A Hat-trick of Pipits at Rainham Marshes

26th February 2023

Still fairly quiet everywhere so time to pop down to Rainham Marshes to look for a Water Pipit. Started in the Purfleet Hide where most of the wildfowl were at the far end as usual and no waders today. The only birds on view were this rather stunning male Pintail, some fly-by Shelduck and a female Marsh Harrier that was wafting around in the distant gloom.

There was more action on the river wall with a number of passerines flitting around in the bushes including this Jenny Wren and male Reed Bunting. Why can't all branches have lichen on to aid photography?

Then my first pipit of the day, a Meadow Pipit, one of about eight feeding on the grassy bank.

A little further on were up to five Rock Pipits feeding out on the saltmarsh. These are the migratory Scandinavian sub-species littoralis which get a bit grey and peachy at this time of year and can cause confusion with Water Pipits, but lack the distinct supercilium and conspicuous wing-bar.

And finally on to the Butts Hide. Here the water levels were very high and therefore hardly any land above water and the likelihood of finding any pipits looked a bit slim. However, after about half an hour I heard the call of a Rock/Water Pipit and saw the bird land on a distant spit.

Photogarphing this bird was going to be a bit of a challenge so I rattled of several shots in the hope that a couple would reveal the identity of the bird. And bingo, a bird similar to the Rock Pipits on the shore but with very clean underparts, a huge supercilium and disnctive wing-bars, a Water Pipit giving me a hat-trick of pipits.

Well, that turned out rather well!!!!