Today was one of those days that you just won't ever forget. The 9th October 2020 will go down in Rainham history. The day started with a slow but steady trundle around the A406 and arriving in the Aveley Bay car park just in time to see the sun rising from above the clouds over a calm still morning. The sound of Reed Buntings and Meadow Pipits filled the air as they took off into the gentle South Westerly Breeze in search of warmer climates and the first Skylarks of the day called over head. 5 Seals in the bay flushed all the waders as they are rolling about and playing with each other. One was chasing fish up into the shallows, catching them and then tossing them back into the middle of the Thames. It was captivating to watch and I have honestly never seen anything like it. Moving along I decided to head up to the serin mound to see if there was anything about however it was eerily quiet as was Rainham Mound, so I headed off on the Stone Barges loop. Several Redshank were about on the muddy banks of the Thames and the Black-tailed Godwit that the Seals had flushed had finally given up and flew high up the Thames towards central London. Above: Redshank Below: Black-tailed Godwits Moving on past cold harbour point and towards the barges it felt as though since my last visit there had been a mini fall of Robins and Dunnocks as they appeared to be everywhere. 2 Little Egret flew downriver in perfect lighting and at the Stone Barges themselves the first Kingfisher of the day was seen along with 9 Stonechat. Above: Little Egret with Muddy feet Below: Male Stonechat Moving further on I went and checked the willows near the entrance to the Tilda Rice factory however there wasn't much about. 2 Redwing flew over as I headed down the side of the tip to the sound of Singing Skylarks, Robins, Wrens and Cetti's Warblers. The only birds of note were a Song Thrush and a Goldcrest singing away near the car park. I then headed round to the visitor centre to start the day of volunteering and as I rolled up the first Siskin of the day flew over along side a pair of Ring-necked Parakeet quite a scarcity on the reserve these days! It wasn't long before I had headed out onto the trails and so headed into the Purfleet Hide. I set about scanning the islands and eventually found 9 sleeping Common Snipe. Moving on I headed along the trail as the first Chaffinches started to move through over head. It was evident that this was going to be a Chaffinch day! The sound of Pinging brought me to a stop as it sounded as though there were Bearded Tits not just in the reeds but above me. 2 Stonechat were distracting me, but eventually not 1 but 5 Bearded Tits literally appeared from nowhere and sat staring at me in the thistles opposite. I quickly got everyone around me onto the birds and they were enjoyed by all when after the 5 minute staring competition they bounded straight towards us and over our heads disappearing somewhere into the reeds near the Purfleet Hide just as the second Kingfisher of the day zoomed past. Above: Bearded Tits Well what happened for the rest of the morning was most unexpected as it became apparent that it was one hell of a Chaffinch day with flocks ranging from 2 birds through to 42 odd and we were soon inundated with flocks of birds moving over the whole of the reserve from the train lines all the way to the river wall where we were. The chaffinch flocks were quite often associated with the odd one or two Bramblings and even a flock with 3 in. A Great Crested Grebe appearing from high inland cause quite a stir at first as they always look so out of place when they fly. Then the fluty call of a Woodlark could be heard as one strolled through at eye level in front of us. Grey Wagtail was next and just as we were speculating about Tree Sparrow one did the right thing and called right above our heads for all of us to look up and see it bound through. And all that was greeted by extra Siskin's and my first patch Lesser Redpolls migrating through and all on a strengthening Southerly Breeze. The totals in the end looked like this: Vismig from RSPB Rainham Marshes today: Woodlark SW, 2 Redwing W, 72 Meadow Pipit SW, 1128 Chaffinch SW, 28 Brambling SW, 7 Lesser Redpoll SW, 24 Siskin SW, Tree Sparrow SW. Absolutely bonkers...! Above: Great Crested Grebe Below: Chaffinches Above: Spot the Brambling Below: Woodlark! After this we decided to move on as the weather looked as though it was starting to close in. We headed up onto the river wall to have a quick scan of the bay and found 20 Avocet and 2 Curlew but the Godwits hadn't returned. Lapwing were however numerous with large flocks circling in the blue sky. Above: Lapwing Below: Avocet We soon headed back into the reserve and towards the dragonfly pools where yet more Stonechat were sat on the fence posts all while more Bearded Tits pinged from the Reed Beds and occasionally popped their heads up to bound from one reed mace to another as a Kestrel appeared from nowhere and landed on a nearby fence post with its shrew dinner. Onto the viewing platform and Target Pools was full of ducks. Teal number almost 1000 and were alongside 10 Pintail around 400 Wigeon, a few Gadwall and Shoveler. A flighty Water Pipit was also around and my first since the winter! A female Marsh Harrier spooked all the ducks while a low flying military helicopter spooked the Canada's and Greylags. Out the other side a Black-tailed Godwit was about along with the aforementioned ducks, but with added Coot and Little Grebe. A Male Marsh Harrier was courting the Marsh Distantly before dropping down. We then headed round to the viewing platforms but all was now quiet with the exception of an immature Male Marsh Harrier which was at first a mere speck in the sky, but eventually spiralled down and landed in on the marsh an obvious migrant! Above: Imm Male Marsh Harrier Moving on to the Ken Barret Hide which was full of Teal and Shoveler, however with the impending dark clouds gathering pace we decided to quickly move on. The Barn Owl was in his box as usual, but the best sighting was a young Hobby superbly catching Migrant Hawkers from above the woodland. Into the Woodland we went and superb views of the Hobby were to be had. At one point it literally shot over our heads and disappeared into the bushes only for us to round a corner and it to be sat watching us from a dead branch over hanging the path. Another Bonkers bird to add to a bonkers day. A Tit flock was the only other of note from the woodland however this held a Goldcrest and a few Chiffchaff as well. Above: Silhouette of Hobby with insect prey Below: Closer view of Hobby And so that rounded off another spectacular Autumn day at Rainham Marshes with Migration spectacles all round! Just incredible. Oh and a London Tick out of it as well! Its good to be back :)
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AuthorI have been a birder since I was 8 however only really started to be able to go out to places by myself in Summer 2016 (Blame the parents) My blogs will be from all over the place, but mainly from RSPB Rainham Marshes and Totteridge Valley! Photography done by Samuel Levy aged 20. ArchivesCategories |