update

I'm maintaining this new drive to use my free time for birding

Thursday 23rd saw me grab some time at Rainham between school runs and I managed to count 80 species with the highlight being my first Hobbys of 2026 with four hawking over the marsh. The Gropper was still reeling away and Med Gulls continued to call overhead.

Friday 24th saw me take a changed route and again either side of the school runs I headed along the wall from the top car park to the Stone barges and back along the north of the tip to the car park. My reward for this walk was a singing Nightingale, a Whimbrel by the barges and a couple of Common Sandpipers. I made an effort to count everything paying particular attention to Great Whitethroats which totalled 34 on the circuit and I would imagine I got about half of what's there. The species list for this walk was 69. 

One of the 34 Whitethroats on my walk around the tip

same bird different bush

The Nightingale was singing by the yellow pipe

Saturday 25th and I headed to KGV for a change. A full circuit delivered a decent count of 21 Yellow Wagtails and a Wheatear. Back at the south end of the reservoir I stopped to chat with Graham W and check the terns one last time. Graham picked out two Black Terns and then managed to get me onto a couple of Little Terns as they flew straight through heading south. The Black Terns lingered all day and my total for the day was 65 species. Heard a woodpecker which sounded somewhere between Great and Lesser but we settled on it being a Great Spot on soft wood. The Black and Little Terns were both year ticks.

Yellow Wagtail (male)

Yellow Wagtail (female)

Yellow Wagtail

My 23rd Wheatear of the year (from just three sites)

Sunday 26th and an early return to KGV proved fruitful with three Whimbrel and two Dunlin on the causeway. A few Yellow Wagtails and two or possible three Cuckoo. The Greater Scaup remains as we get close to May and it has provoked discussion recently about it being a possible hybrid. Following the walk around KGV and going home to sort lunch for Suzanne I decided to pop down to Rainham where I found all three of the Black-winged Stilts that arrived today and a single Wood Sandpiper on winter pool with both being year ticks and taking my year list to 194 which is respectable considering how local most of my birding has been this year. The Whimbrel is a new bird for me at KGV.

Dunlin

Dunlin

Dunlin

Common Sandpiper

The Scaup or is it?

Cuckoo

Whimbrel (a site tick for me)

The causeway