May 20th-31st: springs peters out

After a packed birding break in Norfolk, the rest of May petered out as the spring migration came to a close. I always know that spring is over when BBC’s Springwatch starts! They should really call it Summerwatch as it’s mostly about breeding birds.

I continued my near-daily local walks around Brent Reservoir but without adding any new birds, either recording breeding activity or looking for insects. A few late raptors flew over, so far this year I’ve seen twice as many migrant Red Kites as Buzzards, quite a remarkable upturn for this spectacular bird of prey.

14-spot Ladybird

Yellow-barred Longhorn

These Ermine caterpillars had totally defoliated this bush

I visited Rainham once during this period, on May 25th. It was notable for the four Cuckoos I encountered including three on Rainham West and a solitary Curlew, the only migrant wader. Avocets seemed to be having their best ever breeding year with maybe ten or more pairs around. A tardy Wigeon was still around – perhaps it was boycotting Russia this year?

Curlew

I managed one more day’s birding out of London on May 27th when three of us took the train from Waterloo to Chobham Common. Last year we went at exactly the same time of year and there were many more birds singing than this time so I’ve made a mental note to go earlier next year. Despite the lack of activity we still managed to find our target birds: a couple of Tree Pipits, half a dozen Dartford Warblers but just one distant Woodlark heard. It was a pleasant walk around the common with Red Kites and Buzzards overhead and plenty of insects. Unfortunately the only reptile we saw was a dead Adder that had been run over on the road as we walked back to the station.

Buzzard

Large Red Damselfly

Adder

I finished May on 169 birds in London out of a total of 205 that have so far been recorded. That includes a few untwitchable birds like the Little Swift that was seen in Lee this week. June is never a good month for adding new birds but I hope to catch up with a couple at least.

Spring break in Norfolk

May 16-19th 2022

We decided to have a change this year and booked a few days in Norfolk this spring rather than down in Weymouth. We met up at Kings Cross station which seemed particularly busy for a Monday, not helped by a horde of Harry Potter fans casting spells. At least they weren't playing Quidditch! We soon boarded the Kings Lynn train to escape the hustle and bustle of London. The train mostly emptied out at Cambridge and only a few passengers made it all the way to the end of the line.

At Lynn, we crossed over to the bus station and within a few minutes we were heading off on the last leg of our journey, winding through the town then a few sleepy villages. Somewhere just past Snettisham I saw a Grey Partridge in a field then as we went through Heacham a Fulmar cruised over the rooftops a few hundred metres inland. At Hunstanton we made our way past the small flock of zombie Mallards that hang around in the town and checked into our hotel.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking along the promenade, firstly up to the cliffs to get proper views of the breeding Fulmars. To the uninitiated they can look a bit like gulls but are actually related to albatrosses. The tide was well out and there wasn’t too much to see at this time of year but we saw a few waders and other birds as walked down towards Heacham before turning back and stopping for coffee and an ice-cream. We finished the day off with a large plate of fish ‘n’ chips washed down with a Ghost Ship.

Fulmar

Tuesday morning started with a pre-breakfast scan out to sea where we saw our only Gannets of the trip. After a large breakfast we took the Coastliner bus the short distance to Titchwell where we spent the rest of the day. It was already warm and sunny when we arrived and got out quite hot in the end. There was a Spotted Flycatcher by the feeders so we had a look at that; I rarely see them in spring anymore so it was nice to catch up with one so early in the year. We took the East Trail, seeing a few Marsh Harriers and a flyover Red Kite along with plenty of butterflies and some dragonflies that wouldn’t land but could have been Hairy.

Red Kite

The path looped around to the main track where we heard a Grasshopper Warbler singing. The lagoons were heaving with birds and at the first hide we located the long-staying Little Gull which was asleep on a bank. Fortunately it woke up after a while and went for a swim. We scanned through the mass of Avocets to look for other waders, seeing Black-wits, Turnstones and Common Sands. Among the few Common Terns that were on the reserve were a pair of Little Terns and the occasional Sandwich Tern flying over. A Hobby circled high over the lagoon and a Spoonbill dozed on an island. There was still the occasional reminder of winter with over 40 Brent Geese still around.

