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

February 22-27: waiting for spring

I started this week with a day out at Rainham Marshes as the gales of last week had finally abated. It was a bright morning as I walked across Rainham West and the Cetti’s Warblers were in good voice. At one point one sang (shouted?) about a metre away and it reminded me of the time I saw Motorhead at The Marquee and stood next to the speakers. Fortunately, this time I didn't have to wait two days to get my hearing back!

I spent some time looking out over Wennington from the Serin Mound but there wasn’t much around. I glimpsed something running past my feet which went into a bramble bush. I guessed what it was and when I started squeaking it popped out for a look and I rattled off a few photos. I so rarely see Weasel but it was the second one I’ve seen at Rainham in the past few years.

Weasel

Bumblebee - the first one I've seen this year

Despite the acres of mud in Aveley Bay there was a severe shortage of waders with just two Curlews and a handful of Redshank. Perhaps yesterday’s mega tide had moved them on. I called into the centre where the talk was of how quiet it was, which I noted after doing a circuit of the reserve. Roll on spring!

After a couple of local visits to Brent Res, mainly to see how the management work was progressing in East Marsh I ventured out east again for another visit to Epping Forest. This time I started at Theydon Bois (I always think it sounds like a football club) and headed through the forest, past Long Running (where Tree Pipit used to breed) and up to Copped Hall. Last time I was here I saw my first London Ravens (another football club!) and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker but there was no sign of either today.

Long Running

I heard several Treecreepers whilst walking through the forest but surprisingly no Nuthatches. It was a lovely sunny morning and after I crossed over the M25 I stopped to look for any raptors that might be up. There were several Buzzards, a Red Kite and a Peregrine that powered its way west over the forest which was rather a surprising place to see one.

Bridge over the M25 to Copped Hall

Buzzard

As there was nothing else moving I carried on past the mansion and took the rather muddy footpath through the fields to Epping and eventually to the tube station which is the eastern end of the Central Line and made my way home from there. 

I rounded off the week with a couple more visits to Brent Res where the highlight was the over-wintering flock of Siskins which had started singing.

Siskin

I thought the spring like conditions may have induced a bit of visible migration but I didn’t see anything flying over; however overnight the number of Great Crested Grebes increased from one to 11 and the Redwing flock had disappeared so it looks like the spring passage has started.

Feb 15-21st: Storms stop play

I spent Tuesday morning up at Brent Res, it was fairly quiet until a group of parakeets started squawking away, more agitatedly than normal. I looked up and a Red Kite drifted overhead being pursued by a few long-tailed green darts. It didn’t seem particularly bothered by these noisy interceptors and carried on heading west towards Wembley leaving the parakeets to turn around and head back to base.

Red Kite with attendant Ring-necked Parakeets

The next day I headed over to the east again, back to Orsett Fen following a tip-off from Ruth. I took the train to Ockenden, and headed along my normal route to the Mardyke, running into several singing Yellowhammers as I had last week. I couldn’t find the footpath that was on my map so went round the field and onto to a path that runs parallel to the Mardyke. I hadn’t gone far when my quarry took off from the adjacent field – Red-legged Partridge, my only London year tick this week. I carried on the path for a while and kept checking the fields and various lumps kept turning into more partridges, all of the Red-legged variety. I couldn’t turn any of them into Greys which are now fairly rare in the London area.

Yellowhammer

Red-legged Partridge

After a while I turned round and headed slowly back. It’s a nice walk and I don’t often visit farmland so will probably try again in spring when there will be different birds around; it’s the sort of place a Turtle Dove might just hang out.

My only other expedition this week was the following day when I headed over to Highams Park Lake as there had been a recent report of Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. I’d not visited this spot before which is a fragment of Epping Forest: a lake surrounded by ancient woodland that is now in suburban northeast London. Getting there was straightforward, it’s just a short train trip from Liverpool Street station and then a ten minute walk.

I did a virtual circuit of the lake but instead of completing the loop, retraced my steps as the most likely area for woodpeckers looked like being north of the lake. I found several Great Spots, including one drumming but there was no sign of their diminutive cousin.

Apart from the exceptionally muddy paths, it was a nice walk and I photographed quite a lot, both on the lake and in the woods. The day had a touch of spring to it with quite a lot of song and territorial Coots having a fight like boys in the school playground. And I saw yet another Red Kite that flew low over the canopy heading south. Hopefully, there will be more chances for Lesser Spot this year.

