Oct 16th-20th: Fog and migrants

I started the second half of October with a morning at Brent Res, hoping for some visible migration but, like so much of this month, it was fairly quiet with just a flock of four Little Egrets flying over being unusual. The Stonechat remained in situ on the Dump and it was still present the following day as well, making it four days. Typically, Stonechats don’t linger at Brent so it was nice to get one that found the place to its liking.

After a short vis-mig session on Monday morning where the only bird of note was a high flying Snipe, I headed over to Fryent CP to try my luck over there. It’s only a short walk from the playing fields at the top end of Brent so I was there early enough to continue vis-migging. A few Linnets and a Siskin flew over which were both new for the year here, otherwise there wasn’t much activity.

With easterlies predicted for the next couple of days I decided to concentrate my time on Rainham. I took an early train on Tuesday and things looked fine until we reached Dagenham and the landscape disappeared under a dense shroud of fog. I didn’t see that on the weather forecast but should have realised with the drop in temperature, high pressure and lack of wind making the ideal conditions.

I still hoped that the fog may have downed some migrants so was on full alert as I walked through Rainham West but there was very little moving. The Cetti’s Warblers remained silent in the ghostly conditions and with low visibility it felt like walking through a post-apocalyptic film set.

A pylon appears out of the fog

Traps set optimistically along a bridge for a Troll

Entrance to the old silt lagoons, now being covered in chalk

A spider's web glistening in the foggy dew

I took the shorter path along Coldharbour Lane and went straight past Serin Mound as Wennington Marsh was invisible in the gloom. Along the river wall it was only possible to see anything on the close mud with the river and far bank totally obscured. Out in the distance I could hear a fog horn and it reminded me of the young Pip in Great Expectations. One day I might get around to reading another book by Dickens!

I lingered on the river wall and eventually the fog began to dissipate, typically clearing and then reforming at first so Crayford Marsh appeared then vanished again. A few more waders emerged out of the fog and there was a Ruff and the long-staying Grey Plover on the mud along with a little gaggle of Avocets. That’s probably the wrong collective term but I’m struggling to come up with anything better. A little group of Reed Buntings were feeding on some fallen reeds on the concrete apron.

Reed Bunting

A solitary Avocet emerges from the fog

As I looked over towards the reserve I noticed a ghostly apparition forming – a White Rainbow. It wasn’t a phenomenon I’d seen or even heard of before but it was quite stunning. I looked it up online later and it is actually a thing, also called a Fogbow and occurs in the same way a rainbow is formed but the fog particles reflect the light so that the colours aren’t produced.

A Fogbow or White Rainbow over the river wall

With the fog receding I headed into the reserve and made my way clockwise to Butts Hide, seeing a pair of amorous Migrant Hawkers along the way.

Pair of Migrant Hawkers

There was another Ruff out the front of the hide but very little else so I didn’t go round any further. As I headed back a Buzzard soared around near the numbers.

Common Buzzard

The next day I was back again, this time starting at Purfleet station as the forecast was for a moderate easterly and I was hopeful of some seabirds coming up the river. I parked myself on a bench in front of the closed hotel and waited. Redwings were constantly calling and a few small flocks zipped past. A little while later an unseen Brambling wheezed past and it seemed like the conditions were ideal for a decent vis-mig session. Not long after I hit the jackpot when I heard a light trill overhead and looked up to see the culprit struggle to make it across the river. With its short tail it looked more like a bat than a lark, a dead giveaway for Woodlark. I’ve seen a couple migrating over Brent and one at Swanscombe but this was my first one in the Rainham area.

Woodpigeons were also on the move and they too struggled to get across the river, with one group abandoning their first attempt before circling around and trying again. I was still watching the river although nothing was coming from the east. A few Wigeon flew around and then I spotted a couple of terns on the far side. I switched to the scope and could see they were Sandwich Terns heading downriver.

With migration quietening down I headed along the river wall and had a look at Aveley Bay but there wasn’t much happening there so I went into the reserve and this time went round to Ken Barrett hide. The water level had gone up since my last visit and there were only a few Snipe remaining and very little else. In the distance I could see Marsh Harriers out hunting and after a while counted three different birds, a pair of adults and a young male.

