May 2019

First outing this ‘Magic May’ was back to the traditional nightingale haunt at Lee Valley with Isabelle. Unfortunately the satnav took me a different car-park and from there I didn’t know how to get the same spot as last year! However after a longer than usual walk we found our way to the familiar area near Bittern Hide, but we ran out of parking time, and legs, to get to the same place we’d heard nightingales the year before.

Neverthless we heard two Cuckoo and saw one in a tree as we had lunch by one of the creeks. We also saw plenty of Garden Warbler at 70 Acres Lake near the footbridge, a great place for them.
The second and last outing was to RSPB Rainham Marshes for pond-dipping with Isabelle again and after that a walk around about a third of the reserve. We found greater pond beetle, dragonfly nymphs and lots of back-swimmers during the dipping, and on the mini-beast hunt, mosquitoes found us!

Birds heard and seen at the Woodland Discovery Centre, while we were pond-dipping, were Lesser Whitethroat, Song Thrush (I also found a snail anvil with lots of broken snail shells), Chiffchaff and the first of several Cetti’s Warbler (I even saw one later).

On the way back from the pond-dipping, we took a detour through the cordite storage area because of a singing Cuckoo, but we, and others there, did not see it.

During lunch we sat on a bench overlooking the marshes and saw plenty of activity, including Redshank with chicks, a couple of Sand Martin and House Martin, Swift, Kestrel and one or two Water Rail grunting and squealing from nearby reeds.

Friday 24th, Lee Valley Regional Park, Hertfordshire, UK.
Thursday 30th, RSPB Rainham Marshes, Essex, UK.

May 2017

Only a couple of outings for this 'magic' May. After a family move back to the UK, birding time was hard to come by. The first of the month I was out to the occasional patch at Tyttenhanger where I saw over 50 species, the most notable being Peregrine Falcon. Also both Ringed and Little Ringed Plover, Dunlin, and plenty of warblers including Garden, Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat, as well as site speciality Tree Sparrow.

Towards the end of the month, during a family outing to a horse sanctuary, I saw a Hobby scaring the Barn Swallows.

Monday 1st, Tyttenhanger Gravel Pits, Hertfordshire, UK.

Sunday 28th, Redwings Horse Sanctuary -- Ada Cole, Essex, UK.

Rainham Marshes RSPB Reserve, Havering, UK, 7-Sep-2011

1:45 PM - 4:05 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
Comments: A final pre-emigration visit to a productive place close by my London home. On the trip home the satnav took me the wrong way via the centre of London past the Houses of Parliament! It wasn't a particularly productive visit either.
Weather: overcast, windy (W), cool.
34 species

Mute Swan X
Gadwall X
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler X
Eurasian Teal X
Common Pochard 2 males.
Tufted Duck X
Common Pheasant X
Little Grebe X
Great Cormorant X
Grey Heron X
Little Egret X
Common Kestrel X
Common Moorhen X
Eurasian Coot X
Northern Lapwing X
Green Sandpiper 1 from Ken Barratt hide.
Black-tailed Godwit X
Black-headed Gull X
Herring Gull 2 over.
Lesser Black-backed Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull 1 immature over.
Common Wood-Pigeon X
Eurasian Collared-Dove 6
Common Magpie 2
Carrion Crow X
Sand Martin X
Common House-Martin X
Great Tit 5 approx., together.
European Starling X
Meadow Pipit X
European Greenfinch X
European Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Rainham Marshes RSPB Reserve, Essex, UK, 19-Sep-2010

10:45 AM - 2:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
Comments: Arriving at the reserve I saw an advertised walk with The Urban Birder about to start, so as an admirer of his work I hung about & joined the walk. I was able to chat to him a bit & he was a very nice guy as well as being knowledgeable & very passionate about patch birding in an urban setting.
Weather: bright but overcast, breezy (NW).
39 species

Greylag Goose X
Canada Goose X
Mute Swan X
Gadwall X
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler X
Northern Pintail X
Common Pochard X
Little Grebe X
Great Cormorant X
Grey Heron X
Little Egret X
Eurasian Hobby X
Common Moorhen X
Eurasian Coot X
Northern Lapwing X
Red Knot 2 up-river.
Black-headed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Lesser Black-backed Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Stock Dove X
Common Wood-Pigeon X
Eurasian Collared-Dove X
Great Spotted Woodpecker X
Common Magpie X
Carrion Crow X
Barn Swallow X
Common House-Martin X - over.
Great Tit X
Blue Tit X
Cetti's Warbler X
Common Chiffchaff X
Blackcap X - heard.
European Starling X
Western Yellow Wagtail 1 over.
European Greenfinch X
European Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Rainham Marshes RSPB Reserve, Essex, UK, 8-Aug-2010

