Pec Sand at Stanborough gravel pits in Herts

I couldn't find time yesterday to do the short 30minute run up the A1 for the Pectoral Sandpiper found at Stanborough gravel pits on Coopers Green lane but after a bit of family stuff this morning I decided to pop up for it. I parked near the cottages after asking a local if it would be ok and he pointed me to an area that wouldn't offend anybody allowing me to park up and walk across the main road to the pits. I saw a group of four birders to my right by a large oak tree and joined them to find the Pec Sand was on the pit below with three Snipe, some Mallards and Teal. I watched the bird for a while before heading back to the car after adding another tick to my Herts list and indeed my 2025 year list too which now stands at 235.

Pec sand at Stanborough gravel pits

Canvey point and Bowers marsh

With my daily routine now involving school runs, football lessons, ballet classes, swimming lessons and even church visits as well as the day to day care for Suzanne time for birding remains limited but being that these duties are still taking me to Rainham several times a week and with Rainham being just a twenty minute drive to Canvey Island I've managed to grab a few hours to watch the sea at Canvey point. My first visit was in a strong Westerly and didn't deliver much on the sea at all but the Wader count was impressive with hundreds of Oystercatcher, dozens of Curlew and Ringed Plover plus a few Dunlin, Turnstone and singles of Greenshank, Sanderling, Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit along with lot's of Cormorant and Little Egret.

Kestrel

This week saw the time spent with Northerly and north easterlies so the sea was a little more productive.

Plenty of Arctic Skua action and a frustratingly distant view of a "probable/possible" Long-tailed Skua along with missing both LT Skua and Pomarine Skua minutes after I'd left. A Puffin was seen flying at pace down river and a couple of distant Auks moved down river too. Lot's of Terns were seen including plenty of Sandwich. Several Gannets all of which appeared to be this years birds. Two Spoonbill and a Great Egret flew across from Kent as did a Rock Pipit which landed on the foreshore giving me an unexpected year tick. Waders continued to follow the tide and cross the river and included all the above plus Grey Plover and some distant Avocet. Little Gull and Med Gulls were noted and a Red throated Diver was seen drifting from the pier down river. Eight Grey Heron flew from Essex to Kent in one flock and my first Brent Geese of the Autumn were noted with a total of nine birds in three groups. Upto fifty Common Scoter were seen in three groups and Wigeon flew east in good numbers. Nineteen pintail, a few Teal and four Shelduck added to the duck numbers on my visit. Swallows hawked up and down the tide line getting ready to head south too.

The Rock Pipit took my year list to 233 and equaled my worst ever year total so there's some positivity at last. I'm still to tick Long-tailed Skua for Essex but I've come close this year at least with a probable and a couple of very close misses.

Guinea Fowl blocking the road into Bowers marsh

25 Spoonbill at Bowers marsh

Roll on to 28th and I took my grandson to play football in Dagenham after which I took a short detour down to Bowers marsh. The target was a Red-necked Phalarope which showed at distance after a short wait. 25 Spoonbill roosted on one of the islands and the wader count included a single Grey Plover, 2 Green Sandpipers along with numbers of Snipe, Ruff, Blackwit, Lapwing and Avocet. Greylag, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, Shelduck, Grey Heron, Bearded Tit, Marsh Harrier, Peregrine, Hobby and Buzzard made up the best of the rest and the Phalarope pushed the year list to 234.

With time being so limited I'm struggling to get the camera out of the bag at the moment but fingers crossed I find a target to point it at sooner rather than later.

Arctic Warbler at Wigborough in Essex

 Yesterday saw me pinch a couple of hours between duties so I chose Dungeness to waste those two hours.

