditch, I kept a look out for the little amphibious rodents but no luck…until I reached an area where I noticed hamster like droppings on the bank. Looking around, there were more piles of poo. Given that water voles are about the size of a Syrian hamster, it wasn’t that far fetched that the turds would look like what Watson produces. There was more splashing coming from the rushes, but this time it wasn’t a duckling but a water vole! It was so sweet! All rotund and having a nibble on some leaves. It was really tucking in to its lunch in the same kind of way that my hamster would. I was quite happily snapping away and then it rained. It really rained and there was no hide in the vicinity for me to wait it out so I got a bit wet.

Once the rain had stopped and the sun came out, I came across quite a large, smart looking hide. From there, I saw a fox pick up lunch. It was quite a nice specimen unlike the scrawny urban foxes I get around my road.

Yup, it was worth taking the day off work for a bit of natureyness.

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