I do like Dogs really.

I do like dogs,its just some of their dumb arse owners that really piss me off!!!!
More on that later but to start with i went to Gatwick this Morning to pick up Wansteads legendary birder Jono and his good lady wife,fresh off the plane from their trip to Tobago,sounds like a wonderful place,shame i don't like flying really,maybe one day.Anyway,i dropped them off home around 11am,not bad considering they didn't land till 9.25am,but thats how we roll ;)
I decided to stay local to me due to the poor weather that we are having today,although tomorrow promises to be a cracking day in South Essex.
I visited the Mardyke,next to Thurrock Football Club,scene of our 5-0 demolishion of said side about a year or so ago.The Mardyke like many other rivers in the UK has burst its banks and the fields are under about 4ft of water,there was plenty of Geese on one side,all Canada and 3 Mute Swans,coots,moorhens,Mallards and a few teal on the other.In the trees were a small tit flock,with Great,Blue and Long Tailed tits in abundance.
A Sparrowhawk flew across the water but sadly i got no shot,in the trees were a few Fieldfare,the odd Redwing and a couple of Goldcrests.I couldn't walk too far as the path was under aprox 3 feet of water and i only had my trainers on,so i called it a day for the morning,if that makes sense and went back to the car where i decided to stay local and head for the nearby Essex Wildlife Trust site at Belhus Woods.
I arrived over Belhus a few minutes later,after stopping in Aveley for a quick snack,tasty roll from the local bakers,lovely.I decided to start with a walk through the woods but one thing annoyed me straight away,feeders,they are there but they are empty......why?? Two winters ago they had a Long staying Marsh tit on site,they put food out then and the birds came to the table but today,in the 3 feeding areas,nothing,not a crumb for the poor birds,i may be missing something but why have feeders if you are not going to use them,perhaps they could do a deal with Essex County Council who could subsidise the food with the proceeds from their extortionate £2.20 car park charge,which you have to pay even if you are a member of the Essex Wildlife Trust,of which i am,the charge is ok if you are spending the day on the site but if you just want to pop over for an hour or so,its a bit steep.
In the Woods i had 5 Goldcrest,18 Long tailed tits,a nuthatch,plenty of other tits and a Single Redwing,not a great haul but i werent in there for long.I decided to make my way over towards the conservation area,which comprises of a Largeish Lake,with a hide and a few islands.Its a good place for Smew with a bird or two usually seen each winter but nothing today.On my way there i had around 30 Fieldfare,the numbers seem to be building up locally this week,so need to get over Thames Chase at some point this week to see if they are up there as well.
On the Lake i had a Few Pochard,Tufted Ducks,teal,mallard,coots and Moorhen,plenty of Black Headed Gulls and a few Green Woodpeckers in the surrounding grasses.I had 6 Snipe around the edge of the lake and a cracking Kingfisher on the far side whizzing down the side of the lake.I also had another Redwing and 4 Ring necked Parakeets,at the pond at the top were a few Shoveler and sadly a dead Grey Heron was in the waters edge.I was having a great time but this was just about to change,i was about 10 feet away from a Snipe,crouching down in long grass to get a photograph of the bird when a fckng doberman decided to jump all over me,flushing the Snipe and getting mud all over my lense,luckily just on the outside not the glass.I jumped up and gave the stupid woman who was walking the dog a mouthful,while watching the other 5 dogs she was walking all bounding up to me,getting me even more dirtier,too which the woman got another mouthful.
I don't hate dogs,i don't want dogs banned from Public Areas but i do want stupid dog owners who can't control their bloody mutts banned,why should i have to be attacked,albeit in a friendly way when i am out enjoying myself,luckily i am not particularly scared of dogs but i don't like some of the more aggresive looking ones,saying that,those usually have the more aggresive owners,almost like a trophy for them.The woman today was a nasty piece of work,i did ask her why she insisted on taking her dogs for a walk around a conservation area and letting them run amok everywhere,her answer was simply because she could and i am sure she will continue to do so.
In all seriousness,i have had dogs in the past,as have most people,take them to your local park,you know,the park with swings etc,if they are well behaved or you can look after them then by all means take them to your local country park,let them utilise the large spaces but don't take them to a fucking conservation area to piss people like me off who just want to look at the indigenous wildlife on offer,parakeets aside,surely its just common sense.To the Dog owners who read this that are responsible dog owners,who can control their dogs,i apologise if you are somehow offended but to those that can't control their dogs,stay out of my way or doggie gets kicked if it comes anywhere near my camera equipment.
i went home after that,thouroughly cheesed off.
Have some photos,not very good due to the poor light but some not too bad.
Supposed to be a nice day tomorrow,or at least it was when i last checked,although the wind has got right up again this evening.