June birding

June is often a quiet month for birding and with long spells of hot dry weather in the capital, it was particularly slow. I usually turn my attention to insecting instead but even that was hard at times with dried out waterways and vegetation.

Beam Parklands

I visited my local patch five times in June and walked up into Beam Valley CP a few times as well. The Cuckoo was still calling and warblers such as Blackcap, Common & Lesser Whitethroats started singing again after raising their first brood. Small and Essex Skippers were both found after a bit of searching along with a few other common butterflies but the only dragonfly seen was Black-tailed Skimmer.

Pair of Black-tailed Skimmers

Dagenham Chase

I managed a respectable 14 visits this month. From the middle of the month there were clear signs of the autumn migration commencing with a rise in the number of Lapwings on The Slack (reaching 20 by the end) and the first returning Black-headed Gulls. The water level is severely low at the moment but they are proposing to start pumping water into it this week.

I spent a lot of time searching all the elm trees for White-letter Hairstreak but to no avail. Although there are a lot of elms, there's very few mature ones as the rest have succumbed to Dutch Elm Disease. 

Last year I saw a lot of damselflies on Crowfoot Marsh but haven't found any this year and I suspect it's because of the dogs that go into the water. If the dogs have been treated with a particularly toxic anti-tick/flea treatment it washes off in the water and kills off all the insects.

Despite all this I still managed to find a reasonable number of insects here this month. After finding the first Marbled Whites in the area last year, their colonisation continues and this year they've expanded their range out of Fels Field.

Black-and-Yellow Longhorn Beetle

Marbled White

Red Admiral

Ringlet

Rainham Marshes

I went to Rainham three times but only did the loop around the reserve once. I was particularly targeting dragons and damsels and managed six species, a fairly low total as it was a struggle to find any damselflies. I was especially pleased to find and photograph Norfolk Hawker as that was my main target for the day.

Norfolk Hawker

Ruddy Darter

Small Red-eyed Damselflies

I also had a wander around the country lanes outside of Rainham Village hoping to find some partridges. I didn't manage any but instead saw a Barn Owl which was probably bird of the month.

Goresbrook Park

This small park is a couple of minutes walk from my house but I rarely visit it as it's a bit hopeless. A river runs through it - The Gores - but is hideously choked with Himalayan Balsam. There's been some attempt to plant trees and shrubs but they're mostly dead which is a shame as it could be a nice place with a bit more effort. I had a wander round looking for butterflies, most of which were feeding on a Buddleia.

Comma

South London

I ventured south of the river a couple of times, first to Epsom Common to look for Black Hairstreak. It was just my second visit to this site, the first being many years ago to see a Little Bittern. It's a fairly easy journey on the train but there are some very specific instructions to follow to get to the hedge the hairstreaks live on. 

As we got there I saw one fly past and then never saw any more for the whole time we were searching. We met a few other people who were also searching but they hadn't found any although they had been seen earlier in the week. I'll give it another go next year. At least there were other butterflies and insects around and we got great views of White Admirals.

Variable Longhorn Beetle

White Admiral

The following week we went to Crossness where the Ruddy Shelduck was located on the foreshore. It was one of the hot days so we only walked part of the route and took a bus  back to Abbey Wood station.

Ruddy Shelduck

Small Red-eyed Damselflies

The dry summer has taken its toll on my garden and everything is looking like it belongs in the Atacama Desert. However, the few flowers that are thriving have been a boon for insects and I found a few Small Skippers on the lavender in my front garden and, best of all, a Bee Beetle in the back garden, a really stunning insect.

Bee Beetle

July - slow start to autumn

July is often a transitional month, jumping around between summer and autumn depending on the weather. Waders and gulls are the most obvious birds on the move and towards the end of the month the first warblers pop up in hedgerows.

I often start this month with a trip down to Oare Marshes in Kent for the regular Bonaparte's Gull that arrives in July for the autumn. We go by train to Faversham and walk to Oare. This year it didn't take long to find the Bonaparte's as it was the first gull we looked at!

