March 24-31st: spring migrants in the snow

I began the last week of March with a trip down to the Wetland Centre, timing my journey just right to arrive one minute before the doors open. It was a lovely sunny day and I was hoping for some migrants to be about. However, it was surprisingly quiet with just three Chiffchaffs and a solitary Blackcap singing. I did get my first proper summer migrant though with four Sand Martins whizzing around in front of the nest bank. A pair of Shelduck was also new for my site year list but the Oystercatchers eluded me and weew probably on the river as it was low tide.

Shelduck

Around the reserve there were four Little Egrets, the most I’ve seen here as they’re fairly scarce in the inner boroughs. It was obvious that they’re still unusual here as one of the Crows seemed fascinated by this white bird and kept sneaking behind it to try and yank a feather. The egret put up with this mischief for a few minutes then it had enough and flew to a different area.

Little Egret with mischievous Crow

On the return route, someone had baited a bench with food and a Jay decided it was too good an opportunity to miss.

Jay

On the way home I walked through Brompton Cemetery near Earls Court which I’d not been to before. There’s a lot of mature trees and scrub and looks like it has potential but my quick visit only produced common birds.

The following day was my usual Friday visit to Rainham. Hoping again for some new migrants but despite the seemingly good conditions there was nothing on offer. The four Barnacle Geese were still on Wennington and a Water Pipit flew past calling. There were a few waders in Aveley Bay and the only uncommon birds on the reserve were two Egyptian Geese and a Green Woodpecker but it was still a nice day out.

I did Brent Reservoir for the rest of the week. Saturday produced the most unexpected bird, out of the clear blue sky a Sandwich Tern just dropped in for a few minutes before continuing its northerly migration. This was Brent’s first proper summer migrant and was such an outsider that nobody forecast it. Hardly surprising it was a long shot as there’s no other March records. Still it increased my London year list by one and not one that can be guaranteed as I missed it last year.

Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps continued to increase locally in the fine weather but they weren’t accompanied by any other new migrants. Elsewhere in London, Garganeys were turning up and just sporadic other migrants like Wheatear, Sedge Warbler and Common Whitethroat but I’m happy to wait until I run into them next month.

I had one final excursion this month, popping down to Richmond Park for the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker which was being seen quite regularly in Sawpit Plantation. It didn’t take too long for me to get there via the North London line to Richmond. I walked across the park and found the right area. It would be almost impossible to locate this bird unless I heard it and fortunately it started drumming just four minutes after I arrived. There was a lot of woodpecker activity in the park and I had already heard a few Great Spots so immediately picked up the longer and more rapid drum. I tracked it down to a few trees and started to scan with the bins and soon found it on the main trunk. I was even lucky enough to grab a quick photo before it moved on. I left it in peace and popped down to Pen Ponds to have a look before slowly making my way back up to the station and home.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Deer

Grey Heron

Jackdaw

The month ended on what felt like the coldest day of the year and there was even a little snow shower. Not much chance of migrants I was thinking until I saw a couple of hirundines low over the water at the far end of the reservoir. Luckily they came closer and turned into two Sand Martins and a Swallow, definitely proving the old adage that one Swallow doesn’t make a summer.

I finished March on 129 species for my London year list, just one shy of my target and looking forward to April and shed loads of summer migrants!

March 15-23rd: spring awakens

The week began still stuck in winter despite the warmer weather. Brent Res still had its full complement of over-wintering Black-headed and Common Gulls. I usually expect them to be gone by St Patrick’s Day so they’ve not got long now. The only nod towards spring was an increase in singing Chiffchaffs with ten now singing their own name. At least the butterflies thought it was spring with both Comma and Peacock seen.

Comma

Peacock

The following day at Brent, the gulls had obviously checked their calendars and had largely gone, just seven Common and a few more, mostly immature, Black-heads were left. The heronry has expanded this year with at least seven active nests. They’re always so much later than the Regent’s Park birds, with a couple of recent arrivals just starting to build new nests. A couple of Green Sandpipers were flying around East Marsh but the early movement of waders hasn’t really started yet unless the fine weather is just sending them flying straight over London.

March 17th –I started the day with a walk around Fryent CP where there was a passage of Redwings and a lot of song from woodland birds like Great Tit and Robin. Even common birds like Magpies looked good in the sunny weather.

Great Tit

Magpie

Robin

 I carried on over to Brent where I finally managed to catch up with the recent raptor movement, seeing two Red Kites and a Buzzard. I’m not really sure what these March birds are doing as they don’t get seen on the south coast until later in spring so perhaps they’re immature birds that their parents have expelled from their breeding territories? Whatever the answer, it’s always a pleasure to be able to see Red Kites over your local patch in London. Historically, they used to breed in central London so maybe they’ll return one day. I can just picture them scrapping with the gulls and wildfowl in St James’s Park for scraps and stealing sandwiches from unsuspecting tourists!

