Spring Has Arrived at Rainham Marshes

20th April 2024

Into the third week in April now so time for a visit to Rainham to hopefully photograph some spring migrants. The reserve was livening up after a fairly quiet February and March, and along the trail to the Marshland Discovery Zone (MDZ) were Long-tailed Tits and Linnets.

No sign of the Kingfishers at the MDZ just the usual Little Grebe, and a rather splendid drake Shoveler. Perhaps he is thinking of staying on to breed.

The streams along the trails were full of tiny Marsh Frogs, presumably the young from last year. No sign of any large frogs so perhaps still a bit too cold.

But the biggest surprise of all was seeing a couple of Water Voles at a site I have never seen them at before. It has been a while since I've seen a Water Vole at Rainham.

So now on to the spring migrants. Reed Warblers have only just arrived and are normally hard to see, let alone photograph, at this time of year as they tend to sing deep down in the old reeds. However, this one was collecting nest material and gave a brief glimpse, enough for a couple of shots.

Now on to the river wall where there was plenty of action. A few Sedge Warblers have arrived and are staking out their territories, singing their scratchy song and showing their distinctive orangey-red throat.

Whitethroats are always plentiful here and easy to find as they belt out their burst of a song from the top of a bush.

And if you keep still they will often appear right next to you, still singing.

But the stars of the show today were the 2-3 male Wheatears along the path by the foreshore. Luckily there were only a few people about so they were quite happy feeding right in front of us and sometimes running towards us. A wonderful way to spend an hour.

And as we were leaving we were able to watch the Thames Barge Marjorie sailing past the visitor centre on her way to the estuary. I wonder where she was going?

Better than petrol and diesel...................and electric!!!!!!

Spring in The Brecks

18th April 2024

Now into the second half of April so time to go and see the spring arrivals in The Brecks. It was great to hear so much bird song and see my first Orange-tip butterfly of the year.

As for most sites this year the Chiffchaffs were out in force, and they particularly like the new plantations.

Managed to grab this one just before it flew off.

And now for some of the Brecks specialities. The Tree Pipits were back in force although are tricky to photograph as they normally announce their presence from the top of a tree.....................

....................although do sometimes come down a bit lower.

The Wood Larks were also in full voice and were in song flight high above. Just a matter of seeing where they land, where they often continue to sing.

But then everyone's favourite, the Crossbills. There was a flock of about 10 birds feeding high in the pines on the cone seeds. These seeds are very dry and therefore the birds have to come down regularly to drink. Luckily under the pines was a muddy puddle, so it just a matter of choosing the right angle and waiting.

Crossbills are very early breeders and therefore possible to see the stripey younsters in April.

The females are a more uniform green.

But the males are an amazing red or orangey-red. This male was keeping look-out over the flock while they were going down to drink....................

.......................and then having his turn.

Many of the birds were orangey-red with a hint of green and I suspect these were second calendar (2CY) year males.

What a fantastic day and I look forward to visiting The Brecks at this time of year every year.