Bonaparte's Gull

Our timing was excellent as it flew off not long afterwards. Along the shore was a single Bar-tailed Godwit and there were plenty of Black-tails on East Fleet but there weren't many other waders. The weather started to deteriorate so rather than look for the Dainty Damselflies we headed back early to Faversham. 

This was my only trip outside East London this month and with a lot of sunny weather I decided to stay local and continue recording butterflies and dragonflies on my various local patches. I didn't ignore the birds though and July often produces a mega. This year it was a Franklin's Gull at Crossness, just the second record in London, the first also being at Crossness way back in 2000. 

As I saw that bird I didn't drop everything and go for it but wondered if I could see it from Rainham. When I was exploring London sites last year I came across Three Crowns at Rainham, a viewpoint of the Thames just off Ferry Lane South. I figured I might be able to see the gulls off the outflow so I headed there after the weekend. It was right on the edge of telescope range but after an hour I saw the Franklin's Gull fly around and also picked it up on the river. The gulls moved closer into the bank so became harder to see as the tide dropped and despite being joined by several other keen Rainham listers we couldn't pick it up again over the next couple of hours.

The Franklin's Gull became my 200th species at Rainham and I have also seen 210 at Brent Reservoir. While there are many other birders who've seen a lot more than me at Rainham I don't think anyone else has recorded the double-hundred at two London sites.

I was back at Rainham the next day to look (or listen) for a reported Quail. Unfortunately it didn't become my 201st species as it had stopped calling by the time I arrived. I visited Rainham quite a few times this month and on one day jammed into a superb flock of 11 Wood Sandpipers which was enough to merit an exclamation mark on the Birdguides message. However, it wasn't even a record count in London which is 16 at Rammey Marsh.

The last couple of years have seen a summer heatwave and all the grasslands are brown and crispy and most of the pools at Rainham have become dust bowls. Luckily there's been enough rain this year to change all that. I've even seen a couple of 'rogue' Pyramidal Orchids flowering where they don't belong - at Rainham and Dagenham Chase. The latter was probably a first for the site and I even managed to get my photo of it published in the Romford Recorder, not quite National Geographic but it'll do!

Pyramidal Orchid, Rainham Marshes

Pyramidal Orchid, Dagenham Chase

I visited Bedfords Park in Havering with Sam to look for insects. There were a lot of dragonflies & damselflies but it was a struggle to get them perched to identify them. We did manage a Lesser Emperor which was the first time I've managed to see one in the UK although it is a recent colonist. We also visited Havering CP for butterflies but it had clouded over by the time we arrived so didn't see much.

Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Bedfords Park

Norfolk Hawker, Rainham Marshes

Norfolk Hawker is another recent colonist to East London and one I look out for on my local patches but so far I've only seen it at Rainham.

I've been keeping an eye out for moths as well and one of the bus stops at Dagenham Chase has been a good place to look for them recently.

Dusky Sallow, Dagenham Chase

Rose Plume, Dagenham Chase

So far it's not been a good year for Painted Lady but I did find one at Barking Riverside.

Painted Lady, Barking Riverside

Emperor Dragonfly, Barking Riverside

Despite concentrating on insects this month, I've actually managed to photograph a few birds as well.

Garganey, Rainham Marshes

Common Sandpiper, Rainham Marshes

1 of 11 Wood Sandpipers at Rainham Marshes

Part of the Wood Sand flock

Green Sandpiper, Dagenham Chase

Spoonbill, Rainham Marshes

Juvenile Green Woodpecker, Beam Parklands (upgrade)

Kestrel, Barking Riverside (upgrade)

Bearded Tit, Rainham Marshes (upgrade)

House Martin, Dagenham Chase

Meadow Pipit, Rainham Marshes

Linnet, Rainham Marshes (upgrade)

Reed Bunting, Rainham Marshes (upgrade)

With seven new birds photo'd in July I'm now up to 122 species this year. It's going to have to be a busy autumn if I hope to reach my target of 150.

