Morning at Lakenheath and Rainham update

The pointless year list has moved on to 175 with the addition of Whitethroat at Rainham on 10th. The 9th April saw the first reports of any but I couldn't find one for the tick, roll forward a day and they're singing from every bush along the foreshore.

Whitethroat

Whitethroat

Chiffchaff

As well as the vocal Whitethroats the Sedge Warblers and Chiffchaffs are in full song but Blackcaps are less numerous now after the initial noisy arrival. The Med Gull movement seems to have stopped but Common Terns are now the daily arrivals. The Hoopoe was seen again yesterday flying from the tip across the Thames. The Garganey remains on Purfleet scrape but the GW Teal hasn't been seen for a few days now although there are still quite a few Teal around. Some of the wintering birds remain with Snipe still being seen and a Jack Snipe on Purfleet scrape too, a couple of pairs of Pintail remain and a few Wigeon stragglers are still contemplating migration. Ringed Plover and Grey Plover have both been seen this week along with the springs first Whimbrel although I didn't see it. At least 62 Black-tailed Godwit remain and the Lapwing, Redshank and Avocet have set about nesting although Wennington remains very dry with the lack of rain. The LRP is still being seen so hopefully will stay to breed. A Redstart was seen at the weekend by some locals and I had a large hirundine flock over on Sunday

containing Swallows and Sand Martins but no House Martin for me yet although they have been seen by others.

Yesterday I took the Jims for a morning at Lakenheath to take advantage of the forecast nice weather. We arrived at 6.30am and walked out along the river bank to joist fen and back. Blackwits, Lapwing, Redshank and Snipe accounted for the waders on the washland pool along with the usual ducks. We heard our first Reed Warbler of the year and added a couple more on the long walk although we later found these were the first arrivsls reported at Lakenheath this year. Gt White Egret was added to the day list before we found a pair of Garganey. Bittern were booming from every reed bed but we couldn't find any Cranes on this visit, I guess they're either out in the distant fields feeding or busy nesting in the reed bed somewhere. Marsh Harriers were seen nest building and a single Swallow flew over. Two Cattle Egrets were seen along with Heron and Little Egret to make it a five heron species day. On the way home we stopped at Cavenham and Jim found himself a Wheatear which he still needed for a year tick and then he managed to locate a single Stone Curlew to give us all a year tick. Woodlark, Skylark and Stonechat entertained us whilst we watched the heath.  We saw 72 species in the mornings birding.

year list now 175

Woodlark

A flyover from RAF Lakenheath 

Canada Geese

Lakenheath

Booted Eagle in Kent

Booted Eagle sits in category D of the British List as it's thought the previous record of 1999/2000 had doubt about it's origin but with last years records followed by a Pale-morth bird being found in Cornwall on 12th January the birds acceptance to category A looks likely. The bird remained in Cornwall until 4th April some 83 days and pleased the birdwatchers that made the journey south for it. I pondered making the 600 mile 12 hour round trip for it but never got to the point where I could justify the time and money involved so when the bird was seen in Kent yesterday at 5.49pm I was more than interested. The bird was seen to go to roost which was very promising for finding it today but was quickly flushed and lost to view making the outcome of todays twitch a little less predictable. I called Jim and with some gentle persuasion he agreed to join me on todays mission. 

We set off at 5.30am arriving in Broadstairs for 7am without a real plan other than getting ourselves in the general area and hoping. Two birders, Barry W and Jake were set up by the first roundabout so we parked up and joined them. There were eight other birders set up at Cliffsend hoping to get a chance of seeing the bird if it tried to exit from this historical exit point for raptors. At 9.30 the group at Cliffsend called to say they had the bird and it was heading into Manston the village to our west. We tried but couldn't see it and after some chat we decided to head into Manston and see if we could relocate it. We encountered a kettle of 15 Buzzard and a smaller kettle of 6 birds, we'd also seen four Red Kite, two Kestrel and three Sparrowhawk along with a large flock of 30 plus Magpie by this point but we still had not seen anything of the Booted Eagle. At around 10.15am we had another call from the Cliffsend group to say they had seen the bird again and it was heading toward Manston with a Red Kite. We decided to drive back towards the village but as we drove along the road we spotted a Red Kite so parked up at the helicopter station and jumped out of the car. Yes we could see a Red Kite but sadly it was alone, then another Red Kite and this time it had company and this time it was our target bird.....Booted Eagle was seen and seen well with good scope views as it drifted slowly north and was eventually lost to view. Our interest attracted a small crowd of birders and we managed to help most get a view of the bird before we lost it. What a twitch!.......as they say "He who dares".

