Rock Pipits at Rainham Marshes

30th December 2019

My last outing of 2019, so what better place to go to than Rainham Marshes. I decided to start off along the river wall in the hope of some of the winter thrushes that had been seen there recently. This is my first visit to the wall since September and I was staggered at the large amount of heavy-duty timber that had been dumped there on the last very high tide. One timber which looked as it had once been part of a jetty was one foot by 1 foot in cross-section and 12 yards long, and was now resting on the side of the lower path.

The first bird to appear was a male Reed Bunting which arranged itself quite nicely among the berries of a Hawthorn bush.

Also present was a handful of Redwings and Fieldfares. This Fieldfare was sitting on top of an Elder bush, which despite it being the 30th December, the buds to the left of its head had already burst and were in leaf!!

Purfleet Scrape is now full to the gunwales, slightly different to the arid desert from just a couple of months ago. The usual heron which normally stands guard had fallen asleep, and a Magpie was exploring the muddy margins for some tit-bits.

Wigeon were making the most of the conditions and for once one of the cracking male Pintails swam within range for a photo. The Snipe which had been asleep in the Juncus woke up up for just long enough for a photo.

Along the boardwalk toward the Dragonfly Pools a pair of Stonechats were using the predator fence as a look-out post for insects hidden in the grass. By the pools themselves, a male Bearded Tit eventually broke cover for just a few seconds, long enough for a couple of shots, the first shots of Beardies I have managed here for quite some time.

But the stars of the show today were the Rock Pipits along the river wall. On reflection, the depositing of the large timbers on the river wall by the exceptionally high tide could be an advantage to birders, as it deters people from using the lower path and disturbing the birds on the tide-wrack, and also gives the pipits something to perch on. What a result!!