Wheatears at KGV

I made two trips to KGV today one at the crack of dawn with Jim where we found six Common Terns on south basin which were our first here this year. It was cold and overcast when a Great White Egret flew along the edge of south basin and was close enough to ID with the naked eye. Yesterdays Lesser Whitethroat was still rattling away as we walked up the east bank. Two Oystercatchers remain and we were surprised to find three Goldeneye again after they'd all cleared out a week or so ago. A Yellow Wagtail was in the far NE corner and we saw six Swallow and two House Martins among the many Sand Martins. A single female Wheatear was found on the causeway and both Ravens were seen along with a Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and two Red Kites. We only walked the east bank but still counted 58 species.

The afternoon was very blustery but I somehow avoided getting wet on a full circuit. I had six Wheatear with one on the causeway two on the NW bank and three on the SE bank. A Yellow Wagtail and four Greys was nice but also of note was a count in excess of fifty Pied Wagtails. Two Oystercatchers and three Common Sandpipers were seen before I found the Scaup in the SW corner of north basin having not seen it for a few days now although it has been reported by others.

I've now seen 20 Wheatear over three sites this spring.

Three Wheatear on south basin together

Scaup with Tufted Ducks

Oystercatchers

Wheatear

Wheatear

Wheatear

two of the three Common Sandpipers present tonight

Yellow Wagtail

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

KGV

Another day and another walk along the bank of the King George V reservoir with Jim. No sign of yesterdays star bird with most of the Swallows and house Martins having moved on overnight leaving around sixty or so Sand Martins with a scattering of Swallow and House Martin. The Scaup was seen by Ian L on the south basin among the now 150ish Tufted Ducks. A few Mallard and Gadwall remain with a few Coot and Gt Crested Grebe but little else now the wintering birds have all departed with the exception of the Scaup of course. 

Whitethroat, Cettis, Willow Warbler, Wren, Blackcap, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Robin and Dunnock were all vocal along the walk and we also had Gold and Greenfinch. Red Kite, Kestrel and Buzzard all put in an appearance and then Ian L put us on two Great Egrets flying south before Jim later picked up one heading up the river beyond the bridges. A single Yellow Wagtail, a pied and two Greys added to the days total and a Collared Dove was an unusual tick up on the reservoir. A Raven was seen messing with some Crows by the pump house before we headed home for breakfast.

Some days when the wind picks up you'd think the water was tidal it's so choppy

Rainham and KGV

I'm currently running around looking after family as much as I possibly can but I have made a commitment to myself to squeeze in a bit more time for birding and as such I'm dropping into KGV and Rainham when I can. Travelling time is a few minutes for each so I'm spending more time birding and less time driving although I do crave a good day on the coast.

Over the last couple of days I've chosen Rainham and yesterday I saw Spotted Redshank, LRP, Corn Bunting, Curlew, Blackwit and a large number of both Sedge Warbler and Whitethroats. A great Egret was out on the marsh and three Common Terns were in Aveley bay and this morning I took Jim hoping he'd see the Spotted Redshank and he wasn't dissapointed as it was still on the small pool below Serin mound. A couple of Ruff were new. We marched up the mound to the tip as Jim needed Corn Bunting and soon found one on the scaffold poles. A Wheatear was seen on the way down the other side too. On the foreshore we had 51 Avocet 6 Blackwits, a Ringed Plover and 2 Curlew. The walk along the river wall was full of the calls of Cetti's, Sedge and Whitethroats and as we stopped at the turnstile we picked up Garden and Willow Warbler along with our first Reed Warblers of the year and then Jim said "Gropper" (his ears work better than my ears) with my ears cupped I managed to pick it up but it then went silent and despite a half an hour wait we didn't hear it again. (Think is a first Gropper for Rainham this year so well done Jim) We found a couple of Common Tern out by the sailing club and had a fly over Gt Egret but the rain came down so we headed for the cover of the car. The wind and rain looked likely to push some birds down the river but with a Red-rumped Swallow reported on our patch at KGV we decided to head back that way. 

We waited for a second report and as that landed we headed over. We did the mile or so out to the north east corner at a gallop stopping briefly to discuss the bird with finder Ian L as he headed home. We checked all the Swallows as we headed along the east bank and found that lot's of House Martin had arrived in the couple of days since we last visited. Sand Martin numbers were up and there were now lots of Swallow. Surprised to find no other birders on the magic corner we set about scanning all the Swallows which promptly decided to gain height and head off east. Joined by another three birders on the corner and three on Sewardstone marsh we spent an hour searching befoe news that the bird had been seen near the causeway half a mile or so away. We got to the causeway to negative news but then the bird reappeared and we enjoyed several passes and managed to give directions to the three guys on the other side of the relief channel who also managed to get on the bird. Five Yellow and a White Wagtail were also seen. 

KGV (It's quite a walk)

The Swallow is a site tick, year tick and Essex tick to boot so worth the effort.