I decided to walk on to Rainham station in case a Ring Ouzel had dropped in but to no avail. It did give me the opportunity to investigate the stone numbers which I’d always walked past but intrigued me. Luckily a sign explained their purpose. I didn’t find any for 500 and 600 so not sure if they’re on another path or don’t exist.

I also learned something else as I assumed that Portland stone came from the quarries on Portland Bill but apparently it also comes from the Isle of Wight.

Oct 8th-15th: invasion of the heath dwellers

I started the second week of October by finding a Jack Snipe at Brent Reservoir, my first there this year. They’ve become annual now on my local patch and they’re always great birds to see. Unfortunately it didn’t stay longer than a day.

Vis-migging at Brent remained fairly quiet all week but I did have a few highlights: a flock of 17 Linnets on Sunday, a total of 64 Redwing the next day and at the end of the period, a Skylark – another first for the year. There were a few Mipits and Chaffinches but it’s been a poor autumn so far. Hopefully, things will change next week with better conditions forecast.

I popped over to Roe Green Park one morning for a change and added one new species to the site list: Egyptian Goose. It was also my first wildfowl of any description which isn’t surprising considering there isn’t any water there. One of the locals must be feeding this pair of Egyptians as they were ignoring everyone who walked past.

Autumnal trees at Roe Green

Egyptian Geese

On Thursday I went down to the Wetland Centre to meet up with a friend. I’ve not been there this autumn so it was good to see what was going on. After a coffee and a Danish at the cafe we headed over to Dulverton Hide to look for the Bittern but there was no sign of it while we were there.

View from Dulverton Hide - how many species can you find?

We carried on to Peacock hide for a different view. There were a few Snipe on the grazing marsh but nothing on the wader scrape which is totally dry. I think they’ve had a problem pumping in water from the Thames rather than it being because of the heatwave and drought. Actually, there were some birds on the wader scrape as I heard Stonechats being mentioned. I wandered over to have a look and another dark bird appeared with them. Its long cocked-up tail was a dead giveaway and I called out Dartford Warbler along with Martin who had found the Stonechats.

Worst ever photo of a Dartford Warbler...

It was quite distant and it kept disappearing into the vegetation but did eventually sit up on a bare bush for a while so the few lucky people in the hide could get on it. We speculated on whether it was a first for the site; it seems there was one in 1957 when it was Barn Elms Reservoirs but today’s bird seems to be a new one for the LWC. And it didn’t take long for the news to get out and several of the staff descended on the hide to try and see it.

On Friday I had my regular visit to Rainham Marshes. I started off at Rainham station and walked to the barges and then along the riverwall. It was fairly quiet apart from Stonechats which kept appearing along the path and I saw at least 15 during the morning but there were probably many more around. I don’t recall having seen so many Stonechats in London before and wonder where they’ve all come from.

It was low tide so there were a lot of waders in Aveley Bay. Black-wit numbers are slowly increasing and I found a Grey Plover out on the mud with them. Surprisingly there were no small waders so the chances of getting a Little Stint there this year are rapidly diminishing.

Black-tailed Godwits

Skylarks and Meadow Pipits were on the move in small numbers and I had two Rock Pipits on the shore, my first ones this autumn. Once on the reserve I headed through the woodland hoping for a Yellow-brow but there was no sign of one so I carried on to the Ken Barrett hide. There was a single Ruff with the Lapwing and more Snipe but last week’s Green Sands seem to have moved on.

Raptors were thin on the ground with just a couple of Sparrowhawks and Kestrels seen but nothing larger. The ongoing boardwalk repairs are not making it easy for visitors and I’m not seeing any signs of progress, they really need to open up one end so you can at least get to Aveley Pools.

With October now half over we’re still awaiting a really good bird in London this month, let’s hope for something in the second half...

