RSPB Rainham Marshes, 22nd October 2024

My last visit to Rainham earlier this year had me dipping a Woodchat Shrike, so while nothing exciting had been reported the weather was good and so worth the trip out. A walk along the river failed to deliver Rock or Water Pipit with just a few distant Redshank, Avocet and a lone Curlew. After a coffee it was time to spend some time in the Purfleet Hide. A Great Egret that was originally very distant decided to fly in much closer before being chased off by a second bird.

Waders were in short supply with five Common Snipe huddled together and this lone Curlew.

The Lapwing looked superb in the Autumn sunshine, sometimes taking off for a few minutes when disturbed.

Duck numbers were starting to increase with a few distant Wigeon. This male Teal however came a lot closer.

The Shoveler were also starting to look in good condition!

Rainham is always a good place to see Pintail and there were at least five present. This male, not quite out of eclipse plumage came in close for some shots.

Time for a wander and we soon bumped into this young Grey Heron trying his luck with the Marsh Frogs as well as doing some surfing!

And talking of Marsh Frogs......

And a slightly arty take!

Five Marsh Harriers and a pair of Stonechat were the other highlights of the day. A quick check of the WDZ area revealed a knot of people excitedly photographing a female Kingfisher perched close. I believe they had nested there earlier in the year judging by the many pictures posted. The drawback however, was you had to shoot through glass which is far from ideal as the outside area was closed off to prevent them being disturbed. So while the masses took pictures through the glass a few of us quickly moved outside to get uninterrupted views of this lovely bird.

Always something to see at Rainham!