Blowing in the wind

With the shortest day only a week away I got a later train down to Rainham but still arrived at dawn.

Sunrise over Rainham West

The forecast breeze and single figure temperatures suppressed a lot of bird activity and very few Cetti’s Warblers were heard as I walked through Rainham West. As it was low tide I decided to do the long walk via the barges instead of heading along Coldharbour Lane.

When I got to the river a male Peregrine slowly circled around over the gull-less gantry. Perhaps because of the presence of this top predator there were very few waders around, just a small gaggle of Redshank and a solitary Black-tailed Godwit.

As the light wasn't very good for photographing avian raptors I've included a feline one instead.

Despite the wind, raptors seemed to be the order of the day as walked along the Thames with a Kestrel, a female Peregrine and a Merlin all seen within a few minutes over the tip. The Merlin was actively hunting the Starlings, with flocks flying around and splitting up. Unfortunately they disappeared over the other side of the tip so I didn’t see if the Merlin was successful or not.

Just as I approached Aveley Bay an alarm gull made me look up and a gull flew over in panic with two Peregrines flying together behind it. However they ignored the gull and flew straight north. It’s possible these were different birds from the first two birds I encountered so I may have seen four Peregrines. I diverted to the Serin Mound hoping to add some more raptors and a pair of Marsh Harriers were hunting over the reserve but there was no sign of the Common Buzzards that I usually see here.

I scanned Wennington and counted 18 Rook, my highest count here but there could have been more birds present. The weather had deteriorated and there was the odd shower and the wind had picked up considerably. Black skies in the distance made me head to the centre without much delay but I did scan Aveley Bay and apart from a flock of 20 Avocet was surprisingly devoid of waders.

Ominous skies behind Serin Mound

Pylon lit up by a Rainbow

Needless to say the woodland walk was closed due to the winds and there was no chance of any Beardies in this weather so I walked clockwise straight to Butts hide for lunch. The incoming tide had brought many Lapwing and Dunlin in and I managed to find a single Snipe to add to the wader list before calling it a day.

A swirl of Lapwing with a single Dunlin

A Snipe I photographed a week earlier when the light was better

The weather meant it was a struggle finding many of the usual birds such as Stonechat and Reed Bunting but I managed a respectable 65 species which along with the views of the raptors I had earlier still made it a good day.

First frost of autumn

Today was yet another visit to Rainham Marshes. I always enjoy my days off during the week; whilst weary commuters pile off the packed train at Fenchurch Street on their way to work, I board an almost empty train heading back out of London. It finally felt like a change of season today with the first frost of autumn and a distinctly cold feel marking a shift towards the colder days of winter.

Ferry Lane marshes

Autumn is the longest season in the birding calendar beginning in the middle of June (while ‘normal’ people are still looking forward to summer!) when Green Sandpipers first put in an appearance going right through into November. While all the summer visitors have now left, birds are still arriving to spend the winter with us. There was some evidence of migration as there had been arrival of Song Thrushes overnight, particularly along the river wall but nothing was flying over and I only saw one Redwing among the Song Thrushes which were presumably of continental origin. Lots of Robins were setting up their winter territories, some of these may also have flown over the North Sea.

This could either by Ricky - a distant cousin of Rocky - or a Robin from over the North Sea

Down at the Concrete Barges a Fox let me approach closely to take its photo before heading off.

It was almost high tide and a small group of Starlings found a convenient safe place to rest up and preen while their feeding ground was temporarily underwater.

Starlings on the Deep Sea Diver sculpture

Rock and Water Pipits were both seen along the river before I managed my first Meadow Pipit of the day, in fact by the end of the day I had seen more of the first two species which overwinter here than Meadow which is most numerous as a passage migrant.

By the time I reached Aveley Bay the tide was right in and there wasn’t a wader in sight. I’d only seen Lapwing and Redshank so far so hoped there would be more roosting on the reserve.

But I’m jumping ahead and before then I diverted to Serin Mound before going to the reserve. On the approach I heard a Brambling call several times but couldn’t actually see it. There were lots of finches, thrushes and Reed Buntings flying around and diving into bushes and a bit further back there was the first of four Stonechat that were around.

Wennington Marshes was finally living up to its name with the first pools of water in the fields since spring. It had attracted hordes of Greylag Geese and a lot of large gulls but I couldn’t find anything interesting among either flock.

Once on the reserve I headed straight for the woodland and walked round very slowly looking and listening for crests in the hope of bumping into one of the Firecrests that were around earlier in the week but I only managed one Goldcrest. A single tagged on to a flock of Lapwing at Ken Barret hide but by the time I got to Aveley Pools there weren’t any waders other than a few Lapwing and I never saw a single Black-tailed Godwit all day.

It started to feel more like a winter’s day than one in late autumn and it remained cold all day so I decided not to wait until dusk to see if any owls came out – I’ll leave that for another day.

