Peter/Michael : I too remember the old hide at The Naze and John too of course. Sad he died so young; he was on merchant ships in the war I believe. My first memory of it is very pleasant. I had caught the train from Ingatestone to Walton and walked up to The Naze. Am not sure how old I was at the time - but young! As I walked along the hedgerow path from the tower to the seawall I had wonderful views of a Great Grey Shrike - a new species for me. A few hundred yards further on, along the short path from the seawall to the beach, a second new species appeared - a resplendent Shore Lark. Eventually I made my way to the hide and within minutes was watching a third new species - a Short-eared Owl. Three new birds in one day was exceptional even in those days and I was on cloud nine. Used it many times over the next few years including, on one occasion, during a massive storm. Sitting in a small hut with a tin roof in the middle of the saltings during a thunderstorm was perhaps not the wisest move but I was young then - and immortal! It certainly made for a memorable experience.
Your Forum
This forum has now been more or less replaced by the Club's Facebook page at 
The weblog below is for naturalists to use to report interesting sightings, ask questions, report on field meetings and generally post pictures and any information or questions generally relevant in some way to the wildlife and geology of Essex. You will need to register and be logged-on to post to the forum, and you need to upload pictures first, for use in posts. Find out more
The weblog below is for naturalists to use to report interesting sightings, ask questions, report on field meetings and generally post pictures and any information or questions generally relevant in some way to the wildlife and geology of Essex. You will need to register and be logged-on to post to the forum, and you need to upload pictures first, for use in posts. Find out more