Our small wintering flock of Avocets has slowly increased over the last few weeks to a record 71 on Tuesday. Down the Thames at East Tilbury there are regularly over 2000 birds in the winter so it is nice that we are getting a few more up this way now.
To see them best you need to aim for mid tide (either rising or falling) as on the low tide they are often quite a way off or even head to just under the QEII Bridge to the West Thurrock Marshes mud flats.
Ian Plume
At high tide they sometimes come onto the marsh and can be see on Aveley Pool roosting up but they often opt to stay on the river and bob around in a tightly packed black and white raft until the first mud shows itself once again.
Avocets on ice.. Mark Laffling
Pat Hart got this great video on Friday.