(Photo courtesy of the Sydenham Field Naturalists)

A nature club in Chatham-Kent is thanking a small group of volunteers for their efforts in cleaning up a local waterway.

Members of the Sydenham Field Naturalists braved the rainy weather on Saturday to clean the shoreline of Running Creek in Wallaceburg by fishing out plastic and other garbage from the water.

The nine volunteers filled serval garbage bags and accumulated several bulky items such as planks of wood.

“They gave nature a helping hand and our local waterfowl, reptiles, amphibians and other aquatic animals a tidy place to reside,” the club said in a news release.

The local cleanup effort was held to coincide with Earth Day on Saturday.