Crayford again!

Common Sandpiper

I decided to join Kevin at his new patch Crayford today for a third time, and again via hellish pubic transport. I can't keep this up for long, as much as I like Crayford it's too far away/expensive/difficult to get to regularly and I like Canons too much to abandon it anyway.

Avocets

Nothing new was seen today but we still saw a nice set of birds including the female/juvenile Marsh Harrier over Rainham again as well as 2 of the Avocets still in Aveley Bay. The only other raptors were a Hobby and a couple of Kestrels. 3 Whimbrel showed well along with 3 Greenshank and a handful of Common Sandpipers.

Greenshank

The Greenshanks were particularly interesting to watch, I never noticed before that they so carefully run to the water's edge to wash every muddy prey item they catch! One persisted in chasing its rival from its patch of mud, only to fly to where the other bird had flown to in order to flush it from there too, no matter how far away it got!

Whimbrel

I really couldn't face scanning through the tons of Gulls so finished when I got to 3+ Yellow-leggeds, if you committed yourself to thoroughly grilling all Gulls at that place it would leave no time for any other birding! A couple of Oystercatchers were around as always. A couple of Reed Warblers were the first I've seen in a while and 5 Common Terns were fishing on the river. The only sign of non-wader movement was a single overhead Sand Martin. An immature Great Crested Grebe was a patch tick for Kevin. In Aveley Bay the usual family of 2 adult and 11 small young Shelduck were amazing all still present and correct.

Yellow-legged Gull

Crayford

Today I paid another visit with Kevin McManus to Crayford Marshes, an excellent London birding site just over the river from Rainham.

Little Egrets

I was very pleased to obtain two much overdue London ticks in the form of a female Marsh Harrier that Kevin picked up over Rainham and a group of Sandwich Terns which I located flying upriver (before they flew back down again). Both aren't everyday sights in the London recording area but it really was about time I got them. This brings me up to 189 for London, poor but I reckon I can get to 200 soon without too much effort; I still need birds like Garganey, Nightingale, Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Barn Owl, Red-legged Partridge and Turnstone!

Avocets

The highlight of the day, however must have been the four Avocets that Kevin and I found along the shore of Rainham Marshes RSPB. The last time I saw this species in London was when they bred at the London Wetland Centre about four years ago, there's definitely something different about seeing them in London than in Kent or East Anglia. Also on that side of the river was a Whimbrel.

juvenile Yellow-legged Gull


We were treated to a good supporting cast which included a juvenile Mediterranean Gull, 4 Yellow-legged Gulls, 2 Greenshanks, 3 Common Sandpipers, 5 Little Egrets, 4 Dunlin, a Hobby and c.3 Oystercatchers.

adult Yellow-legged Gull

It was very rewarding to at last stumble into my first Canons Farm and Banstead Woods Common Crossbills yesterday, when six flew over, calling, at the spot that I had staked out for them countless times over the last few weeks. It was my first patch tick in nearly three months!

London hat trick

On Wednesday I travelled by public transport to Crayford Marshes, with Kevin McManus, in the hope of getting Corn Bunting and Red-breasted Merganser for my diminutive London list. Be warned, this post is full of VERY bad record shots.

As soon as we arrived we fell in love with the site; it was just like a mini under-watched Rainham. We bumped into the very welcoming Kev Jarvis who showed us where to find the first of our targets and it wasn't long before I was watching my first London Corn Bunting, a singing male. Soon we realised there were two singing males. The heat haze was bad though; even at fairly close range viewing was distorted. There are now only a very small number of sites in the LNHS area for this species unfortunately.
Moving to the Thames we scanned towards Rainham, eventually picking up the long staying and very unseasonal female Red-breasted Merganser hugging the shore of the reserve, my second London tick of the day. We enjoyed close views of several Common Terns fishing but saw nothing else at all unusual. We walked slowly back and found a pub in which to watch the England game in the 'great company' of the, interesting, locals at 3.00pm before making our way back to the Marshes at 5.00pm when the game finally ended.


We staked out the Thames, and as the tide pushed back in an Oystercatcher announced its presence, piping away providing me with my tartiest London tick and one that I've been trying to get for a long time while giving me a hat trick of county ticks for the day. The Red-breasted Merganser pulled herself onto the beach at Rainham. The walk back at around 7.30pm added Little Egret and Lesser Whitethroat to the list for the very enjoyable day. My London list now stands on 184.