A Mid-August Visit To Rainham Marshes

11th August 2026

A few reports now coming through of Wheatears and waders on Autumn migration so time to try my luck. No Wheatears along the river wall, so off on a circuit to check out the hides. There was a reasonable supporting cast with Goldfinches coming down to drink and both Pied Wagtails and Black-headed Gulls feeding on the drying mud.

These top two are juvenile Pied Wagtails..............

.......................and this is an adult female with a grey mantle.

This is a juvenile Black-headed Gull.

Plenty of returning Teal now and spending their time sifting the mud in the shallows, but why are they all females? Well the males are all now in eclipse plumage and look like females, and it will be a couple of months before they moult back to their male plumage.

These two are part of the Rainham Synchronised Sifting Display Team.

Probably the biggest surprise of the day was the appearance of a juvenile Cuckoo which did a couple of laps.....................

..........................before landing on top of a bush right in front of the hide. Why can't they all be this cooperative?

No Spoonbills, Great White Egrets or White Stork today, so the water birds were represented by Little Egrets and Herons.

So now on to the seven specis of wader present. Of course there were a few of the usual suspects like this Lapwing.................

.................but what was surprising today was the total absence of Redshanks apart from a couple of juveniles looking very speckly.

Also very few Avocets today apart from a few well-grown juveniles which were good to see.

Only four Curlews today and this one was pretending to be asleep, but keeping his eye on me.

Good to see so many Black-tailed Godwits around today, sixty in fact, one of the largest flocks I have seen here.

This one was changing position and flew very close to this Common Tern, but the tern didn't seem that bothered.

And finally the sandpipers, Common and Green. There were couple of Common Sandpipers around and I managed to get some shots, albeit a bit distant.

This one had just pulled a large grub out of the water and I have no idea what it is.

And finally the Green Sandpipers of which there were at least four, and thankfully much closer, sometimes down to just 8 yards.

And here is the Green Sandpiper Synchronised Walking Display Team.

Well, what a fantastic visit to one of my favourite reserves.

Also good to have a long chat with Dennis and Debbie.