Little Gull

Avocet

We had lunch on the beach with the tide out then wandered towards the sea to get closer views of the waders. There were over 100 Grey Plover, mostly in their summer finery and a few Sanderling and Dunlin. We strolled back to the centre for afternoon tea, seeing a very close Little Ringed Plover along the way and a splendid Great Egret along a channel.

Great Egret

Little Ringed Plover

After a break we did a small circuit back to the main track and had another look at the lagoon. John found a sleeping drake Garganey and a pair of adult Med Gulls flew around.

We headed back to the coast road to the bus stop having seen 86 species at the reserve and there was still time before the bus arrived to see a Wall butterfly, a species that has virtually disappeared from the London area but is still plentiful on the Norfolk coast.

Wall

We had dinner at The Old Mariner and it was even warm enough to sit outside and watch the antics of the zombie Mallards, one even drinking out of a dog bowl.

The following day we headed over to Holkham. Walking along Lady Anne’s Drive we saw a Cattle Egret and two Pink-footed Geese which were left over from the winter. We crossed over the beach, seeing a few late migrant Wheatears and some breeding Meadow Pipits.

Meadow Pipit

We had a look at the sea but, like yesterday, it was very quiet. As we cut through the woods I heard a Treecreeper singing which we tracked down. We spent some time in the hide overlooking the fresh marsh and saw several Spoonbills flying past and a couple of Great Egrets in the closest pool.

We carried along the path for a while, seeing Four-spotted Chaser, Azure Damselfly and some more Wall butterflies before making our way back to the cafe. We stopped for drinks and a last scan of the marshes then took an early bus back to Hunstanton. To round off our short break, we dined out at Chives.

The following morning we left straight after breakfast and took the bus back to Kings Lynn where we finally caught up with Stock Dove, our 106th bird of the trip.

May 7th-14th: waders and butterflies

After a rarity packed first six days of May it was inevitable that spring would slow down. Over the weekend there were still a couple of migrant LRPs and Common Sands at Brent Reservoir along with the first broods of Long-tailed Tits.

Common Sandpiper

With a few waders appearing at Rainham over the last two days I thought it would be worth a visit so headed over there early on Monday morning. The tide was nice and low by the time I arrived at Aveley Bay and met up with John and Janet. There was a flock of eight Ringed Plover feeding on the water’s edge. This was one of my target birds and I soon picked up another when I scanned the Kent side and found one of yesterday’s Sanderlings on the Dartford mud along with four more Bar-wits. We walked the reserve loop, seeing the two breeding-plumaged Cattle Egrets out with their bovine insect flushers before finding another two Ringed Plover on Winter Pool.

We ran into Howard at Target Pool but there was no sign of the weekend’s Glossy Ibis. Hobbies and Swifts scythed overhead and a Cuckoo belted over but the only sign of any migration was a couple of Sand Martins.

I was back at Rainham on Thursday hoping that Turnstones would be on the move. With high tide occurring late morning I started early at Purfleet and headed straight to the bay but the only migrant wader was a close Bar-wit still in winter-plumage.

Bar-tailed Godwit

I gave it a while then carried on towards Serin Mound. As I walked through the car park I could hear the Corn Bunting singing on the tip but couldn’t locate it. Andy had just arrived so we had a look over Wennington but all we could see were hundreds of goslings. A message had us heading down to the river and we soon had close views of an orange and black Turnstone along with Whimbrel, Ringed Plover and Dunlin that had also arrived since my earlier visit. The Goodyear blimp sailed over the reserve, probably on its way to Wembley?

Turnstone

Goodyear blimp

After a coffee break at the centre we checked out Winter Pool where there was a small flock of Dunlin and a late Black-tailed Godwit. One of the Cattle Egrets was still out on Purfleet marsh. After lunch on Serin Mound I went home through Rainham West and found an interesting dead shrew on the path which looked black and large so I took it home for further examination. It turned out to be what I suspected: a Water Shrew, the first one I’ve seen, although too long expired to be countable on my mammal list.

Water Shrew

Friday was a day off from birding and I met up with John and Janet for a butterfly trip to Hutchinson’s Bank. The weather was still cloudy when we arrived at New Addington so we took an early coffee break in Costa’s before wandering down to the site. It was slow going at first until the clouds eventually parted but we did find some roosting Small Blues, then a Dingy Skipper.