Summer Doldrums

June can be a pretty quiet month for birds, spring migration is generally over but by mid-month the first trickle of 'autumn' migrants start to appear, most likely failed breeders. So if the weather is suitable then I usually turn my attention to insects. However, this year spring migration carried on well into June and for much of the month it was cold and overcast, definitely not good for insect watching.

On June 7th, I made my way deep into South London for my annual trip to Hutchinsons Bank and the only time each year I actually use the tram. I was hoping that the Black-veined Whites that were released last year would be flying but we didn't see any despite earlier reports. There were plenty of other butterflies flying in the sunny weather, the highlight being Glanville Fritillary.

female Brimstone

Dingy Skipper

Glanville Fritillary

Holly Blue

Small Blue

We saw very few moths compared to previous visits and only a few other insects but there were Bee and Common Spotted Orchids in flower.

Two-banded Wasp Hoverfly

Common Spotted Orchid

The following day I received a text from John Archer who had found a flock of Sanderlings and Ringed Plovers at Barking Riverside. I left home immediately and soon found the flock which now numbered 16 birds. Unfortunately it was low tide so they were a long way off so I only managed to get a poor record shot.

Sanderlings & Ringed Plovers

The following day I received a message saying a probable Red-backed Shrike had just been found at Dagenham Chase. While I was getting ready to go out and look for it another message alerted me to a Purple Heron at Rainham Marshes! I wasn't sure which one to go for but when I walked out of the house I turned right so realised I was heading to Rainham. I got a train to Purfleet pretty quickly and hurried onto the reserve. I stopped to talk to the finders to get news of where it was - it had come down near Aveley Pools so it was just a question of waiting for it to come up again.

I tried a couple of spots and after a long wait I picked it up flying towards the pools near Butts hide where it went down into cover again. It was my first Purple Heron at Rainham and possibly the first ever record as the only previous record is considered a bit dodgy. I was also pleased I'd made the right choice as the shrike wasn't seen again at The Chase.

The rest of the month was spent visiting my local patches and recording butterflies and dragonflies. I also found a few firsts - Bee Orchid at Beam Parklands and Pyramidal Orchid & Marbled White at Dagenham Chase.

Pyramidal Orchid, Dagenham Chase

Black-tailed Skimmer, Beam Parklands

Essex Skippers, Beam Parklands

Marbled White, Beam Parklands

Marbled White is probably new for Beam Parklands as well as this site hasn't really been well recorded before. It appears that Marbled Whites are now colonising the suburbs of East London in the same way they did in NW London. All of my local patches have suitable areas of rough grassland so I'll keep looking out for them.

On one day I recorded nine species of dragonfly at Dagenham Chase, mostly on Fels Field which has a couple of really good ponds for Odonata. The best for me was Four-spotted Chaser as I never saw these in NW London.

Banded Demoiselle

Black-tailed Skimmer

Broad-bodied Chaser

Four-spotted Chaser

I even found time for a couple of visits to Ingrebourne Valley which I didn't have time to visit in spring.

Female Banded Demoiselle, Ingrebourne Valley

male Banded Demoiselle, Ingrebourne Valley

Comma, Ingrebourne Valley

female Emperor Dragonfly, Ingrebourne Valley

Willow Emerald Damselfly, Ingrebourne Valley

I also managed a couple of dragonflies in my garden for the first time, although I clearly missed one egg-laying last year.

my garden pond

Blue-tailed Damselfly

Common Darter, recently emerged...

...from this exuvia which I found a few days later

Bird photos

It was a quiet month for bird photos. I decided not to count the rubbish photo of Sanderling (see earlier) so the only new species I photo'd in June was Great Egret at Rainham. I also upgraded one thanks to a rather tame Jackdaw which I've met a couple of times. With half the year gone I've photographed 115 birds in London. It will be pretty difficult to get another 35 but will see how it goes.

3 Great Egrets & a Grey Heron, Rainham Marshes

Great Egret, Rainham Marshes

Jackdaw, Beam Parklands (upgrade)