Ten Arctic Tern, Two Balearic Shearwaters and two Little Terns giving me three year ticks among the many Sandwich and Common Terns. Gannets were present in good numbers and a single Kittiwake was noted amongst the gulls that included Gt black backed, Lesser black backed, Herring, Common, Black-headed and Med Gulls. A Black Redstart and Wheatear were seen at a quiet Galloways before ten minutes at the wader roost in Littlestone gave numbers of Ringed-plover, Knot, Dunlin and Sanderling plus another two Wheatear. Cattle Egret and GW Egret were both seen along with quite a gathering of Swallows and Sand Martins before I dipped the reported Wryneck but did find another seven Wheatear.

Common Whitethroat

Waders at Littlestone

Sanderling

Black Redstart

News came out last night whilst I was otherwise tied up of an Arctic Warbler being found at Wigborough by Sean N.and this morning I had already agreed to take my grandson to football in Hornchurch at 10am but I took a punt and ran up to Wigborough knowing that I literally only had fifteen minutes once there before I'd need to head back down the A12 to keep my commitment for the football. I arrived to news the bird hadn't been seen for a while and with the car park full and having no time for the long walk back from Abberton I parked blocking cars in aware that if somebody walked back towards the cars I'd need to follow them which is what happened. I took their space and now had just five minutes but as I walked back into the churchyard Dave B had refound the bird along the adjoining tree line and I managed some lovely views in the short time I had left. I made it back to get George to his football with fifteen minutes to spare.

The Arctic Warbler is not just a year tick but an Essex tick too so I'm pleased I tried and even more pleased I managed to see it largely thanks to Dave. The bird is only the second ever in Essex following one at the Naze back in 2004. I've previously seen two Arctic Warblers in Britain (Wells 2017 and Spurn 2024) 

St Stephens at Wigborough in Essex

Year list now 232 and just one away from not being my lowest ever

The Essex list moves to a modest but respectable 283

couple of local trips

The family care commitments continue to be a priority for me, Suzannes having more bad days than good and the grandchildren are still giving me great joy as I spend spare hours in their company during the school holidays. My daughter in law has her treatment plan agreed and that starts next week so I continue to support her as much as possible too. Sometimes life is challenging and these difficulties underline how much we all need a relief from the stress and worry and for me that's birding.

I've enjoyed a few hours on Chingford plain with Wryneck the clear highlight and an unexpected Grasshopper warbler a bonus along with the usual Treecreeper, Nutchatch, Gt Spotted and Green Woodpeckers. Whitethroat, Hobby, Buzzard and Kestrel the best of the rest here.

At Wanstead I found my first Pied Flycatcher of the year but lost it before the Jims caught up with me and we didn't refind it. A Spotted Flycatcher, Wheatear and Whinchat were also seen on the flats.

Spotted Flycatcher

Today I was at my sons in Hornchurch for an hour or two so popped down to Coalhouse Fort where I found a Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper among the mixed flock of 100+Ringed Plover and several Dunlin. Also on the mud were 40+ Curlew and a single Black-tailed Godwit.

Coalhouse point

With the above trips my year list now stands at 228 and only 5 behind my worst ever year of 233.

Purple Sandpiper at Landguard

Time has not been my own for a while now but this morning I woke early and decided to run up the A12 to Landguard hoping I might find a migrant or two. Walking out onto the common I quickly picked up three Lesser Whitethroat and a Common Whitethroat. A large flock of Linnet and Goldfinch were busy feeding with a flock of House Sparrow and a Robin for company and among them a Tree Sparrow which I think is a first for Suffolk for me. Further along the common I found three Wheatears. A Whimbrel and three Oytercatchers flew over and Sandwich Terns dived in the harbour before I reached the pier and eventually found a Purple Sandpiper feeding. I watched the bird for over an hour and found it fascinating how the bird pays so little attention to the incoming tide where at times it would be completely covered by the waves but would stand its ground and carry on feeding as the waves dropped. The walk back gave views of Willow Warbler and Black Redstart but I failed to find the reported Pied Flycatcher.