Fighting Coots

Peaceful Moorhen

Siskin

Blue Tit

With Storm Eunice blowing through on Friday and strong winds remaining all the way through to Monday, I stayed local and visited Brent Res each day. Unlike the Great Storm in 1987, there were no seabirds blown into London this time apart from a couple of Little Gulls at Staines on the Monday. I hope to connect with them at some point this year although I failed to see any last year. I spent a couple of hours at the weekend cutting down and removing fallen branches but one large tree that had fallen across the path was too big for me and requires a chainsaw.

 

February 8-14th: London and Kent

The first three days of this week were local with two visits to Brent Reservoir and one to Fryent Country Park. Fryent is an interesting place to visit, sandwiched between Wembley Park and Kingsbury in northwest London. It’s mostly grassy fields with ancient hedgerows with some good wooded areas. There are a lot of ponds, mostly small ones with very little bird life but on this visit I actually found a first for the site: a drake Teal. Normally they’re shy birds and will fly off as soon as you come near them but this one stayed put, trying to look inconspicuous.

Teal

View from Fryent looking towards Wembley Stadium

I followed my local days with two days either side of the Thames, firstly at Crossness for third time this year. Funnily enough, I actually got a year tick on my way to the bus stop with a Blackcap singing along the river Brent – spring must be on its way!

At Crossness, a Buzzard flew low over the paddocks and I spent some time looking through the ducks on the reserve before going up to the river wall. The tide was quite a way out so with a lot of mud exposed there were plenty of waders, including a new one for the year: Oystercatcher. These are generally absent in London during winter but return to the Thames-side marshes to breed in the spring and there had been a few other sightings during the week.

Oystercatcher with a tasty snack

The regular Common Sandpiper was still by the outflow as was the Little Egret who had now been joined by a friend. One of the egrets indulged in a bit of high-stepping when it would show off its yellow socks, like it was auditioning for the Ministry of Silly Walks. The Grey Heron was having none of this nonsense and carried on its own fishing technique by standing as still as possible.

Common Sandpiper

Little Egrets showing off their yellow socks

Grey Heron

Walking back home from the bus stop I saw a large raptor circling slowly overhead which turned out to be a Red Kite. They are most often seen flying over here in spring but winter sightings are starting to pick up as the population increases in northwest London.

The next day was an early start so I could get down to Rainham for dawn. It was a glorious day with bright blue skies and hardly a breath of wind although that did mean walking straight into the low sun to start with. It felt quite spring like with many birds singing, especially Dunnocks which seemed to be in every patch of bramble. Other than that there was little change in birdlife to my last few visits with the flock of five Barnacle Geese and Spoonbill still present.

To round the week off I ventured outside of London for the first time this year. I met up with John & Janet at Victoria station and we took the first train down to Sittingbourne in Kent. We boarded the shuttle train on the adjacent platform but before we were due to depart the driver announced there was a problem with the rail and there was a team on site looking at it. Ten minutes later the train pulled out with no further updates so I can only assume they used a dollop of blu-tac to fix it.

We got off at the desolate Swale station and crossed over to the footpath that runs around Chetney Marsh. It was another bright sunny day but unlike yesterday it was windy which made it feel a lot colder. 

Chetney Marsh

We took our time, scanning the marshes one side and the River Swale the other side with its muddy edges full of waders. Buzzards flew overhead, at one point there were five over us, mewing away and one pair even talon-locked and tumbled downwards at great speed. Brent Geese were around in several small flocks and we scanned the large flock of Greylags for anything more interesting but there was nothing on this occasion.

Brent Geese

Buzzards

As we left the river wall and headed across the promontory, several coveys of Red-legged Partridges zipped past. We had lunch by the farm and had a look at Funton Creek before heading back. Amongst the hordes of waders we found some Knot and Grey Plovers. A single House Sparrow was heard by the farm – when we first started coming here there was a huge flock as well as other birds like Corn Buntings but they’ve all vanished.

Several flocks of Golden Plover flew over the fields but it was hard to see anything else new as the wind had gotten quite strong by now so we spent most of the return leg just walking. I stopped and went through the waders a few times and added Turnstone to the day list before we got back to the station and waited for the hourly shuttle to take us back. At Sittingbourne, the first train to London was cancelled and the cafe was already closed so we just had to wait for the next one. As we sat on the platform a Sparrowhawk flew past and snatched a Sparrow from the industrial estate opposite us.

I finished the week with a couple more visits to Brent Res, seeing the usual roosting Tawny Owl and making a start on cutting some willows down in North Marsh that have grown up in the reed bed.