Rainham from the tip

Gropper is in those bushes somewhere

Year list 185

Essex list now 284

KGV list now 136

quick update

The last four days has seen a couple more visits to KGV with Jim and I've carried out two RSPB volunteer farm surveys too.

The KGV walks produced more Wheatear and our first Sedge Warbler on the patch this season. We missed a Great Egret whilst there that three of the other four birders there all saw. We heard Kingfisher again so I'm sure we'll actually get to see one at some point soon. On 7th Neville called to say he'd found a Red-legged Partridge so we joined him from the other side of the reservoir to patch tick that. No Terns yet but they can't be far away, any day now.

Slavonian Grebe 

Kestrel

Smew

Wheatear

Scaup

Smew

The farm surveys have been something new for me and I've enjoyed doing them. The Essex farm is run as a working crop farm so birds are hard to find but it holds a decent number of Skylark. Apart from that the birds are mostly woodland birds as it has a few small wooded areas and is skirted by woodland.

On the way home from the survey I stopped at Abberton and scoped the three Spoonbill nests from Layer Breton. A Cuckoo called for another year tick before I headed round to the old road where I quickly ticked Nightingale with a brief view but longer spells of singing. At the farm I found 21 Yellow Wagtails for another year tick

The Herts site is managed for wildlife and holds larger numbers of Skylark along with good numbers of Linnet and Yellowhammer among other things. Today I saw my first Whitethroats of the year on the survey with nine singing males on my circuit. The farm holds a pair of Little Owl and two pairs of Barn Owl but I've yet to see evidence of that, maybe on my next visit in May.

The year list is now 179

A few pictures from my travels this last few days

Yellowhammer

Fox with breakfast (voles I think?)

Fox

Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtails

Yellow Wagtail

Med Gull

Skylark

Skylark

Roe Deer

Roe Deer

Roe Deer

Carrion Crow

Scaup and Smew on south basin

Rainham and KGV

A quick walk round Rainham on Friday gave me my first Common Tern of the year when two birds flew down river early morning as me and Steve B scanned the river waiting for the reserve to open. At the entrance to the reserve I had my first Willow Warbler of the year and on the reserve my first ever booming Bittern for Rainham marshes. This Bittern has now boomed for over a week so is officially considered as on breeding territory. Other birds of note were a couple of Curlew, Raven, Marsh Harriers and seven Fieldfare. Lapwing, Avocet and Redshank are all busy with the breeding season now.

On Saturday I headed along the sea wall and found no fewer than five singing Sedge Warblers for another year tick. Raven, Turnstone, Curlew and Fieldfare again the highlights of this short walk.

Today saw me and Jim hit the KGV at first light after last nights storm Dave. It was cold and we did get wet as the last of the storm moved off but our reward was our first two Common Sandpipers of the year and another male Wheatear which is only our second for KGV this year. Greater Scaup, Smew and the two Slavonian Grebes were all still present and a female Goosander flew down the river. Two Sparrowhawk and a Red Kite were both nice to see but we missed a distant fly over Osprey which Nev and Harry had as I was busy photographing the Wheatear on the opposite bank. A total of 55 Species on this visit.

Year list now 173

KGV update

With my daughter in law having surgery recently my time has been taken up supporting my son with the kids which of course I love to do, to the point where I've recently sat through Gabby dollhouse at the Apollo in London with Emily and I've watched the new Mario movie with George. I've done two RSPB volunteer farm survey intro's in the last couple of weeks too and look forward to doing the surveys in the coming weeks. At one of these survey sites in Herts I saw a group of Seven Wheatear together which I think were among the first Wheatears in the county this year.

Today I found a couple of hours to myself and after a quick call to Jim we were heading to KGV for a full two hour circuit. It was grey, cold and windy but we headed out along the east bank spotting first the wintering Greater Scaup on south basin before finding the Smew and Slavonian Grebe that's wintered only to be joined by a second bird a few days ago. The birds have almost completed their moult into breeding plumage so could well be heading north in the coming days. Two Raven flew over calling heading into the distance in a south easterly direction. A couple of Red Kites were noted along with the usual suspects. We spotted six Sand Martin and then our first Swallows of the year when two birds flew low over north basin to join the Sand Martins hawking the NE corner. A rough count of around 200 Tufted Ducks remain, 20+ Gadwall, 4 Teal, Mallards and I think only 6 Goldeneye now. Pied and Grey Wagtail were noted along with numerous Wren, Chiffchaff and Cettis warbler all announcing territory as we walked around the track. Raven were on the nest but I can't be sure they were the same two birds that headed off south earlier. A male Black Redstart was the stand out bird of the return along the west bank and we also noted Blackcap, Goldfinch and Greenfinch in the expected areas.

The industrial estate has many Lesser-black backed and Herring Gulls making use of the rooftops.

A decent visit where we saw all the expected birds and the bonus of our first Swallows although it didn't feel much like summer. 

48 species seen today and the year list nudged along to 170