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)

London birding May 2024

With most of the summer migrants having arrived in April (at least species rather than the whole population), May is usually the time to look for the rarer birds as well being the better month for waders. It certainly proved to be the case this year at Rainham Marshes where a reported Woodchat Shrike did the decent thing and hung around near the Butts hide for a couple of days allowing most people to connect.

Woodchat Shrike

It was refound on a dismal damp Friday, luckily I was only 100 metres away so I was watching it before you could say 'Usain Bolt'. It barely moved all afternoon. Saturday morning brought nice sunny weather but fortunately the shrike decided to stick around and some of us watched it distantly from the riverwall before the reserve opened. Once the doors opened we went straight round to the shrike which was feeding in bushes by the path. By going past the bird to the Butts hide we got good views of it.

A week on from the sunny shrike and Saturday dawned to a misty murky day - perfect for bringing in migrants. As I exited Rainham West there was news of a Guillemot on the Thames, drifting downriver on the ebbing tide off the barges. I decided not to go directly to the barges as I expected it to have gone past out of view so instead hurried to the car park by Aveley Bay.

It proved the right decision and after a bit of scanning I found it mid-channel near the Darent Barrier. I'd been after a Guillemot for ages having never managed to be at Rainham on the days they turned up and it was my second London tick in just over a week. The Guillemot hung around most of the day allowing several London yearlisters to catch up with it. 

The day wasn't over yet though as a flock of four Kittiwakes flew upriver. A couple of Knot had been seen on the reserve so we went over to the Woodland viewpoint to look for them and soon found two brick red summer plumaged birds. While we were there a small wader flew in and landed in the distance. It looked good for a Temminck's Stint but we wanted better views. It hadn't escaped the notice of those on the riverwall who found it at the same time and put the news out. We wandered around to a closer view point and were able to confirm its identity.

Yet another good Saturday at Rainham occurred a week later on the 18th when a Little Stint flew in and landed next to us in Aveley Bay. With the encroaching tide covering up the mud it flew onto the reserve and was just about visible from the riverwall with a flock of Ringed Plovers and a Turnstone. 

After three consecutive days I decided to have a rest from Rainham the next day but news of a singing Nightingale had me change plans. I elected to take the train to Purfleet as the Nightingale was by the reserve car park and I could hear it singing as soon as I arrived. It wasn't showing so after a few more bursts of songs I left before the reserve opened. It's been a good spring for Nightingales in London as I'd already heard three at Tylers Common and one at Dagenham Chase. 

With Garganey and Spoonbill seen at the beginning of the month I finished May having seen 137 species at Rainham this year, a pretty respectable total. I missed Little Gull and Little Tern but saw most of the waders apart from a Wood Sand which I hope to catch up with in autumn.

Towards the end of May I made a couple of visits outside London, down to Worth Marshes in Kent for a day where we saw a couple of Red-footed Falcons and then down to Weymouth for a few days (on a separate blog post).

Red-footed Falcon, Worth Marshes

Photos

With more days of nicer weather I was able to take a few photos in my pursuit of snapping 150 birds in London this year, but apart from the Woodchat Shrike, all the good birds at Rainham were too far away for any photos.

Gadwall, Rainham Marshes (upgrade)

Little Grebe, Rainham Marshes (upgrade)

Cuckoo, Rainham Marshes

Swift, Dagenham Chase

Avocet, Rainham Marshes

Common Tern, Dagenham Chase

Grey Heron, Rainham Marshes (upgrade)

Little Egret, Rainham Marshes (upgrade)

Kingfisher, Rainham Marshes

Hobby, Rainham Marshes

Rook, Rainham Marshes

Skylark, Rainham Marshes (upgrade)

Goldfinch, Dagenham Chase (upgrade)

Greenfinch, Dagenham Chase (upgrade)

By the end of May, I've managed to photograph 113 species.