Barry and Jim on the Eagle

View towards Cliffsend where the bird was last seen yesterday

Pending its expected full acceptance

Year list now 170

Kent list now 273

Life list now 451

No photographs of the eagle today but the Rooks were a little easier to photograph........

A few year ticks at Rainham

With Suzanne needing to catch up with lost sleep I headed out to Rainham for first light this morning bumping into David C. in the car park we set off day listing together. First up a smart bird on the foreshore we both settled on being a third calendar year Caspian Gull. A Common Seal was fishing close in and attracted the attention of dozens of large gulls. We counted nine Common Terns and I had a single adult Little gull fly up river too. Two Corn Bunting sang from the fence at the top of the mound although they were hard to hear above the noise of the Skylarks. As we walked the foreshore we heard lots of Sedge Warbler, Blackcap and Chiffchaff but couldn't get on either Common Whitethroat or Gropper both of which Dave had yesterday. 

Viewing across Purfleet scrape Dave found a Yellow Wagtail and as I searched for it I found two birds together and we added Pied and Grey Wagtail to the days total too. A Swallow flew over at we scanned Marshland scrape for the American Teal which we found after a good search. Med gulls flew over calling but were again really high up in the clouds. On the return leg we bumped into a Wheatear on the fence before it dropped to feed on the path allowing a few images. Then two Dunlin flew over with a Sanderling for company which is not a given annual bird at Rainham so a nice day tick. A Ringed Plover and Oystercatcher dropped onto the last of the mud as the tide came in to join the few Black-tailed Godwits and Avocets before the tide moved them all on. At Serin mound we added Raven to the days total of 72 species. Wennington marsh is now almost dry so we could do with some rain now. 

As far as I know there's only been four Wheatear seen so far this year at Rainham and I've had two of them. None have hung around long so we were lucky to see this one this morning. 

Year list now 169 (Rainham year list now 101)

Review of 2024 (The best birds)

With everything that I had going on over the last few months I managed to miss adding a review of 2024 to the blog so I'm going to put that right today and a good reason to revisit and enjoy the fondest memories of the year.

I've covered the misses and the ticks in earlier posts so this post will focus on those that "showed well" and those that the camera enjoyed the most.

The best wood have to be the Norfolk Hoopoe that walked up to me as I laid on the driveway of a small bungalow. The bird got so close it was inside my lens range so I had to stop taking pictures and just watch as It went about it's business no more than a few feet away. What a bird

Hoopoe

The Staines Lapland Bunting would be up there with the best birds of the year too, it was so confiding as it feasted on seed along the causeway completely unphased by the birders eagerly snapping away with camera and phone.

Lapland Bunting 

The Nightjar at Wanstead has to be included. I only managed a couple of shots but anytime you get to see a sitting Nightjar is quite special.

Nightjar

The Dotterel at Landguard as I don't have too many Dotterel images in my library and the Purple Sandpiper moments before the Dotterel encounter as it was really showy and I was allowed several minutes alone with it which was nice.

Dotterel

Purple Sandpiper

The Canvasback at Abberton showed really well on the causeway giving the chance to get some very nice images of this rarity.

Canvasback

The Temminck's Stint at Bluehouse Farm was a crowd pleaser as it strolled about on the island infront of the hide.

Temminck's Stint

The Franklins Gull on the Thames was another bird that eventually came close enough and lingered long enough for a few acceptable shots.

Franklins Gull 

I had a couple of nice Kingfisher encounters this year notably at Rainham as pictured below

Kingfisher

The Lesser Yellowlegs at Frampton was really showy at times in the pools around the car park and I got lucky with my visit.

Lesser Yellowlegs 

I got lucky on a couple of occasions with spring Waxwings but the group that spent a few days in Loughton provided the best photographic opportunity.

Waxwings

The Kestrel below dropped onto the path at Wallasea and allowed a few images before flying off as a car approached. 

Kestrel

The local Fudge duck on Eagle Pond gave some lovely views and allowed for some nice images at times.

Fudge duck

I don't see as many Little Owls as I used to but this one at Cassiobury Park allowed for some images as it sat out catching the early morning rays.

Little Owl

The St Albans Kingfisher, possibly the best Kingfisher encounter I've ever had.

Kingfisher

The Bittern hide Bittern entertained me early this year before it moved on to breeding grounds further afield.

Bittern

These are just a few of the birds that I enjoyed the most, not the rarest but the ones I really enjoyed spending time with.

