Yesterday dawned still, calm and pretty clear with an amazing pre-dawn glow of rhubarb in the sky and it felt, even then that it was going to be an exceptionally busy Bank Holiday Monday.
I had the place to myself to start with and it was so mild that I was able to sit outside and have some breakfast to the sound of a full winter chorus from seven loud and proud Song Thrushes along with every Blackbird, Robin, Wren and the odd Cetti’s Warbler to remind me that there was a marsh out there. The Kingfishers both whizzed by in the gloom and thousands of Black-headed Gulls whiffled down onto the river from their inland roost sites.
Song Thrush - Joanne Josephine
The early birders found eight Brent Geese and had superb views of the Short-eared Owls once again and as the crowds began to arrive and the sunshine continued to shine I had to turn my attention away from the outside.
Dark-bellied Brent Geese - Tom Bell
Short-eared Owl - Stephen Lewington
Short-eared Owl - Moi Hicks
Short-eared Owl - Shaun Harvey
However, it was a great day out there for those who came to walk off the excesses of the season, to stretch their legs or try out a new camera or pair of binoculars and there was plenty on offer.
The duck was especially glowy in the sunshine and over 1300 shimmering Lapwings and a few Golden Plover dodged the attentions of both Sparrowhawks and Peregrines. Marsh Harriers performed very well on and off with four on the marsh and a female Merlin was seen near the landfill where two Corn Buntings made a reappearance.
Our adult female Marsh Harrier - Shaun Harvey
Amongst all the singing birds in the woodland there were several Goldcrests and plenty of birds are now re-using the woodland feeders. A handful of Fieldfare and Redwing were seen in the hawthorns.
Fieldfare - Moi Hicks
The Bogwood Dartford Warblers unsurprisingly put on an excellent show and many people who had previously gone away disappointed were now very happy indeed. Both birds were seen with the Stonechats and actually stayed put long enough for the first really good photos to be taken. As well as getting the shots below, Lee also saw it capture a huge green caterpillar as long as its tail!
Dartford Warbler - the male - Lee Wakefield
and with that huge grub - Magnus Andersson
Tailless Stonechat - Nick Smith
The mild weather also means that we still have Little Egrets and Little Grebes on the reserve as we usually lose both these species when the marsh freezes up. The MDZ and Perimeter Ditch near the Purfleet Hide offer your best chance of seeing the grebes at the moment.
Little Egret - Nick Smith
Little Grebe - Bob Cooper
At high tide 15 Curlew came in to Purfleet Scrape but the Black-tailed Godwits largely headed down around Coldharbour Point presumably to roost on the Concrete Barges and last but in no way forgotten, our Kestrels performed amazingly well and offered many people the opportunity to get up close and take some amazing images.
Kestrel - Joanne Josephine
Kestrel - Nick Smith
And so the 28th turned out to be one of the busiest days we have ever had and as I type this it is just gone 0830 and it is once again a nice morning and cars are already arriving. I best hurry up and finish this before the drawbridge goes down!
29-12-15