Barking Bay March 20th

Still overcast and cold at dawn but cleared to hazy sunshine mid morning, not quite good enough for a large raptor but looked promising, at last spring seems to be arriving.

I had in mind early migrants Wheatear and Little Ringed Plover and despite a thorough search of the site, none gave themselves up.

Shelduck at dawn

Pick of the supporting cast was a flyby Avocet heading downriver, no doubt one of the lingering birds from February 20th, every year now they are getting more regular at Rainham RSPB, good to see. The only drawback with Avocets is that they disrupt other waders breeding close by, for such an elegant wader they can be quite aggressive.

Pair of Curlew

Curlew

Also seen was a flyby Kingfisher, Shelduck peaked at 145, a very good count, single Ringed Plover and 3 Dunlin.

Additionals were

9 Snipe

15 Oystercatchers – mostly Crossness

6 Black Tailed Godwit

11 Curlew

Redshank numbers were also quite high with 129 recorded.