December birding

Having just returned from India, there was no gentle transition from autumn to winter and it remained relatively cold throughout the month, just dipping to below freezing on the penultimate night of the year. It also got cold on the Continent too, just what's needed to bring wildfowl across the North Sea. Just before Xmas there was a big influx of geese and some swans into the country and London saw its fair share although only White-fronted Geese stayed long enough to be seen by many.

Rainham Marshes

It was fairly quiet here for the first three weeks until the White-fronts began to arrive. I spent one morning searching Wennington Marshes hoping to find some without joy and then two flocks turned up there the following day although they soon moved on. Luckily the family party of three returned the next day and I was able to catch up with them - my first ones at Rainham.

3 White-fronted Geese with two Canadas

I only visited Rainham seven times this month. Aside from the White-fronts, the other highlight was a large influx of Avocets after Xmas. An initial count of 80 on the 27th equalled the site record but more arrived and we ended up with a total of 98. Even this was eclipsed two days later when Hawky counted 111 in Aveley Bay, a record count for the London Area.

Ingrebourne Valley

As I still hadn't seen Red-legged Partridge in London this year I decided to make one final effort to track them down. It ended up being really easy and I found a small covey in a field within ten minutes of getting off the bus.

Red-legged Partridge

Dagenham Chase

My third new bird this month was Woodcock which was also a patchtick. I'd failed to find them here last winter but following up a report of one early in the month I managed to locate one in the same place.

With all the rain we've had recently The Slack started to fill up again, having been dry for about six months. It's still well below its normal water level but it was enough to attract a decent size flock of Lapwings though the regular over-wintering Wigeon haven't returned and must have gone elsewhere. It has been attracting a good number of gulls so we're hoping something more unusual might drop in this winter.

The Slack

There's been a lot of publicity about the planned 'reintroduction' of White Stork and Beaver to Dagenham Chase which is due to start next year. My view is that neither species is a reintroduction as there's no evidence that they've ever bred in London before and it's just an expensive vanity project. The plan is to build a large aviary (just in front of the film studios you can see in the above photo) for the Storks but it's unclear if it will have a roof. We'll have to wait and see how it unfolds next year.

Other sites

My local parks and even Beam Valley were pretty quiet this month so I decided to visit a new park, one I'd been meaning to visit for a while - Raphael Park in Romford. Interestingly it's pronounced 'ray-full' rather than 'raf-ay-el' as you might expect. Wikipedia states that the park is named after a former local MP so presumably that's how his name was pronounced.

It's an easy journey for me, being on the 174 bus route with its own bus stop right by the entrance.

The lake starts at the main entrance and the path heads north along the lake to the end where there is a small wood and out into an open area. There's a cafe here and the return route is either along the same path or one along the eastern border which then drops down to the lake at several places.

The usual wildfowl that you'd expect on a London park lake are here: Mute Swan, Canada, Greylag and Egyptian Geese plus Mallard, Tufted Duck, Moorhen and Coot but there were also a couple of Little Egret roosting in the willows at the back of the lake. I also heard Nuthatch calling in the woodland and finished my visit on 33 species which I thought was pretty good for a winter visit.

Lake with ubiquitous Canada Geese and Feral Pigeons

The woodland track

Little Egret

Tufted Duck

Back at the entrance I crossed over the road to another new park - Lodge Farm Park. I did a loop which didn't take very long but it's possible to walk to the southern end of the park and then on to Romford Station. There's no water here so there's far fewer birds and I only recorded eight species.

There's a lot of mistletoe on this tree!

I finished my London eBird year list on 178 species; I'd not managed to achieve 170 before but had come close so am quite pleased with the effort I put in.

There were typically a few obvious birds I missed during the year: Brent Goose turned up a number of times at Rainham on days I'd gone elsewhere; there was a Red-breasted Merganser on KGV Res but I didn't really have time to go for it; I missed Turnstone and Little Stint at Rainham and the autumn wader passage was particularly poor this year; there was also Kittiwake and Little Tern on the river at Rainham but not when I was there; there were no Short-eared Owls in the 2nd winter period and I didn't get one earlier in the year; I missed the Hoopoe at Rainham when I was searching a nearby spot for it; I didn't go for the Wryneck at Chingford but should have done as it stayed for nearly a week; I dipped the Red-backed Shrike at Tylers Common which just disappeared before I arrived; there was no Marsh Tit available this year; and I didn't connect with Woodlark, Ring Ouzel or Hawfinch when vis-migging in autumn.

With a bit more luck and a better autumn passage I ought to be able to break 180 so will give it a go another year.