The next day was spent at Rainham Marshes. One of the Barnacle Geese has gone missing but the other four were happily still hanging out on Wennington. Gull numbers had noticeably declined here as well but otherwise there was little change in the bird population since my last visit. The Spoonbill was still here, although today it had taken to sleeping in front of Butts hide. Marsh Harriers were calling and displaying up high. Otherwise, the only change was plenty of Marsh Frogs (not yet calling) and lots of butterflies in the sunshine (Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Peacock, Small White).

Brimstone

With only the odd migrant turning up elsewhere and nothing else that I could realistically add to my year list I spent a few more days at Brent before heading down to the Thames on 22nd. This time it was on the south side at Crossness. It was another warm and sunny day, the hottest of the year so far and that certainly encouraged more butterflies to be out on the wing. Raptors took advantage of the thermals and I saw two Buzzards and a Kite, the latter being new for me at this site and now just one short of a ton.

Red Kite

Goldfinch

Linnet

At the outfall, the wintering Common Sand hadn’t moved from previous visits. A couple of the Black-wits had acquired summer plumage and the hoards of Common Teal still all had horizontal white stripes. A lone Curlew showed well out on the mud. Cetti’s Warblers were all over the place and one even sat up in a bare tree.

Curlew

Cetti's Warbler

A pair of Kestrels appeared to be nesting in an exhaust pipe on the adjacent building; it will be interesting to see what the local Peregrines make of them! I tried a new route so I could take in the Southern Marsh and still finish up at Abbey Wood station which worked well although it may have meant that I missed a Brent Goose that was reported later! And there was a Wheatear although I don’t think it was on my route.

Kestrels

To finish off I went around Brent Res on 23rd, seeing my first Bee-fly of the year and my fifth local Red Kite this month. Some spring flowers had emerged since my visit two days earlier including Primrose. It’s interesting how so many of the flowers in March are yellow.

Bee-fly

Primrose

March 5-14: early signs of spring

I finished February on 123 species, adding only five all month so it was nice to get away and see some different birds in The Netherlands. March started slowly with a couple of visits to Brent before heading over to Rainham on the 7th. It was really a case of ‘as you were’ with very little change from previous visits.

The five Barnacles were still hanging out on Wennington and the Spoonbill was still sleeping behind the Target Pools. Dabbling ducks had reduced in number with some heading back to their breeding grounds. There was a respectable flock of 43 Avocets in the bay, the most I’ve seen for a while but there were no new waders in yet. Walking around the reserve did at least provide a cronking Raven though I failed to see it.

I spent a few more days at Brent, mainly because I needed to start work on sawing through a fallen willow that had blocked the path round the back of East Marsh. Chiffchaffs had started to arrive, or perhaps the over-wintering ones had begun singing, it’s hard to tell this early in spring. There was also one or two Blackcaps singing which I’m sure haven’t just arrived from Africa. I still managed a couple of new birds for my London year list, flushing a Woodcock near the rifle range just before starting some bramble clearance and best of all, hearing a Little Owl calling from my flat.

As the Dusky Warbler had reappeared at Walthamstow Marshes I decided to see if I could get better views and maybe even a photo but there was absolutely no sign of it during the morning I tried, although typically someone did connect in the afternoon. It’s got to be the most elusive Dusky to have turned up in the UK, they’re really not meant to be that difficult to see! At least the flood relief channel had a few birds on it that I could take some pictures of, including a nice pair of Shelduck.

Pair of Shelduck

I spent most of the weekend sawing through the willow so needed a break the following day. I decided to spend the morning at Crayford Marshes as it’s not a site I know well, having visited it just once before. I started at Slade Green station and it’s just a couple of minutes walk along Moat Lane before you get to the marshes.

It was a nice sunny morning and there were Skylarks and Chiffchaffs singing and I also saw my first butterflies of the year with two Small Tortoiseshells, so it felt very spring like. I kept hoping for a Wheatear to pop up on the riverwall or a Sand Martin to fly over the Thames but neither appeared. Nevertheless it was a pleasant amble up to the large reedbed near Erith Yacht Club. I sat down and watched the river for a while. There was plenty of gull activity but not much else. I headed back to the mouth of the Darent where the falling tide had exposed enough mud for a Harbour Seal to enjoy a rest next to a flock of Avocets.

Harbour (or Common) Seal

Avocets on Dartford Marsh

I carried on walking down the Darent, past where I had come in and then along the Cray. Spring flowers were turning the path edges yellow with lots of Dandelions, a few Daffodils (late this year) and my first Cowslips of the year.

Cowslips

As the marshes ended I navigated my way through Crayford and down to the railway station where there was a train waiting at the platform.

