Kicking off the New Year List

The New Year’s list started with a tie – when I opened the window I could hear Song Thrush & Robin singing simultaneously. I added a few more common birds on the way to the station and again while I was waiting on the platform at West Ham for my friends. We’d decided to kick off at Rainham Marsh and the first bird we saw upon our arrival was a Little Egret feeding on the tideline.

Despite there being plenty of exposed mud in Aveley Bay the only waders were a small group of Avocets and a few Redshank. We carried on along the riverwall and soon had both Water and Rock Pipit safely added so we headed onto the reserve. New birds came thick and fast with plenty of ducks, just making sure we saw them all. Two Barn Owls were visible in their box; this is now the easiest owl species to see in London thanks to these reliable birds.

There weren’t many small birds around but we did locate a strange mixed flock from Butts Hide – 4 Bearded Tit, Stonechat and two Chiffchaff with the odd Blue Tit keeping them company in the reeds. Marsh Harrier and Buzzard were both visible beyond the Target Pools while two Ruff did a good job of hiding in amongst the Lapwing but they eventually showed themselves. I finished the day on 66 species, just one fewer than last year’s January 1st visit to Rainham. Well actually I tied that score as well as I heard a Tawny Owl calling outside my bedroom window as I was turning in for the night.

I managed a short visit to Brent Reservoir on 2nd and caught up with a few birds I didn’t get the previous day but on 3rd I was back at Rainham again. This time I started at Rainham West and followed the riverwall along from the Concrete Barges to maximise my chances of finding some new birds. I soon caught up with some fairly common birds I’d missed before like Skylark, Meadow Pipit and Linnet then it was time to scan through the thousands of gulls in the area. I eventually located my target species – Yellow-legged and Caspian Gull, getting an adult and a first-winter of both species.

Lots of water at Rainham Marsh

I took the path over the tip (no Corn Buntings) and surveyed the scene – it was good to see so much water on the marshes after last autumn’s drought. I went through the geese on Wennington but failed to find the White-fronted Goose which appeared a few hours later! But I did see a good number of Rook which were near for the year. A loop of the reserve added a few more new birds such as Water Rail but there wasn’t a Dunlin in sight on the Rainham side of the river.

On Saturday I decided to spend the day in the Lea Valley as it offered the best chance of seeing several new birds for my year list and also it’s a great place that I just don’t visit often enough. I decided to concentrate on the Cheshunt area and took the train there from Liverpool Street. It was barely light when I arrived and I headed towards Seventy Acres Lake. There had been a female Smew seen there the previous day but I didn’t have high hopes of seeing it as Smew are notorious for moving around and there’s an awful lot of old gravel pits here for them to elude birders.

A distant drake Smew

As I walked around the southern edge I could see a distant white bird on the opposite bank which I assumed was a Black-headed Gull but something made me look at it through the bins anyway. And I was pleasantly surprised to discover it was a drake Smew or a ‘White Nun’ in old currency. This has always been my favourite duck so I enjoyed the moment of finding it and then continued to watch it. It swam out of view so I carried on around the path and met it again and pointed it out to another birder who was on her way to look for the Cattle Egrets.

I carried on just beyond the Bittern WatchPoint when I heard a cronking Raven behind me and I could see it flying over Seventy Acres and it landed on a pylon. Another unexpected bird and the first Raven I’d seen in the Valley. I headed northwards towards Holyfield Farm & Lake, picking up a few Siskins and a Treecreeper along the way, the latter being one of the ‘stupid’ birds I missed last year.

Grand Weir Hide overlooking Holyfield Lake

At the Weir Hide I found a female Goosander, the third bird I’d seen today that I failed to connect with last year. More unusually I also found three Red-crested Pochard which I’d guess are quite scarce in the Lea Valley. 

Male Reeve's Muntjac

I retraced my steps, seeing a close Reeve's Muntjac, then popped into the Bittern WatchPoint where I was told there weren’t any Bitterns around at present. I saw the redhead Smew again then carried on down to Hall Marsh Scrape. Only one of the Cattle Egrets was on show, the other had apparently flown off earlier with a Little Egret but one was sufficient and would have been new for my Lea Valley list had I kept one (I started one when I got home!). Another Common Buzzard flew over as I made my way back to Cheshunt station.

One of the Cattle Egrets on Hall Marsh Scrape

The following day I decided to visit Staines Reservoir. It's not one of my favourite birding spots in London, mainly as there's not much to see but there were a couple of good birds I wanted to catch up with. I got the train from Waterloo to Staines, luckily a fast one rather than one that goes all round the houses and arrived at 08:45. There were only a couple of people on the causeway and I'd just missed a good showing of the Long-tailed Duck so I had to put in the hard work to relocate it. 

When this bird is actively feeding it spends at least 95% of its time underwater and with a large area to scan it can take a lot of time to find it. It was about an hour before someone located it on the South Basin and gave me directions. I got on it immediately and watched it dive and surface several times. I'd not seen a Long-tailed Duck in London since the Peckham bird in 2013 so it was nice catching up with this one. Over on the North Basin the flock of 10 Black-necked Grebes only needed a few seconds to locate. This is one of the largest groups I've seen in London. Apart from many Goldeneye on both basins which I also needed for the year there wasn't much else so I called it a day with my London Year List up to 95 species.