Rainham Marshes – April, Friday 13th

Friday the 13^th was living up to its reputation! Looking out of the window a thick mist or was it fog had reduced visibility to around 100yards, not ideal for a morning’s birdwatching at a Thameside marsh! However, by the time we arrived, the fog had lifted and we were soon eagerly listening to a member of staff at the RSPB’s Rainham Marsh visitor centre telling us what had been seen recently. Yellow wagtail, wheatear and garganey, the names filling us with anticipation as we set off.  

Well, we never found a yellow wagtail, despite scouring their last known whereabouts (around the cattle) and even though other birdwatchers said they had seen wheatears moments earlier we failed to locate them. It wasn’t all bad luck though! As we walked along the boardwalk between the reeds a cetti’s warbler suddenly flew up in front of us and delivered its short explosive song in a nearby bush in full view! Then, we managed to find the garganey, a male and a female together. It must be around 15 years since I last saw this scarce summer migrant and I had forgotten just how beautiful the male is.

Perhaps Rainham will be lucky enough to have a breeding pair of these small, shy ducks!