Small Blue asleep on Bluebells

Dingy Skipper

We also found a few roosting moths including Common Carpet and Muslin Moth before the sun came out properly and woke the butterflies up.

Common Carpet

female Muslin Moth

Brimstones were abundant and among the special butterflies of the area we also found Grizzled Skipper. After a meandering circuit we headed over to Chapel Bank seeing some peculiar orchid-like flowers in the woodland which we couldn't identify.

The commonest butterfly of the day - Brimstone

Toothwort (thanks to Neil for the ID)

We had lunch in the sunshine before John found a Duke of Burgundy Fritillary on the path. As I went over to look for it I heard a Marsh Tit calling in the woods at the bottom of the slope. This was an unexpected bonus as it was new for my year list (#169) and I had been trying to work out where to go and search for one. We found another Duke and more skippers then slowly wandered back to Hutchinson’s Bank for another look before getting on the tram.

Duke of Burgundy

Grizzled Skipper

Dingy Skipper

May 1st-6th: Now that’s what I call Spring

After a long day in the field at Brent Res the previous day on our Spring Bird Count, it was a short, more relaxing potter around the res to start the new month. With engineering work on the Rainham line I decided to spend the Bank Holiday Monday at Brent as well and was glad that I did.

I was sat in the main hide idly scanning around when a heron flew into my field of view halfway down the reservoir. Its small size and monochrome plumage immediately had me saying ‘Night Heron!’ I switched from bins to scope and watched it lose height and land out of view in the willows on south bank. I sent out messages and then scanned the area to see if it had appeared. I knew there would be a better view from the North Bank so wandered around to the concrete jetty in front of Phoenix Canoe Club.

I was soon joined by Bob Watts who was over from Northern Ireland on a visit. Bob missed the last Night Heron at Brent in 1994 and famously slept in the hide so he could look for it at first light but without success. We couldn’t see it so decided to go round and explore the South Bank in case we could find it. Bob quickly found it roosting on a low branch but it only remained there for a few seconds and we lost where it went. People came and went during the day without seeing it but I was confident it would show again at dusk and the small group of people who assembled on the jetty were rewarded when it emerged from cover and perched on an open branch before flying, with a couple of  people even managing to photograph it.

Night Heron at dusk, photo by Adam Wilson

My original plan was to go to Rainham on Tuesday but the news of a Spotted Redshank and Nightingales in the Lea Valley led to a change of plans. I got an early train from Liverpool Street to Cheshunt. The weather was worse than forecast with a light drizzle as I arrived but fortunately didn’t last too long. As I walked up the west side of Seventy Acres I got my first target bird, a Cuckoo singing in the distance. I carried on to the sub-station island and soon had a Nightingale singing. As I carried along the path there was another one and by the end of my visit I had at least three and most likely four singing fairly close to each other.

I headed over to the Goosefield and met another birder on his way back from there who hadn’t seen any waders but had been told they were viewable on the other side. We walked back onto the island and up the east side and could then look over the river to a scrape that I didn’t know was there. Straightaway I could see a Bar-tailed Godwit in its brick red summer dress but there was no sign of any other waders. However, not all of the pool is visible and after a short wait another wader appeared. I thought any Spotted Redshank would be black by now but this wader was mostly grey. I took a few photos and could make out the orange legs and red base to the long bill leaving no doubt this was my third target bird of the day and quite a difficult one to add to my year list.

Spotted Redshank

With all the target birds under the belt I left for an early train, not knowing that if I had carried on down to Hall Marsh Scrape I would have found the Glossy Ibis that was discovered later that morning! Oh well, there’s bound to be another one of those this year. News of the Hoopoe in Enfield filtered out later in the day but by the time I’d returned home I couldn’t face going out again.

On Wednesday I finally made it down to Rainham. I even managed a good bird on the way there as I heard a Black Redstart singing in Aldgate on my way to the station. My only target bird at Rainham was Corn Bunting but I still took the time to explore the area properly beginning at Rainham West. A Cuckoo called near the old silt lagoons which have now become chalk lagoons. I’m guessing it’s from HS2 tunnels in the Chilterns. It could become an interesting habitat for chalkland butterflies and flora if properly managed.

