Today I took myself to London Wetland Centre which has recently re-opened. I booked my timed ticket earlier this week and eagerly set off this morning with my camera. Unfortunately I was a day too early to use the hides but I still had a lovely time. It’s about a 40 minute walk from my flat but felt like I was in the middle of nowhere at times. It must have been wonderful when there were no planes heading down to Heathrow, although there are still less than pre-Covid. They have introduced a one-way system, which everyone followed, and at no point did it feel too busy. It also marked the first time I’ve used a bathroom that wasn’t my own in 4 months – what a milestone!
I saw lots of wonderful birds, as you’d expect, and I will share photos of these in another post. But first I wanted to share some of the insect (and a lizard) photos that I took. I think visiting on my own made me spend more time looking at the wildlife around me, and focusing in on little details one might ordinarily walk straight past. I spent a lot of time around one area, waiting for the butterflies to get into position (which they never quite did). So it’s probably a good thing I was on my own.
Special thank you to my friend Hannah (and her Dad) for their help on butterfly identification!
Gatekeeper butterfly 
Thanks for reading, I took 620 photos today so might squeeze a couple more blogs out over the next few days. Thanks to the London Wetland Centre for opening again, it felt very safe and all the staff I interacted with were so lovely.
Lily M Photography 
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