Minibus trip to Rainham Marshes RSPB (5 November 2022)

One could imagine Rainham Marshes in a bleak scene from a Dickens novel if you ignored the modern industrial development all around. “Oh look. There’s the Tilda rice building exclaimed one member of our group”. Company logos, cranes, the A13 flyover and the Eurostar track make good landmarks when trying to pinpoint birds at Rainham. Backdrop aside, it was a grey, damp day, but not as wet as forecast, so we made the most of it and amassed 69 bird species between us. Any day that includes 3 species of pipit is good for me! Maybe others did not share my enthusiasm but the 5 hardiest members of our group went down onto the edge of the Thames and walked gingerly over the slippery concrete and plastic detritus to be rewarded with 7 rock pipits. Most of them immediately flew away, or leap frogged back around us, but a couple hung around and gave pretty good views. They don’t mind the rubbish strewn environment and find enough food on the rocks and seaweed.

To return to the beginning however. We had a good look at Purfleet Scrape then walked through the dripping woodland to the Ken Barrett Hide, arriving just in time to shelter from a downpour. The northern boardwalk is closed indefinitely, awaiting repair, which makes for a longer walk along the two arms of the reserve, rather than the usual circular route. Retracing our steps to the visitor centre, some stopped for coffee while the rest of us went on ahead to the Purfleet hide and then the Shooting Butts Hide where we stopped for lunch. Retracing our steps again, some went back to the centre via the Marshland Discovery Hide while the rest of us left through the one-way turnstile and had a look at Aveley Bay on the Thames. Threatening clouds then encouraged most people back to the centre while a few of us explored the river’s edge. There was plenty of time for refreshments in the warm and dry at the end of the day. The gloomy weather made it seem later than it actually was so we managed to leave a left a few minutes earlier than planned for a change.

Highlights of the day:
Woodland– The screeching of a water rail in a hidden ditch and the sound of chiffchaff, jay and green woodpecker. A few blackbirds and redwing shooting out of berry bushes as we passed plus dunnock and robins.
Ken Barrett Hide – A buzzard sat in the rain on a bird box, wet ducks including gadwall, teal and shoveler, stonechat, reed bunting and a distant male marsh harrier.
Purfleet Hide – 5 snipe right in front of the hide, a handsome male pintail, wigeon in various stages of plumage, 5 curlew, a black-tailed godwit and meadow pipits and skylarks feeding on the flattened grass and mud around the edges with an elusive water pipit pottering between them to give us a bit of a challenge.
Marshland Discovery Hide – Tony spotted our only little grebe of the day.
Shooting Butts Hide – At least 25 snipe all gathered in one small bay where the feeding must have been best. At least 2 more elusive water pipits. 2 ruff spotted by Sandra. A female marsh harrier posing on a distant post. 2 greylag geese pulling up muddy grass then very deliberately walking over to the water to wash it before eating it. Shelduck on a distant pool.
Shooting butts/dragonfly pool area – No bearded tits made an appearance or even ‘pinged’ in the reedbeds and who could blame them but 3 fieldfare did fly overhead and perch obligingly in a bush. A skylark also rose high in the sky singing its full song obviously confused about the seasons. The many other skylark we encountered during the day were just doing their winter chirruping. A flock of linnet were also seen around here.
Aveley Bay and river bank – 9 avocets, redshank, wigeon and teal, little egret and 7 rock pipits
Opposite bank of the Thames – 5 grey seals, dunlin, plenty of redshank and lots of gulls including herring, black-headed and lesser and great black-backed.
Visitor centre and car park – The hugely successful population of house sparrows that the RSPB have nurtured here plus blue, great and long-tailed tits on the feeders. Our last bird of the day was a beautiful male sparrowhawk which sat behind the bird feeders, not very well hidden, then made a half-hearted swoop past the feeders before sitting in a bush outside the window of the visitor centre for all to see.

Many thanks again to Huw for driving the mini-bus without whom this trip wouldn’t have happened.

by Rebecca Dunne