Rainham passage watch

A weather front over the last few days meant that Rainham might just see some passage movement along the river so I've put some time in since Friday watching the Thames in the few hours of spare time I have.

Dropping my grandson to school in Hornchurch puts me close to the reserve and makes visiting a little more justified but still with other family care commitments the time is limited but I managed to enjoy some time in the worst of the weather.

Tuesday saw me ticking my first House Martin of the year followed by my first Swifts on Wednesday and then as the weather closed in Thursday had me picking up my first Whimbrel of the year with one sat on the foreshore. A Greenshank has been regular on Wennington and a Wood Sandpiper has been reported but not seen by anybody I know despite some lengthy searches and wasn't even spotted on the breeding bird survey. A couple of Wheatear remained on site. Thursday saw me pick up my first two Hobby of the year too.

Swift

Saturday saw the rain and the wind really pick up and it proved to be a rewarding couple of hours as I saw 80 or more Arctic Terns moving up and down the Thames making it difficult to count but with groups of 30 then 37 along with smaller groups of ten etc it's fait to say at least 80 were involved but possibly many more. Two Sandwich Tern flew out of the river along with two Black Tern and three Little Gulls to add to the drama. A Black-necked Grebe was drifting up and down on the tide along the Thames which I think is a Rainham tick for me. Four Whimbrel dropped onto the foreshore along with a couple of Barwits and eight Blackwits. A  Short-eared Owl was seen being mobbed by a Crow and later sat on a post out on the reserve and two Raven flew over kronking. Two Groppers where still reeling away but remained hidden. Out on the far bank of the River I spotted more Black and Bar Wits, three Grey Plover and four Little Ringed Plover remained on Wennington where I counted nine Yellow Wagtails although others reported twenty or more. 78 species were seen in total on Saturday by me without going onto the reserve proper.

A return on Sunday saw less action on the Thames but eight Arctic Terns were seen along with twelve Little Gulls, twelve Whimbrel, two Barwits, Greenshank, 4 Little ringed Plover, 31 Dunlin, 13 Ringed Plover, a Drake Pintail and a single Wheatear was new in on Wennington. A Purpose and Seal were spotted out in the river too. Others saw Kittiwake and Little Tern but I missed them whilst searching the marsh.

Monday saw Arctic Terns coming back out of the Thames and fifty or so were counted as the stopped to feed by the Yacht club with some Common Terns. A single Little Gull was noted and six Whimbrel plus three Ringed Plover remained. New in were a couple of Common Sandpipers and my first Cuckoo of the year for Rainham along with a single Wheatear again. The Greenshank remained as did the Pintail and a Peregrine was spotted flying over.

Whitethroat

Wren

I've also managed an hour at Fishers in the middle of a care home visit at the Abbey which resulted in me year ticking Garden Warbler as many have arrived over the last week or so. Nightingales are still singing in the usual places and a couple of Cuckoo are now in.

Heron

Cuckoo

My First Garden Warbler of the year in that oak tree

Year list is now 206

An Eastern Subalpine Warbler was found in Norfolk late on Sunday but I was unable to travel Monday due to commitments with my wife and in-laws. Tuesday was to prove difficult too with it being my youngest Granddaughters birthday so I planned a trip for today (Wednesday) but unfortunately despite the bird showing well all day and into the late evening on Monday it wasn't seen again on Tuesday. I've seen Subalpine Warblers but they were split into Western and Eastern in 2020 and none of those I've seen have been accepted as Eastern hence my interest in this bird but it'll wait for another day when I have less commitments.