A Couple of Hours with the Bearded Tits at Rainham Marshes

17th July 2024

It would appear that the Bearded Tits have had a good breeding season with plenty of juveniles around so off to try my luck. I love going to Rainham Marshes because you know quite well that you are going to get an enormous welcome from the House Sparrows either in the car park or on the river wall, and today was no exception. Also on the river wall were Starlings, Reed Buntings and Goldfinches.

For rhe first time ever I thought I would check the Mar Dyke outfall into the River Thames and found a Collared Dove and an Egyptian Goose, not quite what I was expecting!!!

The trails around the reserve were exhibiting a lot more butterfies than on my last visit, with Gatekeepers, Commas, Red Admirals and plenty of Cinnabar Moth caterpillars feeding on the Ragwort.

So far very few dragonflies or damselflies, just this male Common Darter.

Not so many insects as I was expecting, except for this male Eristalis tenax and a Sloe Bug which was resting on a fence bar.

So now on to the Dragonfly Pool for the Beardies and I didn't have to wait for long. There were possibly up to 10 birds in  the area, all juveniles, but only one or two were on view at any one time, mainly feeding just a few inches about the water. The ones I took all seem to be juvenile males.

But the Dragonfly Pool was on fire today. Not only were there the beardies but also two Norfolk Hawker dragonflies. Just a few years ago these were confined to Norfolk but recently have been extending their range and now can probably be found in most if not all of East Anglia.

But the biggest surprise for me was the appearance of a hawker dragonfly with green eyes and a bright blue band at the top of the abdomen, my first ever Lesser Emperor. In the past Lesser Emperors were vagrants to the UK but now are gradually turning up more frequently.

WOW, what a fantastic end to a fantastic day.