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
Weather: bright, sunny, cool breeze (E), hot.
34 species

Common Shelduck 12
Gadwall X
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler X
Green-winged Teal X - including one eclipse male.
Little Grebe X
Great Cormorant 2
Grey Heron X
Little Egret 2 over the main reserve, seen from the riverbank, soaring & chasing in some sort of display/dispute.
Common Kestrel 1
Common Moorhen X
Eurasian Coot X
Northern Lapwing X
Common Sandpiper 1
Common Redshank 1 flew across the river.
Whimbrel 4
Ruddy Turnstone 1
Dunlin X
Ruff X
Black-headed Gull X
Yellow-legged Gull 1
Lesser Black-backed Gull X
Common Wood-Pigeon X
Common Magpie X
Carrion Crow X
Blue Tit X
Eurasian Wren X
Eurasian Reed-Warbler 2
Common Whitethroat X
European Starling X
European Greenfinch X
European Goldfinch 6
Common Linnet 2
House Sparrow X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

70 Acres Lake, Lee Valley Park, Essex, 22/05/2010

Weather: bright & sunny, warm. 4:30 to 7:30pm.

Out to the Lee Valley with Sian because she wanted to hear singing nightigales & I thought this would be just the place. It was another lovely May spring day with the hawthorn in full bloom. Unfortunately the nightingale were mostly silent & it felt like we were too late in the season despite May getting off to a cold start & spring migration generally thought to have been delayed due to colder weather in the previous few weeks.
We walked the same path I had when I came for the Savi's warbler, visited the Bittern hide then took a long loop round the back before coming back along the same path.

From Car-Park.
Chaffinch, Magpie, Woodpigeon.
Greylag Goose, Canada Goose.
Blackcap - heard.
Wren - heard.
Chiffchaff, Dunnock.
Sedge Warbler - heard.

70 Acres Lake.
Great-Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Tufted Duck, Crow.
Mute Swan, Mallard, Pochard.
Robin, Common Tern, Reed Bunting, Garden Warbler, Long-Tailed Tit.
Nightingale - as we neared the Bittern hide, suddenly a nightingale broke out with a brief burst of song. Unfortunately before it could get into full swing a couple of people walked along the path ahead us & past the bush the bird was singing from. They were talking the whole time & this stopped the singing & it never started again though we waited for some minutes afterwards. Unusually we didn't hear any later as the evening wore on either.

Bittern Hide.
Gadwall, Reed Warbler.

Continuing Around Lake.
Bullfinch - a couple, male & female, quickly into the thick hawthorn & away, showing distinctive white rumps.
Whitethroat - several around, one flew up in song-flight.
Blue Tit, Great Tit. 
Hobby - heading back around the lake, one flew over quite high up, typically like a large swift. When we got back to the car another was hawking around a field adjacent, coming closer every now & again but generally staying close to the river. 
Swift, Swallow, Jay, Blackbird, Jackdaw. 
Song Thrush - heard. 
Cetti's Warbler - heard.

37 species.

RSPB Rainham Marshes, Essex, 09/05/2010

11:15am to 3pm. Weather: grey, overcast, chilly, slight cold breeze (NE).

Spring visit looking for whinchat & first visit in a while.

Carpark.
Blackcap - heard.
Swift - 100+; the biggest gathering of swifts I'd ever seen accumulated over the marshes next to the river. A very impressive sight from the carpark, even more so when I got closer as I walked along the river.
Magpie, Starling, Great Tit, Chaffinch.
Chiffchaff - heard.
Song Thrush, Shelduck, Woodpigeon, Whitethroat.

Visitors' Centre Feeders.
Collared Dove, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, House Sparrow.

Riverside.
Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Comorant, Mallard, Black-Headed Gull.
Whimbrel - 2 overhead.
Jackdaw, Crow.
Common Sandpiper - one low over the water, wingbar & flicking wingbeats.
Wheatear - 3 females, 1 male, along the river defences.
Skylark, Linnet, Dunnock, Blackbird.

'Serin Mound'.
Coot, Moorhen, Grey Heron, Herring Gull.

Back along river.
Kestrel,
Lapwing,
Swallow - downstream over the river.

Reserve 'Wood'.
Long-Tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Robin.
Sand Martin - overheard North-West-ish.
Lesser Whitethroat -heard but remained hidden in the thick brambles though I waited a while for it to show.
Cetti's Warbler -heard.

Hide.
Tufted Duck.
House Martin - a couple in with the sand martins.
Pochard - 5 male, 1 female.
Mute Swan, Gadwall, Pied Wagtail, Great-Crested Grebe, Little Grebe.

