RSPB Rainham Marshes

Saturday 2nd May (66 species - 132 for year)

Looking back through my notes, I see it's been four years since I was last at this cracking reserve. After a very fruitful day yesterday with no less than eleven year ticks, it hopefully won't be as long before I am back there again.

I arrived just after 8am, so had an hour and a half before the reserve opened, so I went for a walk along the river wall. Whitethroats were immediately obvious with nearly every bush seeming to have one perched on top. I soon added my first year tick with a singing sedge warbler. My second shortly followed with a very showy wheatear on some waste ground, that was soon joined by a second bird.

The reserve was now open, so after a quick cuppa & a caramel shortbread, I ventured forth. My next year tick wasn't far away, as I heard a calling cuckoo which soon became visible flying into a distant tree.

The woodland around the old cordite stores held a good selection of migrants - blackcap, a very confiding chiffchaff, more whitethroat and as I made my way back into the reedbeds an incredible number of cettis warblers, including several birds that showed themselves. There were a good number of reed warblers too.

At the first hide, I caught a glimpse of two marsh harriers, which I would get much closer views of later. Along the boardwalk, I soon heard a close pinging in the reeds and a striking male bearded tit showed itself at the top of a reed. Over the water were a number of swallows and my first swifts of the year.

There were plenty of birders scanning the Target Pools, as a pectoral sandpiper had been present since midweek. Sadly, it wasn't playing ball today, so another twitching dip for me. From the hide, I saw four summer plumage black tailed godwits. The marsh harriers were much closer here and a buzzard was a site tick.

I decided to move to a nearby viewpoint, and my luck picked up - 3 ringed plover, then a little ringed plover before a hobby passed close by.

The walk back to the visitor centre was largely uneventful. The sun then popped out and I sat on a bench near the visitor centre to see what would come to me, Five whimbrel flew up from the scrape, and a careful scan revealed four more. The high tide on the river was pushing in waders with another little ringed plover and several redshank also spotted.

I was then alerted by another visiting birder (Oliver Timms) to the presence of several greenshank on Aveley Flashes. A quick walk around soon had us watching three of these elegant waders with two oystercatchers bringing the wader total up to eight species. Two raptors then sped across the water towards us, one with prey in its talons. They were too large for hobbies and as they came overhead, we could see they were a pair of peregrine falcons.

A most enjoyable day!