Crossness LNR, Westerham and Belmont

Dad kindly picked me and Mag up from the airport and took us directly to Crossness LNR where we met up with Ian Stewart and managed brief views of the GREAT REED WARBLER which was singing in the reedbed. This is a species I have been long overdue to see in Britain. Other birds present included two Peregrines, Pochards, Shelducks and Cetti's Warblers, as well as singles of Lesser Whitethroat, Little Egret and Reed Bunting.

Peregrines at Crossness LNR

Phil arrived and I told my dad to head home as I'd get a lift back with him. Unfortunately, the sky darkened and there was no further sign of the Great Reed. On the way back to Sutton, we saw a Red Kite over the M25 at Westerham, and at my parents' I was pleased to see Swifts back, though concerned that there only seemed to be two present. Admittedly, it was a quick glance as I got through the door.

Bonaparte's Gull - first solid London record

Bonaparte's Gull is most distinctive in flight, so I was pleased that it gave such a great aerial performance

On Saturday I went to see the first-winter BONAPARTE'S GULL on the Thames at Barking Bay with Phil Wallace. After searching several points along the Thames following it going AWOL, we gave up and headed back. We'd only just got passed the toll at the QEII bridge when it came through that it had returned - an about turn and we were back and after a little bit of difficulty were enjoying clear but fairly distant views of the bird (mainly in flight as it was being harassed by Black-headed Gulls and occasionally getting its own back by giving them a bit of grief). Was a bugger paying the toll twice though.

MEGA: London WHITE-TAILED LAPWING

I reluctanly awoke at 11.30am this morning to answer an annoying phone call but if I didn't I might not have made it up in time to see this montrously mega bird for London, so thank you Santander!

Turning my mobile on the first thing that flashed up on the screen was 'London WHITE-TAILED LAPWING Rainham Marshes: one on Aveley Pool at 10:57 this am' and being half asleep I closed it before thinking 'hang on, what did that say?' looking again and saying 'oh ****' I proceeded to text just about every local birder I knew but everybody was either at work or already on their way so I logged onto National Rail, planned my route, picked up bins and scope and was off. The journey was relatively simple; Sutton to Farringdon where I walked to Fenchurch Street and took the train to Purfleet where the RSPB visitor centre was a ten minute walk away; it still took at least two hours though.



On arrival I rushed through the visitor centre and headed straight for Aveley Pools, and got onto the WHITE-TAILED LAPWING lying flat on the bank almost exactly where I saw the Sociable Lapwing nearly five years ago. It stayed like this for ten minutes or so and I have to say views of just its brown back against a brown background weren't too great but then the bird stood up and started feeding, stretching its wings from time to time; it was then that the bird looked really impressive, a real stunner and it wasn't terribly far away either. Those long bright yellow legs, white tail & underparts, pale brown upperparts, paler face and white secondaries & primary coverts as well as the very short primary projection combined to make the bird a very attractive and interesting one to watch.


After enjoying the bird for about an hour it was time to make my way back to the visitor centre if I were to have a snack there before heading home, as I was beginning to leave my dad rang up to ask if I'd like to spend a bit more time there and he'd pick me up at 7.30pm; I accepted and walked the seawall, scanning the Thames and picking up a Whimbrel, an adult Yellow-legged Gull and 2 Oystercatchers which provided some nice bonus birds.


I spent the next hour enjoying second helpings of the Lapwing which was a bit more elusive than earlier but still afforded good views. Other birds on Aveley Pools included a Greenshank, a juvenile Water Rail, a Green Sandpiper, 2 Common Sandpipers and two or so Little Ringed Plovers. I headed back to wait ages for dad to pick me up, he was was late because of the same traffic which caused us to have to endure a five hour journey back; one which would normally take 45 minutes to an hour. A very worthwile trip, White-tailed Lapwing for London, what a bird!

Dusky at dusk

On Monday Phil Wallace and I immediately left a couple of controversial geese that I've described in the post below for a first for London that had been confirmed at Walthamstow.

I did pop over the previous afternoon to have a look for the then 'probable' Dusky Warbler but failed. However, now that the bird was being paged out as confirmed, there were bound to be more people there to find it and it was definitely worth the detour.

Got there at 3pm or so where there was a handful of birders present. We split up and searched the scrub around the flood relief channel at the NE end of Lockwood Reservoir. A couple of possible sightings were announced that caused people to run but they didn't come to much.

The bird was eventually heard calling in vegetation along the eastern side of the channel and everybody had to climb onto a 3 foot concrete wall, shimmy along a bit, spin around a fan of metal spikes, shimmy past some barbed wire, hop over some metal railings then tight-rope walk across a pretty thin concrete girder.

I could hear it calling, frustratingly, just on the other side of the fence along the channel, in some thin vegetation. I got a very brief view as it flew to the next clump but not tickable.

Eventually I got fleeting views of the DUSKY WARBLER creeping around on the other side of the fence, before it came over to the other side for a split second. Nice. Andrew Self found a way of scoping it from further down and on the west side of the canal and we followed suite, getting reasonable views as it moved through the bush I last heard it calling in. Kevin McManus arrived as dusk was only about half an hour away and managed to see the bird.

Had a brief look at Lockwood finding only a female Goosander and a few Goldeneye, no Slavonian Grebe.

An excellent London tick, being the first record for the recording area and a British tick for me too, not to mention a lifer.