Scrapes.
Little Ringed Plover.
Shoveler - 3 males overhead.
Canada Goose - 2.
Sedge Warbler.

Pools.
Greenshank.

Visitors' Centre.
Greylag Goose - 2 then 4, as I headed back to the centre.
Stock Dove - 1 at the feeders.

57 species recorded, none new.

When I departed, setting off up the A13, a very probable Cuckoo flew over from the reserve.

Southend-on-Sea, Essex, 02/08/2009

All day visit. Weather: Cloudy, long sunny spells.

A day besides the nearest seaside to London with Kim. We started at Leigh-on-Sea but made our way into Southend & it's pier & fish & chips.

Beach:
Black-Headed Gull, Cormorant, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Herring Gull.

Pier:
Great Black-Backed Gull,
Turnstone - 20-30 birds were perched one of the launching ramps on the pier, still in late breeding breeding plumage & emitting numerous calls.

Town & Beach:
Collared Dove, Starling, Swallow, Oystercatcher.

70 Acres Lake, Lee Valley Park, Essex, 31/05/2009

Weather: cool dawn; clear sunny sky. From 4:45am.

Another very early start, following Lakenheath, to try for a better connection with an elusive bird. Again I was not first on sight & again the effort was worth it, with great volume from the birds at this time of day.

From the carpark & heading up the path looking out over the first water:
Great Tit, Mute Swan, Mallard, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Tufted Duck, Chaffinch, Crow, Canada Goose, Blackbird;
Cuckoo, heard first, as ever then overhead;
Song Thrush, heard from more distant trees;
Common Tern, seen across the lake where a nesting colony is resident;
Garden Warbler, popped out from a bush next to the path;
Green Woodpecker, Sedge Warbler, Great-Crested Grebe, Reed Warbler, Moorhen;
Cetti's Warbler, heard as usual from low-down, dense vegetation;
Wren, Jay, Blackcap, Chiffchaff;
Nightingale, many in good voice & one or two flitting about.

The elusive Savi's Warbler was in good voice as it was last time I visited & there were a few birders looking for it. As usual the it remained out of sight tempting confusion with the more numerous & less shy Reed Bunting & reed warbler, however at one point I did see a brief flight of larger, somewhat dumpier looking bird which may, or may not, have been the Savi's. After a while I moved on to prevent getting any colder than I already was.

On various waterways & amongst the varied & dense vegetation:
Pochard, Dunnock, Cormorant, Coot, Grey Heron, Starling, Whitethroat;
Muntjac, skulking along the path;
Long-Tailed Tit, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Greylag Goose, Gadwall, Black-Headed Gull, Great-Spotted Woodpecker;
Willow Warbler, on lower vegetation;
Lapwing, 2 over adjoining agricultural fields;
Collared Dove, Pheasant (female) & Jackdaw back at the carpark.

A great way to end 'magic' May.

43 species.

70 Acres Lake, Lee Valley Park, Essex, 09/05/2009

Weather: clear, sunny, going to a cool dusk. From 8pm.

One of the sightings sites I check regularly had been reporting a savi's warbler at a location not too far from London, so after some umming & ahhing, & a day cooped up in the office, I decided to head up there to see if could locate this elusive species for a great life tick.

The lakes & canals in the area make up a wonderful natural oasis just off the M25 & there were plenty of the usual wildfowl sharing the waters with the anglers: Greylag Goose, Mallard,
Coot, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Pochard, Moorhen.

Also in the wonderfully lush woods were Chaffinch, & the first songs of Garden Warbler that I had heard in many a year. I lingered at a of couple points along the path hoping one would show & finally I was rewarded with my best ever view as one sang from within a dense tree but luckily for me from a clearing in the branches through which I could view it which I did for several minutes. The last time I saw one in the UK was on my very first birding day-out in 1984!

I had no such luck with a singing Nightingale though as it was too distant to even attempt trying to see it from its well concealed singing spot. Easier to pick up were Crow, Wren & Canada Goose.
After I had retraced my steps from going completely the wrong way, it wasn't long before I reached the spot where several other birders were watching for the savi's & from there picked out Common Tern across the water as well as Gadwall. I moved a few metres past the others for a different vantage point (where I saw the garden warbler mentioned earlier) & as dusk descended I was delighted to pick up my first Hobby of the year which was soon joined by others, hawking close-by over the reeds for insects.