Netherlands in Winter

February 28. After nearly two years of no overseas trips, it was time to venture abroad again with a short European trip. I booked on the Naturetrek trip to The Netherlands and we all met up at St Pancras. The continuing pandemic meant lots of additional form-filling and  the need to get a certificate showing a negative covid test although this seemed unnecessary as no one then asked to see it! A double passport check was required as a result of Brexit which added to the really long queues.

Eventually we got through the formalities and there was time to relax and have a coffee and Danish in the cafe before boarding the 11am train. This was my first time on Eurostar and we soon whizzed past the spots I know such as Rainham and Swanscombe then plunged into Kent and through the tunnel for twenty minutes before arriving in France. We stopped at Lille, then into Belgium, stopping at Brussels and finally we got off at Rotterdam.

We strolled over to the car hire and were soon on our way out of the city and on to our first birding stop at Battenoord Harbour. The target here was quickly located, a flock of large pink things which were soon identified as Greater and Chilean Flamingos, the latter being an introduced, self-sustaining population. The last time I saw these birds they were in their natural home in South America so this felt a bit like cheating! Among other birds here were our first, and certainly not our last, Barnacle Geese. With the light fading we drove to our hotel and had a bit of time to relax before dinner.

Chilean & Greater Flamingos

Typical Dutch scene - Flamingos and Windmills

March 1st. The following morning we were out before breakfast and crossed over the road onto the dunes and had a look at the sea. There was a flock of Red-throated Divers, Eider, Common Scoter and an obliging Slavonian Grebe. We left after breakfast and went exploring the fields and coastline of this southern part of the country.

Slavonian Grebe

More introduced birds were found, this time Bar-headed Goose and Black Swan among the hordes of wild geese. Interspersed among them were several Spoonbills, Great Egrets and plenty of waders.

Barnacle Geese

Spoonbills

We popped into a nice bakery for lunch then spent some time on the coast where there was a decent sized flock of 60 Purple Sands and a similar number of Red-throated Divers. At another site further north we saw our first Goshawk and a Peregrine flushing all the wildfowl. Huge numbers of waders, mostly godwits and plovers flew in from the coast and landed in the fields.

Bakery

Purple Sandpiper

Waders

It was a long drive to our next hotel and we arrived at 7.30pm so went straight into dinner.

Hotel

March 2nd. Pre-breakfast birding was a walk around the woods at the back of the hotel. Among the commoner species seen was an obliging Short-toed Treecreeper. We then went exploring the goosefields around Noordeinde where the numbers of Barnacles were in the tens of thousands. Among a flock of White-fronted Geese we found two Tundra Bean Geese.

Tundra Bean Geese in foreground; White-fronted Geese in background

A few Smew were seen in the wider ditches and I picked up a White Stork as we drove along a main road. A bit later I found a White-tailed Eagle soaring so we screeched to a halt and all bundled out. Luckily it continued soaring around for everyone to get great views of this huge flying barn-door.

 As it was a nice sunny day we decided to have our lunch outside at the cafe. This also meant we could carry on birding as there were Smew on the river. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the reserve, seeing another White-tailed Eagle, Willow Tit, a distant Hen Harrier and large herds of Red Deer.

Willow Tit

White-tailed Eagle

Smew

Red Deer

March 3rd. We did our own pre-breakfast walk before breakfast and found a tree with a few Hawfinches in. As we watched more flew in and eventually there were 25 gathered there. We spent the day checking out the goosefields around Workum and Makkum and finally found a Red-breasted Goose in amongst the Barnies. Among the many Common Buzzards we found a single Rough-legged.

Hawfinch

White-fronted and Barnacle Geese

As we drove along the coast road I saw a Bittern feeding in a ditch but as we pulled off to stop we sank into the soft mud. We spent the next ten minutes trying to extricate the vehicle until we were rescued by a kind Dutchman who had seen it all before. Everyone had brief views of the Bittern which decided to play a game of hide-and-seek before we carried on back to the hotel. After dinner it was time to fill out the dreaded online passenger location form to allow us back into the UK and most of us struggled with this piece of bureaucracy.

Bittern

March 4th. Our last day and a few of us went to see the Hawfinches again before breakfast. We loaded the van and headed off to our first stop on the southbound leg. This was a forested area with an open heath, resembling the Brecks. Apart from the Black Woodpecker that was calling and briefly seen by the car park! From the largest European woodpecker, we went to the smallest and found a pair of Lesser Spots. A flock of Crossbills flew over and there were several Woodlarks singing, one of which conveniently landed next to us.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Woodlark

A pair of Goshawks got up over the trees and then one did a flypast, allowing us exceptionally close views. It landed on the edge of the clearing and as we tried to locate it a flock of four Cranes flew over.

Goshawk

We carried on further south for our final stop on the goosefields to look for Lesser White-fronts but to no avail as there were very few geese around. Soon it was time to pack up and go and we headed back into Rotterdam to check in for the mid-afternoon train back to the UK. We saw 122 species between us including vast flocks of geese, making it an excellent short break.

 

Barnacle Goose