The River Wall at Rainham Marshes

20th August 2025

Getting near Wheatear time on the river wall and a couple had been seen this week, so time for a visit. I parked at Coldharbour Lane and had a stroll along the river wall as far as the turnstile from the reserve and not only didn't see a Wheatear, but also didn't see or hear a single passerine. Where have they all gone? The only bonus was seeing a lone sprig of Viper's Bugloss.

The good news was the tide was on its way in so a few birds were close in on the sea and fore-shore. Here is a trio of Black-tailed Godwits...............

...................and a quartet with some Shelduck.

Also one or two Curlews feeding on the water's edge.........................

.......................and some still flying in.

Avocet numbers at Aveley Bay have been increasing over the years and today a number were strewn along the shoreline.

These were spooked by a boat going past causing waves on the beach, but had the advantage of providing some flight shots.

Such elegant birds.

But the stars of the show today were the Shelduck. I can honestly say that I have never seen so many Shelduck here which must have numbered 100+, and the vast majority were young birds as can be seen from the flight shots.

What a great way to spend an hour and the Wheatears will have to wait for another day.

A Spotted Redshank at King's Meads

22nd August 2025

On the 20th August Barry Reed found a juvenile Spotted Redshank at King's Meads and it is still there today, so time for a visit. As I made my way down the track to Chadwell Bank the site was clearly overgrown with very few places to look over West Pool. When I used to go there 15 years ago you could see West Pool from just about the whole of Chadwell Bank and the causeway.

However, I did eventually manage to find a viewing point and joined Mike Ilett and two others who were already on the bird. Today the bird was TOO CLOSE and was tucked behind the vegetation on the nearest bank. However, it eventually moved out, and over the next half an hour moved around quite a bit giving different poses in different light.

Here are the results.

Well, thanks to Barry for finding a great bird for Hertfordshire, and also good to have a catch-up with Mike who I don't see very often, as I spend most of my time out of Hertfordshire.

Wood Sandpipers at Rainham Marshes

20th August 2025

My plan today was to start at the Purfleet Hide at high tide to hopefully photograph the waders at roost and get some flight shots as they flew out to the river as the tide receded. Sadly, when I arrived there was not a single wader on the scrape. Apparently there had been 50 Black-tailed Godwits earlier but they had flown off to another part of the reserve.

So Plan B was to walk a clockwise circuit in the hope of some warblers or Bearded Tits. I hadn't realised just how disappointed I was going to be until I got all the way to the MDZ without seeing or hearing a single passerine, and it was equally quiet along the remainder of the southern and western trails. It was only when I got to the Ken Barrett Hide when things livened up.

Right in front of the hide were about eight Black-tailed Godwits, all still in their summer plumage, but some showing signs of autumn moult.

Just look at that bendy upper mandible!!

At that point a Green Sandpiper flew in and started to feed along the far side of the water.

But the hot-spot on the reserve today was the small pool between Aveley Pool and the Ken Barrett Hide. This has a small area of mud at the far end, unfortunately a good 100 yards from the path, where a selection of small waders were feeding. Luckily a lot closer were 50 Black-tailed Godwits, presumably the same flock that had been on Purfleet earlier on.

Of the smaller waders at the far end were single Common Sandpiper and Little Ringed Plover.

The fourth species was a Green Sandpiper which was feeding amongst the dabbling Teal and other waders.

The fifth species was a Ruff which was mainly keeping to itself and not associating with the other waders.

But the sixth species and certainly the stars of the show were no less than three Wood Sandpipers, one of my favourite waders. Here is a selection of single birds.

And them a few shots of two birds together....................

.......................and finally a couple of shots of all three.

Well, certainly not the day I had planned, but for once it turned out even better.

Also good to have a chat with Caroline in the Ken Barrett Hide.