Ducking and Diving

With several days of easterlies forecast I decided to book a day’s leave midweek so I could visit Rainham in the hope of connecting with some interesting birds. An early start got me to Fenchurch Street in plenty of time to purchase my regular bacon roll and coffee prior to boarding the 07:02 to Rainham. It was already light when I arrived thanks to the stupid clocks being put back last weekend and the high cloud and light wind suggested good conditions for visible migration.

As I walked along the cycle path cutting across the marshes from Ferry Lane I saw a few groups of Woodpigeon flew over including several flocks of over 100 but they soon petered out and I only counted a total of 515 along with three Redwing and nothing else. It seems that birds don’t trust the weather forecast either and only start their journeys when the local conditions are suitable.

Despite the lack of vismig it was still a pleasant walk down to the Concrete Barges once I left the A13 flyover behind full of early morning commuters and truck drivers. I was accompanied all the way by the  ever vocal Cetti’s Warblers that hide in the reeds and then shout out as you approach. I crossed over Ferry Lane and headed down the road towards the Concrete Barges and the River Thames. 

Jolly Roger flying over the Concrete Barges

Concrete Barges with Crossness across the river

Start of the Pirate Trail

It’s also the start of the Pirate Trail but no one seems to know why it’s there and who did it. A tight flock of crows appeared over the tip and flew across the river; I suspected they were mobbing a raptor and sure enough there was a Common Buzzard in the throng.

Spot the Buzzard amongst the Crows

It was low tide so there were plenty of waders on the mud, Redshank, Lapwing & Black-tailed Godwits.

Black-tailed Godwits

I often think back to when I first started birding at Rainham, you had to walk all the way along Ferry Lane as there was no path across it and there were no Godwits. In fact there were often no waders at all if there wasn’t any water in the silt lagoons so at least things have changed positively. This stretch of the river is well known for its over-wintering Rock and Water Pipits and I soon found some of each. There's often some around the barges or the bay where the Deep-sea Diver sculpture is.

Deep-sea Diver sculpture

The pipits have only recently arrived back for the season so it was good to re-acquaint myself with their calls: the flatter, almost out-of-tune Rock and the sharper call of Water although they do sometimes emit intermediate calls which could belong to either species!

I then followed the riverside path which goes around the ever increasing landfill tip, Rainham’s version of the dark satanic mills.

Landfill tip

Coldharbour Lighthouse

The family of black cats that live in the factories along the river wall

At least the tip attracts gulls although today I couldn’t find either Yellow-legged or Caspian among the five common species that are regular here. I stopped at the western end of Aveley Bay to scan the waders on the shore and picked up the usual flock of Avocet, another relatively new comer that winters here. While scanning the river I picked up four large all dark ducks heading east – Common Scoter! - a new species for my Rainham list and also evidence of some movement due to the easterly winds.

Wennington Marshes from Serin Mound

Wennington Marshes looking back to the silt lagoons

I made a  short diversion to the Serin Mound to look over Wennington Marshes but it was fairly quiet apart from a single Marsh Harrier so I returned to the river wall and walked down to the centre for a well deserved coffee.

Kerry the Kestrel regularly hunts by Aveley Bay car park

I did a circuit of the RSPB reserve which didn’t take long as the woodland seemed devoid of birds. I paused to see the Barn Owl in its box then carried onto Avelely Pools. A few waders started to arrive as the tide was coming in and a flock of Dunlin landed on the bank as the water was too deep for them. I didn’t linger too long as I had a message that Andy had found two Goldeneye and a Red-breasted Merganser on the river so wanted to get back to look for them. After a quick spot of lunch at the picnic tables I exited via the turnstile and onto the river wall. I soon found the Goldeneye, another Rainham tick and got them in the scope for Howard who was working nearby. He’d just seen the Merg close in so I wandered along until I could see it, the third species of sea duck on the river today – the easterlies had worked after all!

I joined Andy & Howard then waited until the tide had come in fully, there were plenty of waders flying around but no more seabirds unfortunately. I decided to leave at this point with a vague plan of visiting Regent’s Park on the way home as a Red-throated Diver had turned up there. As I had to go past Baker Street anyway I decided that I might as well pop in for a look and soon found the bird asleep by the cafe with two of my friends keeping an eye on it. It didn’t want to wake up so we took advantage of the adjacent cafe. We could see that the diver had woken up so we went back out for very close views, the first diver I’d seen in Inner London and yet another seabird for the day.

Red-throated Diver

July 14 – Day 18: PAU and return home

A leisurely start before we returned to PAU for some last minute birding. We checked the trees again for roosting frogmouths but couldn’t find them, however much to our embarrassment the driver pointed them out in the first tree we’d looked at! Anyway we got great views of three Marbled Frogmouths, the first ones of the trip. 

Marbled Frogmouth

We had a similar selection of birds to our first visit here but also added Plumed Whistling-Duck and Pied Heron to the trip list. 

