STOP PRESS

Yesterday afternoon Dominic Mitchell found and photographed an 'interesting' gull on the landfill site. It was only there a short while before heading off towards Wennington Marsh. However, it is looking very good for an adult Slaty-backed Gull which normally resides in the Pacific North-west. Ths would be a new species to the UK and only the second for Europe (the first being in Latvia a couple of years ago)

Anyway, for photos and the full story check out Dom's Blog at http://www.birdingetc.com/

However if you are considering coming down please note the following.

IMPORTANT - ACCESS AT RAINHAM
There are many thousands of gulls at Rainham at the moment, and they favour the RSPB reserve, the adjacent Wennington Marshes (very large numbers of loafing birds), the river/foreshore (partly tide dependent) and the tip (strictly out of bounds at all times). If you are planning to look for the bird, it is essential to follow these instructions:

Parking options:

• Rainham Marshes RSPB main car park, off New Tank Hill Road, RM19 1SZ. Park and walk along river wall to the west and then on the cycle path on the inland side towards the tip, stopping to scan Wennington Marshes on your right.
• Rainham Riverside car park off Coldharbour Lane. Only room for about 20 cars. Do not park in or obstruct entrance road or disabled spaces. If parking here walk back down the path to Coldharbour Lane and follow the cycle path east past the tip to Wennington and then Aveley Bay.

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES PARK ON COLDHARBOUR LANE (OR EVEN ON THE VERGE): THIS IS HIGHLY DANGEROUS AND SECURITY WILL MOVE YOU ON.
DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES PARK IN THE WORKS CAR PARK FOR THE VEOLIA LANDFILL SITE OR THE INDUSTRIAL UNITS AT COLDHARBOUR POINT. SECURITY WILL CLAMP ALL UNAUTHORISED CARS.

Viewing options

• Scan the fields of Wennington Marshes, where all the gulls come down to rest during the day.
• Enter the reserve via the visitor centre and check Aveley Pools and the Target Pools, where gulls also come down to bathe.
• Check the foreshore to the east of the Stone Barges, accessed via the Rainham Riverside car park as birds also commute here to bathe.
• Check Aveley Bay for similar reasons.
• DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ACCESS THE LANDFILL SITE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. It can be viewed more distantly from the cycle path, but the gulls are much easier to check on Wennington Marshes, where they linger for longer and are far less active.

We have a Gull ID day tomorrow so who knows....