Good Day in the Bay

April 28th

I was out at dawn and heading for a Peregrine site in East London, constant rain right from the start. After arriving and sitting in the car for 30 minutes, I realised that any self-respecting peregrine would not be doing much, the rain had got heavier, so I headed for Barking Bay where I knew Paul was watching.
It proved a very good move as I added no less than 6 patch additions to the year list; it also provided a good day list with some quality birds seen.
With a make shift sea watching hide we scanned the river for a couple of hours and then walked the scrub for migrants, birds of note were


Turnstone – 2 appeared from up river on the falling tide
Black Tailed Godwit – 2
Bar Tailed Godwit – a total of 9, initially 2 and a single seen, and then 6 from up river, presumably the same birds that Gary had at Galleons Reach
Corn Bunting – 1 wet individual
Kittiwake – an adult up river
Whimbrel – 2
Cuckoo – 1
Wheatear – 5 mostly males
Whinchat – a single with the Wheatears                                                                                               Ringed Plover – 3
Dunlin – 1

Paul in the sea watching hide

6 of the Bar Tailed Godwits arriving

Well worth getting wet for, if anything the forecast looks even better on the Sunday for river watching, rain with a strong north easterly to start with and then coming round to an easterly. I am tempted to go to Canvey on the Sunday but the promise of good birds on the patch may well keep me at the Bay. A Skua wouldn’t go amiss especially a Pom as I need it for London, they are moving round the coast now, Sunday could be very interesting indeed.

On the 26th I popped into the Bay and got very lucky and located a feeding Black Tern working the mud with the Common Terns, although they are annual, I usually pick them up in the autumn, a welcome addition.