It wasn't long after that I heard the distinctive 'gropper'-like reeling of the savi's so I quickly went back & joined the other birders & staked out the reedbeds from where it was singing. A couple of times it sounded very close but remained elusive. However I suddenly saw flash of brown bird diving from one reed to another & down into the beds from where the reeling had come from. Not exactly a 'show' by any stretch but circumstantially I felt fairly certain it was my first Savi's Warbler, a life tick & my first twitch, sort of? I continued to listen & search in vain until the light died & I had to head off.

On the way back to the car I heard a Cuckoo, Cetti's Warbler, Chiffchaff, Robin & Blackbird; a Song Thrush flashed across the path low into bushes. In the gloom I then saw something moving on the path in front of me but I had to use my binoculars to enhance my night vision in order to pick out a Fox which quickly melted into the undergrowth. As I got to the spot where the fox had been I heard a Reed Warbler singing from a well-hidden spot low down in a bush, my first of the year, & finally a Grey Heron & Swift overhead (as they always are).

20 species, 1 new species.

RSPB Rainham Marshes, Essex, 02/11/2008

Weather: Mixed clouds & sunshine, cool, still. From 12:30pm.

A trip out for the reported serins on a lovely autumnal day.

From the car-park the usual Collared Dove, Blue Tit, & then something less usual, a lone Grey Wagtail flew over from the reserve to the riverside, then back to normal Crow, Magpie & Woodpigeon.
I headed out along the seawall after getting more information on the serins from the visitor's centre & after spotting Greenfinch, Goldfinch, House Sparrow around the feeders.
In the scrub either side of the path or visible on the scrapes on the reserve: Stonechat, Pied Wagtail, Wigeon, Shoveler, Starling, Meadow Pipit, Greylag Goose, Black-Headed Gull, Skylark, Grey Heron, Wren, Kestrel.

I reached the section of the path which curves to the right at the base of the mound of the tip & looked downhill into the scrubby area, on the adjacent dyke were Moorhen & Coot. On the way up a few people had mentioned that the serins had not been seen that afternoon but that the Dartford Warbler had been seen in the locality, nevertheless I had to stay put for a good 15 minutes before I finally saw it low & nearby but only briefly in some scrub apparently accompanied by a 'ticking' wren. Happy with the dartford but dipping on the serin I headed back past a Robin & alerted to some crashing in the bushes I saw a fox hastily diving away through the undergrowth towards the reserve.

The tide was up which meant the muddy bay was submerged but on the water & on small patches of mud: Shelduck, Teal, Cormorant, Curlew, Great Black-Backed Gull, Herring Gull.

Back near the visitors' centre for Lapwing, a large group of chattering Linnet & a final Chaffinch.

As mentioned no sign of the serins, the theory being that they were amongst goldfinches feeding on the nearby rubbish tip which was closed allowing them to feed there undisturbed, & not on the reserve.

35 species, none new.

Update, 16/11/2008: the serins are still present, seen today (Sunday) so hopefully, if they stay around I'll have another try.

RSPB Rainham Marshes, Essex, 19/10/2008

Weather: Cool & cloudy. From 10:20am.

From the car-park & around the reserve with Kim: Long-Tailed Tit, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch, Wren, Collared Dove, Pied Wagtail, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Shoveler, Greylag Goose, Wigeon, Teal, Starling, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Chaffinch, Little Egret, Carrion Crow, Stonechat, Common Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Kestrel, Lapwing, Herring Gull, Black-Headed Gull, Grey Heron, Cetti's Warbler (heard) in the reeds near to the pylons, lone Pintail male amongst the other ducks, Gadwall, Meadow Pipit, Linnet. Most notable were three female pintail in a dyke adjacent to the main scrape, seen just after the male; attractive ducks now back in full post-eclipse plumage.

Heading out along the seawall: Cormorant, Great Black-Backed Gull, Shelduck, Rock Pipit on the river-side. Further along the seawall in some mixed scrub a bird perched high with its head into the wind looked much paler & with a stronger eye-stripe than the usual female or first winter stonechats which for me identified a Whinchat. However it flew off before I could a record shot as I had to fumble to change the camera's batteries. I wandered up a little further then headed back & again saw a perching 'chat-like bird in the same spot as before, & assumed it was the earlier bird however it was soon joined by a couple of others which were quickly identified as stonechats. Was one these birds the bird I had seen earlier & I mis-identified? This time I got a record shot, a record shot of a stonechat! I'm fairly certain the first bird was a Whinchat it was immediately striking in its difference but the later sightings did cast some doubt..I guess I'll have to see another one sometime to be sure of the tick.

37 species, 1 (possibly) new.

RSPB Rainham Marshes, Essex, 05/10/2008

Weather: wet & windy but mild. From 4:15pm.

