After I haven't been birding for a while, I tend to find myself itching to get back out in the field, almost as if I have withdrawal symptoms! This has certainly been the case in the month of March, where I really have struggled to find the time to do any serious birdwatching - due to revision for exams etc. So a visit to my Patch (Rainham Marshes) was most welcome!
On arrival at Rainham, I made the executive decision to head along the woodland walk towards the Ken Barrett hide. Making my way along the path, the explosive calls of Cetti's Warblers greeted my ears with only a fleeting glimpse of a brown bird to confirm them. Into the woodland now and amongst tame Robins, Blue tits and Great Tits, the syllabic and unmistakable song of a Chiffchaff burst through. This was not to be the first of the day however, with at least 3 being heard en route to the Ken Barrett hide alone. After checking various patches of water for Voles, Frogs and Grass Snakes unsuccessfully, I reached the viewpoint that overlooks a line of trees in which Barn Owls nest. Setting up my scope and scanning the nest yielded no joy, however a movement on a neighbouring tree alerted my senses. After panning my scope onto the movement, I discovered that it was in fact a Great Spotted Woodpecker, my first on the patch this year but albeit very distant. After watching it drumming for a while, I decided to move onto the Ken Barrett hide.
In the past this hide has brought some real special moments for me, such as unexpected Kingfishers, ridiculous views of Ruff and vibrant Grey Wagtails. However, none of these were on show, with the most exciting birds being a pair of Great Crested Grebes - now in summer plumage. Due to a mixture of time constraints and boredom, I decided to move on - heading along the northern broad walk to the viewpoint looking over the Aveley Pools. Unfortunately, the water levels were too high for any waders (other than Lapwing), however there was a fair amount of Wildfowl on display including: Pochards, Tufted Ducks, Gadwall and Teal. I continue to be enamoured by the beauty of the latter bird; I'll never get bored of watching their vibrant colours.
Moving on, I made my way to the Shooting Butts Hide - usually the most productive of the hides at Rainham. After a fairly uneventful walk I made my way in, with a scenic view of the butts scrape and an abundance of colourful Wigeon greeting me. Looking through my scope revealed at least 6 Snipe tucked away in the grass, including one that looked rather small with more striking markings - but I thought nothing much of this bird at the time and instead turned my attention to the other side of the hide to search for the regular Ruff that usually frequent the target pools. But I drew a blank, however a striking Male Marsh Harrier provided some consolation. Soon after, another birder with a scope entered the hide and - after a couple of minutes of searching - called to me that he'd picked up a Jack Snipe. This bird is an unexpected lifer for me, and after observing it through his scope, I was able to confirm that this was in fact the smaller Snipe that I'd seen and thought nothing of earlier. For some reason the thought of a Jack Snipe never entered my head. So not only is this bird a lifer, but a self find! The RSPB warden in the hide even made a radio call to the visitor centre about the sighting, I could hardly contain my unexpected delight!
On arrival at Rainham, I made the executive decision to head along the woodland walk towards the Ken Barrett hide. Making my way along the path, the explosive calls of Cetti's Warblers greeted my ears with only a fleeting glimpse of a brown bird to confirm them. Into the woodland now and amongst tame Robins, Blue tits and Great Tits, the syllabic and unmistakable song of a Chiffchaff burst through. This was not to be the first of the day however, with at least 3 being heard en route to the Ken Barrett hide alone. After checking various patches of water for Voles, Frogs and Grass Snakes unsuccessfully, I reached the viewpoint that overlooks a line of trees in which Barn Owls nest. Setting up my scope and scanning the nest yielded no joy, however a movement on a neighbouring tree alerted my senses. After panning my scope onto the movement, I discovered that it was in fact a Great Spotted Woodpecker, my first on the patch this year but albeit very distant. After watching it drumming for a while, I decided to move onto the Ken Barrett hide.
In the past this hide has brought some real special moments for me, such as unexpected Kingfishers, ridiculous views of Ruff and vibrant Grey Wagtails. However, none of these were on show, with the most exciting birds being a pair of Great Crested Grebes - now in summer plumage. Due to a mixture of time constraints and boredom, I decided to move on - heading along the northern broad walk to the viewpoint looking over the Aveley Pools. Unfortunately, the water levels were too high for any waders (other than Lapwing), however there was a fair amount of Wildfowl on display including: Pochards, Tufted Ducks, Gadwall and Teal. I continue to be enamoured by the beauty of the latter bird; I'll never get bored of watching their vibrant colours.
Moving on, I made my way to the Shooting Butts Hide - usually the most productive of the hides at Rainham. After a fairly uneventful walk I made my way in, with a scenic view of the butts scrape and an abundance of colourful Wigeon greeting me. Looking through my scope revealed at least 6 Snipe tucked away in the grass, including one that looked rather small with more striking markings - but I thought nothing much of this bird at the time and instead turned my attention to the other side of the hide to search for the regular Ruff that usually frequent the target pools. But I drew a blank, however a striking Male Marsh Harrier provided some consolation. Soon after, another birder with a scope entered the hide and - after a couple of minutes of searching - called to me that he'd picked up a Jack Snipe. This bird is an unexpected lifer for me, and after observing it through his scope, I was able to confirm that this was in fact the smaller Snipe that I'd seen and thought nothing of earlier. For some reason the thought of a Jack Snipe never entered my head. So not only is this bird a lifer, but a self find! The RSPB warden in the hide even made a radio call to the visitor centre about the sighting, I could hardly contain my unexpected delight!
Jack Snipe tucked in the grass
A nice size comparison between the Jack Snipe (centre) and 2 Snipes (right).
In addition to this, another scan of the target pools resulted in me picking up on not 1 but 2 Ruff; a nice edition to the day's list of birds. After watching the Ruff for a while and turning back to the Jack Snipe, it 'bobbed' very briefly, a spectacle I've never witnessed and one that will stick out in my memory for a while I'm sure.
After the exciting began to subside, I continued round the circular route I had embarked on, picking up yet another Ruff, showing brilliantly at the target pools viewpoint. Next, I headed towards the sea wall - which was an attractive proposition due to the hope of seeing a summer migrant and the reports of a Short Eared Owl over the salt marsh. Unfortunately though, the walk was fairly quiet with a few waders on show but no sign of any Owl activity. Close to the visitor centre, a female Reed Bunting was the final bird of note, concluding a fantastic day that even featured a lifer (an occurrence that's become less common these days).
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