Back home and a Wryneck reported on Chingford plain had me getting back in the car but a two hour search wasn't successful although the bird was refound as we drove home. We did see a Grasshopper Warbler found by Ian L. which gave the Jims a year tick. 

Year list now 224

The following morning saw me pick up Jim at 7am for another try for the Wryneck and I managed to refind the bird and get the half a dozen other birders onto it.

Year list now 225

Zitting Cisticola at Walberswick

I dipped a Zitting Cisticola (previously known as Fan-tailed Warbler) in Kent earlier this year so when news came out of one at Walberswick yesterday I was itching for the twitch but unfortunately I had already planned to watch my grandson play his first football match and by the time that commitment was met it was too late to make the trip up to Suffolk but I had already promised to take Jim and Dad to see the Black Stork at Boyton some 20 miles from Walberswick so I arranged with them to leave in time to be at Boyton for first light see the Stork and if news was positive on the Zitty we were well placed to go for it.

Dad struggled with the walk out to the Black Stork but his mood was lifted when he saw how well the bird was showing for us. 

A Tawny Owl called again from the copse in Mill lane and we encountered the usual suspects on the walk, Bearded Tits, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Avocet, Green Sandpiper, Ruff, Chinese Water Deer and Hares to name a few. Back at the car park we found a Little Owl but with news of the Zitty being seen we headed off with haste to Walberswick. Ringo took £3 off me for 4 hours parking and we started the half a mile walk down to the twitch. As we arrived the bird was heard calling and we managed to see it flying high in the clouds. This repeated every ten minutes or so and we managed to watch it flying low along the reeds along with one very brief view of it sat up. Spoonbill was the only other bird of note here but we left extremely happy to be adding Zitting Cisticola to the life list (452) the year list (223) and the Suffolk list (282)

The Zit is my second new bird of 2025 and has been a long time coming in this year of limited opportunity where I've added this and the Booted Eagle (which looks good to make the British list) and I've dipped just Song Sparrow now I've erased the dip on the Kent Zit.

Additional note: It transpired that the Zitting Cisticola found a female and they raised a brood of four young marking the first breeding of this species in Britain

Black Stork at Boyton marsh Suffolk

I've been watching news of the Black Stork in Suffolk since it arrived whilst I was at Butlins and the images coming through seemed to show the bird as showing particularly well too. I've had some car trouble since getting home from Butlins and had my car taken away for what looks likely to be a new cam belt so needed to get Suzannes car running again as she hasn't used it this year. It started with a jump pack and after checking oil, water and tyre pressure I gave it a run around locally yesterday. Roll on to this morning and after a night of broken sleep I woke before 3am and decided if the car started I'd run up to Boyton for the Black Stork. Needless to say it started and I arrived at Boyton for 5am to start the walk out along the sea wall. The walk out was about one and half miles. At the car park I had a Little Owl sat on the fence, the pool beyond the farm held a couple of Green Sandpipers with a few Avocet, Lapwing, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Redshank and Black-tailed Godwits. A Bittern flew over and a Tawny Owl called from the woods nearby. Bearded Tits pinged in two small groups in the reeds and three Chinese Water Deer were also seen on the walk out. There was no other birders present as I made it out to the area the Stork had been favouring and I quickly located it in the channel between the sea wall and the farmers fields.

I spent a couple of hours enjoying fabulous views and the bird and in the two hours I saw another four birders come and go. I've seen two Black Storks before in the UK but this youngster was the first to give goo prolonged close views with the other being fly over or distant scope views. The Black Stork is a Suffolk tick which takes my Suffolk list to a modest 281 species and takes the UK year list to 222.

On the way home I stopped at Abberton and enjoyed good views of the juvenile Wood Sandpiper from the causeway and a surprise Weasel that allowed a few images as it ran along the causeway. I walked out to Hide bay to see the Temminck's Stint but the hide was closed for maintenance so I didn't connect with the bird on this occasion.

A decent morning out with some good conversation along the way all helping to take my mind off my worries for a while.