RSPB Rainham Marshes - 2nd July 2018
And so the end of my day went something like this... oh look
the A13 is slowing down, ah... the M25 is closed at j30, oh... the QEII Bridge
is now closed, bugger... all routes into and out of the area are now stuffed,
just great... the Blackwall Tunnel is now closed.
And thus I was forced by these cruel twists of fate to stay
at ‘work’ till 8pm before an escape became a plausible option. I made myself go out for a horrible walk in
the sultry summer air on trails devoid of anyone else and was obliged to look
at all the wildlife arrayed before me with only myself for company.
The Purfleet Scrape has dried dramatically over the last
three days but 32 Little Egrets and nine Grey Herons were loafing around along
with a non-flying almost fledged Lapwing chick and two similar Redshanks. Swifts
and Sand Martins zipped around as I headed for the woodland. The breeze had
picked up and I concentrated on the sunny patches and found sunbathing Commas
and my first Gatekeepers of the year along with a female Black-tailed Skimmer
and a nectaring Essex Skipper.
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| Comma |
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| Black-tailed Skimmer |
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| Small Skipper |
A very spiky large Tachinid fly caught my eye and with a bit
of patience I was able to get some shots as it returned to its chosen sunny
leaf. Will wait on Phil to point me in
the right direction!
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| Possibly Thelaira nigripes |
The Cordite still looks good and was passable after my
efforts last Thursday but I may have to go in and tie up some of the almost 3m
tall Hogweed tomorrow! It made for some interesting photo opportunities
though!
I found a female Common Emerald Damselfly hanging up near
the Ken Barrett Hide and a beautiful scarlet male Ruddy Darter in the nettles
just beyond it. The tall Ragwort plants
glowed yellow in the meadow between the path and the Tool Store and waved in the
wind - everything has its place...
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| Common Emerald Damselfly |
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| Ruddy Darter |
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| Waving Ragwort |
The Bearded Tits were still communicating fervently by the
first platform but remained out of sight evening. Aveley Pool was as magnificent
as last week and was once again covered in broods of ducks. I found at least
two more Gadwall broods amongst them to go on the tally and the two Spoonbills
were alert and awake and engaging in some feeding and preening as well as a bit
of energetic flapping around. At least now I can confirm that the immature does
indeed have all white wings which is odd given the immaturity of the bill.
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| Tufted Duck family |
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Grey Heron, adult Spoonbill,
Coots, Greylags, Canada Goose, Mallard, Shoveler (head), young Pochard and
Gadwall brood with mum...
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They put on a great show in the late evening light while Mr
Marsh Harrier performed his typical circuit to which the duck did not even flinch
despite many of the flightless ducklings being perfect for the dinner plate.
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| Marsh Harrier and his own take on Riverdance |
Twenty-nine smart summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwits came
in from the river and seemed to be islandica
birds rather than the Continental limosa birds
that we tend to get at this time of year.
A lanky juvenile Redshank gave me palpitations for a short while and two
juvenile Little Ringed Plovers lurked behind the brick spit at the back.
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| Black-tailed Godwits |
With a potential escape route becoming available, I ambled
back and said my goodnights to the lads volunteering on their overnight shop
refit and headed successfully for home...
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