Patch On Fire.....

Arrived at the Bay at first light, the weather is fowl, wet, overcast with a moderate north easterly, perfect for watching the Thames!

Mo sets up the seawatch hide.

Nothing doing for the first hour and a half bar a single Blackwit, then Mo arrives and he sets up our Seawatching shelter/hide, things pick up in the shape of a spanking adult KITTIWAKE upriver, Boom.
Next two TURNSTONE fly in, a really scarce bird here as we have no stones to be turned!

Next a CORN BUNTING being chased by a pied wag zooms past us before settling down infront of us.Boom.

The rain seems to ease for a short spell and we head along the seawall scattering a small number of Wheatears then, Boom, a female WHINCHAT briefly pops up before disappearing.

Onwards we add Cuckoo, Reed Warbler, 5 Swift, 3 Swallow before returning to the river where we discover two BAR-TAILED GODWIT feeding along the tide line with a single Whimbrel, Dunlin and three Ringed Plover, nine Oystercatchers.

Whinchat

The morning session finished with a LITTLE EGRET thanks to a call from JA, another scarce bird here having only seen one bird last year.

Turnstone

Bar-wit

Whimbrel

best bird goes to the Corn Bunting

So a great morning's birding, and with the forecast for tomorrow even better than today, we hope for some more seabird action??

Mayesbrook Wheatear's

Walked through the park on the way to the station this morning and halfway between home and the park a pair of Shelduck flew over! had I left two minutes later they would have been on the garden list.....gggrrrrrrr.....

On the main lake or newly named North lake a athya hybrid resembling a drake Pochard x Tufted was displaying to female pochard, and was possibly the same bird me and Shaun found on Berwick reservoir a couple of days ago.

Other birds of note were a single Swift, singing Blackcap and Chiffchaff.

Early Evening - Took Jack to the park to try and relocate the hybrid duck, but unfortunately it had moved on or was hiding, though a pair of Northern Wheatear more than made up for this.

Plenty of young broods about including both Canada and Greylag and a first for Egyptian.

Canada goslings

Found this Greylag in a redundant heron's nest!

Aythya Hybrid

A call from John Archer this afternoon had me scampering over to South Park, where a duck was reported to him as being a drake Ferruginous Duck!!  midway peeling the Sunday spuds I shot out leaving a very confused wife, to find in fact a hybrid bird showing quite well amongst several Tufted and Pochard, which at first when it came up from the depths had me excited until it turned around to reveal a rather large pale flanks/sides and overall size of the bird was large, if not larger than the nearbye Tufties, head shape rather round with a bottle green sheen to the rear of the head, large billed but with a white band, but did have the pale iris a fudge should have!!

So what is it??  Fudge x Pochard    or   Fudge x Tufted   or other ??

Comments Welcome please.

Bye the way my spuds came out awesome.........

More Valley

After Yesterday's good morning decided to hit the Ingrebourne Valley again, nothing really doing bar my first Lesser Whitethroat of the year, singles of Peregrine, Siskin and Ring-necked parakeet over and a few House Martin hawking the viewing area.

Cetti's

Willow Warbler

Brimstone

Ingrebourne Valley + Barking Bay

Started early doors on Shaun and Mo's patch to find some birds as they often struggle (ha ha) and was soon rewarded with yet another Ring Ouzel on the north side of Ingrebourne Hill, this bird quickly moved through north and no further sign despite shaunboy eventually getting out of bed and joining me in an extensive search.

Further up the Valley it was evident that there were lots of Whitethroat in, including two birds seen nest building, both Reed and Sedge warblers singing and at least two Cuckoo present.

Top paddock held a couple of wheatear, me and Shaunboy then split and i jam in on a Common Redstart by the bench which again disappears north before Shaun arrives!! again a thorough search proves fruitless but is later spotted in the bottom paddock by Russ.

Barking Bay- Me and Shaun locate a Ring Ouzel, which is almost been present for a week now, but again the bird is still proving to be mobile and elusive.

Other birds of note were two Wheatear and some distant Black-wit wheeling around.

Ouzels still here!

Popped to the Bay for an hour this evening and found the two Ring Ouzels straight away with possibly a third bird seen, birds are favouring the scrub on the south side between the mound and river, please stay to paths to avoid disturbing ground nesting birds.

Oodles of Ouzels......

With so many Ring Ouzels reported this weekend in the south east, it was no surprise to find them on the patch this morning. Arriving at Barking early doors I smashed the Ripple LNR first producing my first Blackcaps of the year, seeing know fewer than six singing males alongside the regular Chiffchaffs.

Then across the road to the bay and one of the first birds seen was a male RING OUZEL, albeit very briefly, an hour of searching proved unsuccessful, so I decided to soldier on finding a single WHITETHROAT braving the moderate cold north wind! further round 4+ Wheatear but still nothing from the reed beds.

Returning back to the middle ditch I stumble across the ouzel again and as I try to get closer another bird fly's up revealing two birds together! Mo finally arrives and we both enjoy the two birds together tho being elusive and mobile.

Other birds of note were two Swallow and at least a dozen Common Terns feeding on the ebbing tide.

Had a brief visit to the Dagenham Chase this afternoon where a pair of GARGANEY were present alongside a pair of LRP, and a single Green Sand, Cetti's and Reed Warbler.

Dr Alfredo Barrera M. Botanical Garden

Is a site I wanted to visit previously and offers 60-hectare patch of medium height tropical forest via a 3km of well maintained trails.

In addition to a path through the native forest there are educational dislays of Cacti, Ornimentals, Medicinal plants and a small Maya ruin.

About a 25 min ride from Cancun just south of the village of Puerto Morelos, and cost just a couple of quid in one of these mini busses.

don't get there to early !!

Along the paths most of the American warblers can be seen as well as both Spot breasted and White-bellied Wren, Green and Brown Jay's, both Cinnamon and Buff-bellied hummer's and Lesser Greenlet's up in the Canopy, further along added both Yucatan Flycatcher and Woodpecker.

Magnolia Warbler

American Redstart

Northern waterthrush

In addition to the birds there are many Lizards, Snakes and the occasional Crock!!!