A late afternoon visit to Rainham, a bit too late because the reserve was getting ready to close. Nonetheless the wardens were very happy for a group of us to take a quick wander.

On the first area of marsh: Wigeon, Coot, Grey Heron, Magpie, Black-Headed Gull, Teal, Little Egret & Lapwing.

From the path towards the hide a couple of brown, juvenile birds were perched on the wire fence & it took them to fly off to a far bush where a male Stonechat was clearly seen before the juvenile birds could be postively identified.

Although the hide was locked the main stretch of water could be observed from the path, although nothing in addition was seen apart from groups of Starling & loose groups of House Martin with the odd Swallow: more summer migrant stragglers. A Little Grebe was also quietly sitting in the water in the very close reedbed; Mallard & Canada Goose were also seen on the open water.

Heading back to the visitors' centre put up flocks of Goldfinch & Linnet; finally a lone Kestrel was hunting over river side meadows.

18 species, none new.

RSPB Rainham Marshes, Essex, 03/08/2008

Weather: Bright but overcast, mild but breezy; spots of rain.

In the car-park: Magpie, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Collared Dove; overflying Cormorant.

First look at the river in the shrubs next to the visitors' centre, a couple of active & noisy birds which after observing the dark legs, buff upperparts & white throat were revealed as Lesser Whitethroat, a new species. One of the birds appeared to be a youngster & an adult was bust feeding it; the noises they made were distinctive 'kek' & a tchurr; they then moved away towards the centre's feeders & then further into the reserve.

Other species on the centre's feeders: Great Tit, Blue Tit, House Sparrow, Greenfinch & Woodpigeon.

On the river-side mud or on the grass on the bank: Black-Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Starling; a couple of female or immature Reed Bunting perched on a dead shrub; Linnet & Lesser Black-Backed Gull.

After walking further up & again scanning the river-bank's mud quite a few small waders were picked out, some obviously Common Sandpiper, but amongst them one much more upright & slender looking & with distinctive, if not quite diagnostic, yellow legs: Wood Sandpiper. Although I didn't see it for long enough to be able to pick out its white stripe above the eye, also its underside was very white & appeared distinctly separated from its brown upperparts, the next day (Monday) a wood sandpiper was reported on the official RSPB site, so that along with the differences I did observe from the nearby commons were enough to confirm it in my mind. A bird I last saw nearly 25 years ago!

As the sandpipers moved closer to the bank, or flew off, out of view I moved further along the bankside path & immediately noticed a curlew-like bird flying up river, however it looked smaller & had a 'flappier' flight to the usual curlew; after it settled & I trained the 'scope on it I eventually picked out the distinctive head stripes of Whimbrel, another new species, one I've hoped to see for some time now. It stayed visiable for a while then like some of the sandpipers it flew down-river & out of view.

A couple of other species along the river: Kestrel hunting over the grass; Great Black-Backed Gull on the river-side mud amongst any black-heads.

After walking the public river-side path I then headed back to the reserve proper, & through the visitors' centre where a helpful expert pointed out Yellow-Legged Gull through a 'scope on the Thames' far bank-side ud, & tips to identify them: they have the same upperparts colour as common gull, whereas herring gull is the sae colour as back-headed gull; lesser black-backed gull has charcoal upperparts (usually). All very useful & even better, this was the first the time I'd seen the yellow-legged in the UK.

Finally entering the reserve, on the first area of marsh: Mistle Thrush, Little Grebe, Coot, Grey Heron, Pied Wagtail, Moorhen. At this point a militray helicopter overflew a few times to take part in the war games going occurring on the other side of the river, disturbing for a while almost everything on the reserve.

Walking through the forest zone & the plentiful berry shrubs: Wren, Reed Warbler & more goldfinch.

From the hide: Mallard, Little Egret; in the distance another wader, pale & active on the water's edge, a Greenshank.

Leaving the hide, along the path, looking back onto the flash: Greylag Goose, Shoveller; by this time the greenshank had been joined by a couple more, but which were roosting, beaks under wings, rather than foraging.

Beyond the flask crossing a creek for Water Vole, then on the 'back' creeks of the reserve, Mute Swan & Skylark.

Heading back to the visitors' centre: overflying Herring Gull & Sand Martin.

Passing through the centre & back to the path over-looking the river, the tide had now risen& on one of the rocky islands the whimbrel had re-appeared & got much better views as it foraged amongst the rocks. Finally an over-flying Black-Tailed Godwit.

Excellent day, with a couple of target species seen (yellow-legged & sandpiper[s]) & a couple of bonus lifer-ticks (lesser whitethroat & whimbrel).

42 species, 2 new.