Plenty of crowd pleasers at Rainham

Knew it. A sunny day with light winds today and everyone and their mother has turned up at Rainham Marshes. Coach loads of flask waving wrinklies swarm through the visitor centre on their way to fill up the hides, open their rucksacks and munch on sandwiches and oh shit, the loudest crisps on earth, Wheat Crunchies.

Don’t get me wrong, I like people; people have their uses and when it comes to looking through flocks of gulls, many eyes make light work.

Linnet
As you go through the visitor centre, you can either go left or right. I waited until the family with the sugared up kids screamed off to the left and I went right. peace at last and a very confiding Linnet who was also enjoying the quiet. It was even now calm enough for the Pintail to nod off which was a shame as this is the first time I have managed to photograph one and a head would have been nice.
Pintail
There were thousands of Lapwings on the reserve today and these were peppered with a small number of Golden Plover. Occasionally, these flocks would catapult into the sky like nature’s playing a game of Buckaroo. Usually it will be a raptor like a peregrine or merlin that causes this but today there were no signs of any raptor so I can only suppose it was little old Deidrie devouring her Wheat Crunchies that spooked the plovers.
A few Golden Plover with the Lapwings
New hides are popping up everywhere at Rainham Marshes. I have a feeling that before long, it will be one of the finest reserves in the RSPB portfolio. The main hide is amazing. The windows are controlled by turntable wheels and pulleys that you need a degree to operate but are great fun when there are no birds around. Today it was different. There was lots to see.
Drake Shoveler

Little Egret
A Little Egret, lots of wigeon, teal, gadwall and shovelers dabbling about and huge flocks of gulls mainly made up of black-headed gulls also had great black-backed gulls, lesser black-backed gulls, common gulls and one Caspian gull in the melee. The only reason I knew there was a Caspian gull was because of the crowd. When you birdwatch, a crowd can be a very useful indicator. First they draw your attention to something or maybe nothing and there are many eyes to scan the flocks and cut down the effort. Then as chances had it, you have a gull expert in the group.

Finally, there was a small group peering into some reeds as I headed back towards the centre. They had found a couple Bearded Tits low down and close up to the boardwalk (see what I mean by how handy a crowd can be when they’re not annoying). I couldn’t muscle in so only got off one shot before the pair disappeared. Another 'headless' shot but heyho, better than nothing.
Camera-shy Bearded Tit

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Digiscoping DIY Adaptor

Image
Thought I would take this opportunity to explain and illustrate the way I digiscope. I have never bothered to invest in a purpose-made adaptor because I’m never sure which one would be best and I suppose I’m a bit stingy. Instead, I have experimented with different joining mechanisms which have include fruit juice bottle tops, paint roller tubes and plumbing joints. Over the five or so years I have digiscoped, the results have been unpredictable. This has been caused by the light conditions, the mobility of the subject and invariably, the distances between my camera and the bird. probably worth noting here that I also tend to focus through the scope before attaching the camera. The most successful adaptor for me has been the paint roller tube. I discovered if I strip off the furry bit, I’m left with a perfect basis for an adaptor. Depending on the camera lens width and the telescope eyepiece diameter, I wrap insulation tape inside the tube. Measure the depth and width of the ca...
Read more

Scotland day 6: Look out. Look up and look where you’re going!

Image
Oh my days! Is it Friday already? This was our last full day with Heatherlea and it was destined to be a big one. Correction: The big one. Do these birding tour operators plan this? Do they always save the best for last? I don’t know. Some would say the Capercaillie caper would have done it and it did in many ways but this day would match it or in some eyes surpass it. You be the judge. Another full fat breakfast! My only thoughts during this now routine ceremony was whether I would still fit in the minibus. To be honest, I thought we would be doing a bit more walking on this trip but apart from the odd amble up a hill, we were never far from the transport. The birding day began with an excursion to Roseisle and initially around some of the farmland minor roads where we picked up a couple of corn buntings just sitting on fence wires. Looking out from a viewpointon the Moray Firth at Burghead Bay there were velvet and common scoters, eider and a few red-breasted merganser. Telescope out...
Read more

Scotland Day 1: A few 'grouses' about the weather

Image
We woke in the morning to discover the beautiful sunny evening that met our arrival had turning into a cold, grey dreich. We caught up with our guides and fellow adventurers early so that we could could visit a black grouse lek before breakfast. The visibility was poor and the air damp. When we arrived at the site, it was very difficult to see the birds. A few bobbing backsides – the white of the male tail feathers was about all I could see.  Black grouse, what Black Grouse? Lesser redpoll called as they went over and the inevitable willow warblers sang from various trees. Everyone got poor views to be fair but at that stage, we were all happy. A bit later at breakfast we discussed the weather, as you do and Dave and Chris, our guides for the tour laid out plans for local birding in Abernethy forest, primarily for crested tit and the magnificent capercaillie. The excitement was clearly audible. We arrived and parked up near Loch Mallachie and made our way down through the incredibl...
Read more