Still slotting in a bit of birding where I can

With time still at a premium I'm concentrating on local to limit travel time and maximise birding time and I'm quite enjoying it to be honest. Yesterday I dropped George to school in Hornchurch then popped down to Rainham for a couple of hours before my other duties for the day. The Spotted Redshank was still on Wennington although the water levels suggest not for long and a quick scan of the grassy areas revealed two Wheatear and a Yellow Wagtail out on the marsh. On the tip a single Corn Bunting with three Meadow Pipits before a scan over to the yacht club and I found no fewer than fifteen Common Tern with more passing through, as I was scanning I heard my second Grasshopper Warbler of the year which called well for about ten minutes before silence as if it were never there. Raven flew over and a large flock of Sand Martins were busy hawking high up in the distance. I heard my first Lesser Whitethroat of the year mid way between the turnstile and the visitor centre and  I recorded 69 species in the visit including Curlew, Snipe, Stonechat and Willow Warbler. The Jims joined me and it was great to see Dad out enjoying a bit of action after being tied up himself with domestic/family duties of late.

Today I joined Jim for a dawn raid on KGV where we only walked the east bank but recorded no fewer than 55 species for our trouble. Another Lesser Whitethroat (just past the sailing club) was a first this year for Jim and a Cuckoo on Sewardstone marsh was also a first for Jim this year both being seconds for me. Skylark, Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Raven, Peregrine, Common Sandpiper were good to see and a single Swallow hawked around with c60 Sand Martins. On the duck front we noted c160 Tufted Duck, 3 Shelduck, 4 Wigeon, 2 Teal, 14 Gadwall and 23 Mallard. The Scaup continues to be seen but seems to have moved to the west side and is a little more difficult to pick out from the eastbank now and I lack the enthusiasm for the mission having seen it almost daily this year.

Year list now sits at a reasonable 186