Rainham Rainham Rainham

With my runs to drop the grandkids to school in Hornchurch I'm finding an hour after to walk the river wall at Rainham with increased regularity. Monday I found a Corn Bunting which allowed a very quick photo before it flew off, Corn Bunting are proving very elusive this year at Rainham though. I found my first Wheatear of the year up on the tip which is always  a memorable moment. Raven and Spoonbill are seen on most visits at the moment and there's still plenty of Wigeon, Teal, Snipe and Pintail about. Med Gulls are on the move with constant calling as they fly over in pairs at regular intervals. Sedge Warblers are now easy to hear along the river wall walk and Redshank, Lapwing and Avocet are setting about sorting breeding territory but the river is quiet still.

Corn Bunting

Tuesday I only had about half an hour and things were pretty quiet save more movement of Med Gulls and a few Red Kites coming across the river heading north.

Red Kite

Today I headed over to walk the wall after dropping young George at school and heard reports of a Hoopoe on the reserve last night but negative news this morning. One of my great issues with Rainham is access to the reserve. It opens at 9.30 and closes at 4.30pm The Hoopoe was reported yesterday at 4.36pm so no time to have a look last night for anybody.

I heard the Sedge Warblers again on my way along the wall and stopped to scan Marshland discovery zone where I found a single Little-ringed Plover and a single Dunlin. On the next pool two Spotted Redshank were fresh in. The Spoonbill was on history pool and quite active until flushed by a worker on the reserve. News broke that the Hoopoe had been seen so I headed onto the reserve to join the locals trying to track it down but it was only seen by one or two people and was gone in a flash to the disappointment of the small gathering of birders. Whilst scanning Purfleet scrape Andrew S spotted a drake Garganey which was a nice addition to the Rainham year list.

Marsh Harrier and Snipe

Garganey

Linnet

Goldfinch

Year list now 165 with the Wheatear on Monday.

Rainham

I visited Rainham on Thursday and had a quick walk along the sea wall and up to the tip where my reward was Barn Owl, Peregrine and Red Kite. I failed again to hear or see any Corn Bunting which seem thin on the ground this year. Skylarks and Meadow Pipit are very vocal on the hill leading to the tip though. A Wheatear was reported but Dave and I couldn't relocate it. Dave had seen Little ringed plover on Purfleet scrape but they weren't showing when I arrived. There was plenty of Avocet in Aveley bay and still lots of Wigeon and Pintail about but otherwise little of note.

Friday saw much of the same although time was limited again. I failed to find anything new for the year but did again see Barn Owl and Raven.

I was busy with my granddaughter's birthday party Saturday when things picked up at Rainham. A Green-winged Teal, three Little gulls, the first Sedge Warbler of the year, Red breasted Merganser, Scoter and Brent Geese all being reported along with more reports of LRP and Corn Bunting. KGV also had a couple of Scoters and some Brent Geese drop in on Saturday whilst I was absent.

So this morning I set off for first light in the rain and walked the sea wall, tip mound, Serin mound etc.

First I heard my first Sedge Warbler of the year followed by at least three more. At the top of the tip I finally found a Corn Bunting singing from a fence post. Along the sea wall a Weasel came out and showed for about ten minutes as it ran along several sleepers on the hunt. The Barn Owl came out when the rain stopped and a couple of Spoonbill were seen distantly from Serin mound. A Raven was seen several times in flight and did drop to feed on a carcase for a while too. As I walked back along the sea wall Dave C. had the Green-winged Teal in view so I stopped to check that out for a Rainham tick and then moved on in search of Little ringed plover and eventually found two on Purfleet scrape for my third year tick of the day. 

pointless year list now 163 (164 with the addition of Willow Warbler on 25th March)

Little Owl

Dad wanted to try and see Little Owl today but only had a couple of hours to spare so we popped over to Wanstead and with help from Marco we managed good views of a Little Owl hidden in the Ivy covered trees. We had to dash off to get Dad home and after a catch up with my youngest brother I headed out solo to walk KGV reservoir again. Sadly there was nothing new today but the drake Smew came close enough for a record shot whilst the Garganey was seen sleeping on the causeway bank again. On the north basin I found the winter plumaged Black-necked Grebe and the Slavonian Grebe which is now moulting into summer plumage. Raven and Red kite were both seen but little else of note. Can't be long now before the first Wheatear of the year followed by Terns and maybe a wader or two.

year list now 160

Slavonian Grebe

Smew

Great crested Grebe