Oct 1st-7th: raptor fest

The first three days of the month were spent at Brent Reservoir. I started each morning off with a little vis-migging but yet again it was so quiet that I didn’t record much flying over. Best was a single flock of 15 Redwings on the 1st. I also found a roost of Greenfinches on the Dump and 19 flew out. We’ve had small numbers here regularly so it may be most of these were passage birds and stopped off for a rest as I’ve not recorded such numbers since.

Other notable birds during this period were a 2nd-winter Med Gull in North Marsh. It’s the least common plumage in London and I’ve only seen a couple of similar birds at Brent before; and I also found a pair of Stonechat up towards the dam. Given the large influx of this species across London this was a well overdue patch year tick.

Stonechats

On Tuesday I took an early train to Andover and met up with Lynne from my recent Sao Tome trip. She showed me around her extensive local patch – Salisbury Plain. I’ve not birded this area before so I was keen to visit it. And according to eBird, my Wiltshire list was zero so I had a big hole to fill!

We started at an unremarkable field where Stone-curlews hang out in autumn. They have usually all migrated by now so we didn’t expect to see any but as I scanned across the field I came across a likely looking brown lump. In the scope it soon transformed into the rather bizarre shape of an actual Stone-curlew. Over the next five minutes we’d found another two, although they were very good at hiding just by sitting down in the low crop. We were off to a good start and carried on driving around.

It’s an odd place to drive around as there are tanks moving around in the distance and occasional blasts as a shell is fired into the target area. Although there are a few public highways that cross the area, Lynne is able to go on restricted roads as part of her job.

We saw a lot of Stonechats, along with a few Whinchats and Wheatears, but small birds are generally scarce in this steppe like habitat. Skylarks and Meadow Pipits are common and we had a couple of Yellowhammers and a large flock of Corn Buntings.

Once the drizzle stopped we began seeing raptors and during the course of the day amassed a total of seven species. Kestrel and Common Buzzard were the most widespread, along with a few Red Kites and the odd Sparrowhawk. It was when we stopped to look at a few raptors that we encountered our first surprise. A raptor came towards us, looking very odd, but as it passed over we could see extensive barring underneath. It then all fitted into place as it had long straight wings and a long tail: Honey-buzzard! We stopped for lunch overlooking an area where a ringtail Hen Harrier had been seen recently but we couldn’t find it.

In the afternoon we tried a different section and eventually found the birds I really wanted to see: Great Bustard. They’ve long been extinct as breeding birds in the UK but there is a re-introduction project here which has been going on for quite a long time. The numbers are now up to 150 with many females producing broods so it has been successful. It can’t be long now before it is deemed to be a self-sustaining population. They are free to roam around the Plain and some individuals do fly off further afield.

We saw a flock of 23 in a field, consisting of females and immature males. They really are quite impressive birds and it was very reminiscent of being on the Spanish Steppes which was where I last saw them.

Great Bustards

On the way back we stopped when we saw a raptor hunting over the fields, it turned out to be a male Hen Harrier, always a great sight to see, especially in southern England where they are now so scarce. While we watched it hunt, a falcon suddenly appeared and followed it. It was a Merlin and they are known to hunt with Hen Harriers, chasing after any small birds that the harrier flushes.

Hen Harrier

After this great end to the day we sped back to the station and I got on the platform just as the train was pulling in. 

I had another couple of fairly quiet days at Brent before venturing out to Rainham on Friday with some friends. We headed straight onto the reserve when it opened (about 10 minutes late!) and made our way to the KB hide, hoping for some waders. One Green Sandpiper became two and eventually three as did the Ruff on a more distant pool.

3 Green Sandpipers

As we walked back to the centre a Hobby flew past us and landed low down on an adjacent pylon. It was the regular juvenile that has been hanging out around the woodland area. Along with a Marsh Harrier that we’d seen earlier, this was two more new raptors, making it nine species this week!

Juvenile Hobby

After a stop for coffee and cake at the visitor centre we walked the other way to the Butts hide. It was a very quiet walk in the strengthening wind and we didn’t see anything until we got into the hide. There were another two Ruff and four distant Pintail amongst the other dabblers. We cut out through the turnstile to look at the bay again but by now it was high tide and it was empty.

Ruff