Plumed Whistling-Duck

Pied Heron

Australian White Ibis

Little Black Cormorant

Comb-crested Jacana

Masked Lapwing - another familiar Australian species

Fawn-breasted Bowerbird

Black-backed Butcherbird

Intermediate Egret

Most of the group left mid-morning for their flight to Brisbane while Neil and I carried on with Max for another hour and a half. 

Torresian Imperial Pigeon

Grey-headed Manakins

We managed two new birds: a large flock of Grey-headed Manakin and a flyover Australian Hobby before returning to Dixie’s for lunch. I then bade Neil farewell and went to the airport for my flight to Manila and onward to London via Dubai.

It had been a superb trip, finishing with 251 species, of which 96 were new and a total of 20 Birds-of-Paradise seen.

July 13 – Day 17: K17 and back to Port Moresby

We returned to K17 to start our last full day’s birding. There were plenty of pigeons and parrots feeding in a fruiting tree along with a Grey-headed Cicadabird. 

Pink-spotted Fruit-Dove

We tried to tape lure in a Blue Jewel-babbler but it only remained in view for a split second before disappearing back into the forest. We paid another visit to the King BoP and he was much more cooperative today, even sitting out in the open, albeit not for very long. 

King Bird-of-Paradise

We passed the spot where Sir David Attenborough was hoisted into the canopy to watch displaying Reggiana and Greater BoPs for one of his documentaries. Back at the entrance, two Grey-headed Goshawks flew around and landed in a close tree.

It was soon time to leave the area and we headed back to the hotel to checkout before making our way to Kiunga Airport for a two hour flight back to Port Moresby. Surprisingly for Air Nuigini it left early and arrived ahead of schedule. A quick stop at Dixie’s to check in and drop off our bags and then we made our way up to Varirarta. We only had a couple of hours but it was enough time for one good bird – Barred Owlet-Nightjar at his regular haunt.

Barred Owlet-Nightjar

We returned to Dixie’s for our last evening meal together, unfortunately they don’t have beer and there’s nowhere close to get any. We voted for our Top Five birds and Flame Bowerbird was the ultimate winner.

July 12 – Day 16: Boystown Road & K10

Welcome news at breakfast, England had thrashed Australia in the semi-final of the Cricket World Cup! We returned to the main track while Rockjumper staked out the grassy knoll. It was pleasant weather for birding with sunshine but there wasn’t anything new seen. 

Red-cheeked Parrot

Red-flanked Lorikeet

We did however get great views of a male Flame Bowerbird that twice flew over the track and our first perched Red-flanked Lorikeets and Zoe’s Imperial Pigeon. Two Fruit-Doves in one tree became an Orange-bellied and a Pink-spotted under closer inspection and they were joined by a Crinkle-collared Manucode. Also on the BoP front, one or two female Kings were seen.

A few local boys walked past, one of which was carrying a Cassowary chick, no wonder we hadn’t encountered one anywhere. On that note we left the area and had a quick stop at the airfield to look for pratincoles. We didn’t find any but instead managed great views of a Buff-banded Rail.

Kiunga Airfield - no pratincoles here

Buff-banded Rail

Out again after lunch to a different patch of forest. A Grey-headed Cuckooshrike was new and we saw a female Black Berrypecker on a nest next to the path. A couple of male Greater BoPS were seen but otherwise it was fairly quiet. We stayed to dusk to try for night birds but nothing responded.

July 11 – Day 15: Boat back to Kiunga

Continuing with the early starts it was a little more challenging by torchlight but we were soon tucking into a cooked breakfast. We piled into the boat and motored a short way down the river where we pulled up. 

Twelve-wired Bird-of-Paradise

Atop a tree on the opposite bank sat a male Twelve-wired BoP; it was calling continuously and was looked almost alien with its misshapen head and bizarre tail strands contrasting with its bright yellow body. It remained for about twenty minutes before quietly disappearing into the forest. Continuing on we saw some more Grey Crows and Southern Crowned Pigeons, the latter showing off their bad hair-dos.

Southern Crowned Pigeon

Azure Kingfisher

We walked around a different muddy forest trail and had scope views of both Little and Common Paradise Kingfishers. Back at camp there was a feeding flock of Double-eyed and Orange-breasted Fig-Parrots as well as a perched Doria’s Hawk. Lunch included fried spam for which Kwatu is famous for but there was plenty of choice for those that don’t care for such a delicacy, like various packets of cream-filled biscuits!

Doria's Hawk

We walked to another hide overlooking a bower but its creator, the Flame Bowerbird remained absent during our stay. Fortunately one flew over the river as we headed back to Kiunga on the boat although we really wanted better views of this spectacular orange bird. There were a couple of other new birds on the return journey with two Pacific Bazas and a Dwarf Fruit-Dove seen. 

A rather large dugout on the river

Arriving back at Kwatu, using the boat seats a a makeshift quay

It was nice to get back to civilisation in Kiunga where we could get clean and remove the layers of mud from our clothes and boots. We heard news of a tribal massacre in the Tari area in PNG which was where there’d been trouble last year and it’s remained out-of-bounds since.