Seymour Birdies Diary: 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.