I diverted off the main path at Wennington and took the track over the tip to look for the elusive Corn Bunting. There was no sign of it so I joined the riverwall path and stopped to scan the bay and river. There was a group of Bar-wits in the bay and some more on the Kent side while on the river a large flock of Common Terns also held a single Arctic. Then I heard the unmistakeable jangly song of a Corn Bunting behind me. I turned around and scanned the tops of a few small bushes and there it was.

I carried on to Serin Mound and met another birder. As we swapped notes, a Common Buzzard flew over and a few minutes later a suspicious-looking egret also flew over. I got the scope on it to confirm what I thought and the black feet, orange bill and compact size all led to a Cattle Egret, my first of the year, and I believe, Rainham’s first of the year. I continued along to the reserve and celebrated with coffee and a Danish before setting off for a circuit. 

Shoveler from Ken Barrett hide

I had another look at the bay in case any new waders had arrived but as they hadn’t I headed off to Purfleet and the train home. Well, almost.

Checking for recent news I saw there was an Iberian Chiffchaff in Regent’s Park. As my journey takes me past Baker Street it would have been rude not to get off and walk the short distance into the park. So an hour later I arrived at the Cricket Pen, having already clocked the song as I approached. I was expecting a larger turnout but there were only three other birders there. And one of them was busy photographing a Garden Warbler. To be fair, Magnus had already seen the Ibe and needed the Garden for a year tick.

The Iberian Chiffchaff showed beautifully, staying mostly in the Cricket Pen but moving around quite a lot. The song was perfect for this species, unlike some of the previous claims in London. This is just the third London record; the first was also the first UK record, at Brent Reservoir in 1972 and the second was two years ago at Ponders End which turned up during the first lockdown but stayed long enough for some to connect with after the restrictions were eased. It wasn’t on my list of possible to see during the year so was a great bonus.

Iberian Chiffchaff

After a hectic few days I planned to take it easy and have a stroll around Brent Reservoir. This all went to plan and I even found a stunning male Whinchat on the dump as I watched a Common Whitethroat descend from its display flight. 

Whinchat

I completed my weekly butterfly transect and returned home for coffee. And then it happened again, I checked my phone and there was a Glossy Ibis at the London Wetland Centre. Rest plans were put on hold and I grabbed my gear and legged it down to the bus stop. A few buses and trains, and a walk across Hammersmith Bridge and I was at the centre just over an hour later. I went straight to the Peacock Tower and looked out of the window on the lower floor...straight at the Glossy Ibis! Success. I sat down and enjoyed this rare bird feeding constantly on the wader scrape while I ate my lunch and rattled off a few photographs. I was really pleased to get this bird after missing the one a few days ago.

Glossy Ibis

Footnote: it appears this isn’t the same one that was in the Lea Valley but may be the same bird that turned up at Beddington a few days later. Maybe this will be the year of the ibis in London?

On Friday I went back to Cheshunt with friends to look for the Nightingales. We heard a couple singing in the same place but as the weather was sunnier they stopped singing by mid-morning. We heard a couple of Cuckoos but I still haven’t actually seen one yet. The dominant warbler seemed to be Garden Warbler and we had at least eight birds singing, many of them seen out in the open as well so perhaps there had been an overnight arrival. I still managed one new bird, a Hobby circling over Seventy Acres, the last regular summer visitor I needed so my list may struggle to keep this pace up! I’ve now reached 165 for my London year list, although I’ve just found out that I have a rival this year so there’s no let up yet.

Garden Warbler

Hobby

 

April 19th-30th: full steam ahead

After returning from a week birding in Saudi Arabia, I was desperate to see how the spring birding was progressing in London so a couple of hours after landing at Heathrow I popped up to Brent Res to check. This also enabled me to carry out a WeBS count, albeit a few days late. The only wader in East Marsh was a single Common Sandpiper while Yellow Wagtail and Reed Warbler were new for the year.

The following day I was back at Rainham. There was a notable increase in Sedge Warblers and they were joined by a few Reeds. I wonder what the resident Cetti’s Warblers make of this time of year as they quickly go from being the dominant songster to being almost drowned out by these newcomers. The four Barnacle Geese were still on Wennington but this proved to be the last day I saw them. While on the Serin Mound I heard a Grasshopper Warbler reeling away in the enclosed bay, a much needed new bird and one I’d hoped to get today.

A few Med Gulls were seen and heard flying over the tip, surely the best sounding gull on the planet? Looking out towards Erith Yacht Club I saw a few Common Terns and numbers picked up to reach a healthy 45. Aveley Bay was largely devoid of waders so I carried on to the centre to start a lap of the reserve. Just before I arrived a Great Egret flew past, although not new for the year, they’re still rare enough to enjoy finding.

The reserve was fairly quiet as it has been on recent visits, hopefully this will change before the end of spring.

After spending another day at Brent, it was back to Rainham on my usual Friday visit with friends. We took the longer route via the barges, seeing a pair of Med Gulls fly over the river before taking the path over the tip to Serin Mound. The Gropper was still reeling but we didn’t linger for too long as there was news of waders in the bay. It didn’t take too long to locate the three Bar-tailed Godwits. These waders used to be fairly regular at this time of year at several sites in London but Rainham is now one of the last places where you can catch up with them. There was also a single Dunlin with them.

We walked around the reserve and saw the Great Egret which was still here. A few Swallows and Sand Martins went over and we had another look in the bay as the tide was ebbing but there was nothing else new in.

I kept local at the weekend, visiting Brent on both days. On Saturday I finally saw my first Little Ringed Plover of the year but the best bird was after I left the hide and was walking towards Cool Oak Lane. I heard an unusual but still familiar song coming from the willow scrub in the builder’s yard. It took a little while to place it as it was out of context but I was fairly sure it was a Common Redstart. I shot a video to capture the song and started to scan in the trees for it. I managed to locate it fairly close and it was as I thought: a cracking male Redstart. It eventually got chased off by a Robin and went quiet so I couldn’t relocate it. It always a nice bird to see locally but to hear one sing was totally unexpected as there are no previous records of a singing bird.

The next day I was sitting in the hide when two terns suddenly appeared out of the bright blue sky, they dropped down over the res and flew around just beyond the rafts for a minute before they flew off north. It was easy to identify them as Arctic Terns with their Daz-white wings and long tail streamers.

I was back at Rainham again on 25th and it was another good wader day with three more Bar-tailed Godwits and three new year birds in Aveley Bay: Grey Plover, Whimbrel and Greenshank. Even better, the Curlew Sandpiper found at the weekend was tucked away on Winter Pool taking me up to 151 for the year. By the end of my visit I’d notched up 13 waders for the day. The Great Egret was still showing nicely from Butts Hide to add to the Little I’d seen earlier.

Great Egret

Little Egret

My last easy new warbler fell the next day at Brent, a Garden singing by the hide where it turned up yesterday. A cloudy morning at Fryent Country Park failed to produce anything new so the following day I ventured over to Staines Res in the hope of connecting with the flock of Little Gulls that had been present for a few days. When I got onto the causeway I was greeted by the spring emergence of clouds of insects but at least they’re good for the birds. And they’d attracted a group of Swifts which were my first ones this year.

I started scanning the North Basin and it didn’t take long to find a Little Gull, first an immature then some several stunning summer-plumaged adults. Among them were a few Common Terns, one Arctic and even better, a single Black Tern. I took a few crummy record shots and chatted to the only other birder there who’d seen the same selection of birds along with a first-summer Med Gull which I soon caught up with. Surprisingly, there were no waders around so once I’d had my fill of the Little Gulls I headed back to Staines station.

Black Tern

adult Little Gull

Arctic Tern

1st-summer Little Gull

There was time for one last visit to Rainham in April although I didn’t see any new year birds. It was again good for waders with a nice flock of 15 Bar-wits in the bay, along with a couple of Whimbrel and another Grey Plover as well as a Wheatear. During the walk around the reserve I even managed a prolonged view of a Cetti’s Warbler.

Wheatear

Cetti's Warbler

To finish the month, we had our Spring Bird Count at Brent Res on 30th during which we managed to clock up 70 species. I had an early start to the day, getting a Tawny Owl calling just after 5am. There wasn’t a tremendous amount of migration going on but between us we did see a few migrant Red Kites and Buzzards and I located 86 singing warblers of eight species. My year total finished on 155 at the end of April.