Sand Martin new for the year

Another post-work visit on a glorious spring afternoon and , a week after the first showing, I finally connected with Sand Martin, just a single bird at the basin, probably one of the breeders, or their progeny from last year as it visited the breeding pipe in the lock wall a couple times; no sign of the four Little Ringed Plovers on the Pura Foods peninsula but there was a single bird on the basin at dusk. Common Teal numbers continue to drop with just 34 present today, other wildfowl included two pairs of Canada Geese, five Shelduck and 34 Tufted Duck. The only other notables were two Common Sandpipers at Bow Creek and a singing Linnet near the entrance to the ecology park.

Little Ringed Plover new for the year

A post-work visit now that British Summer Time has arrived to search for migrants, specifically Little Ringed Plover and Sand Martin, none of the latter but four LRPs on the Pura Foods peninsula were a welcome addition to the year list; lots of territorial behaviour; parallel running and song flighting noted; it's a private site, secure and wardened since last years illegal rave so the birds have a good chance of success. it was a fairly brief visit with four each of Canada Goose and Shelduck, 40 Common Teal, 28 Tufted Duck, a Common Sandpiper and three Pied Wagtail the only other sightings of interest.

Blackcap new for the year

The first day of British Summer Time was a bit of a let down to start with, a cold north-westerly wind had me wishing I'd packed my gloves and the Canary Wharf tower was invisible in the mist; not too promising for migrants but my first Blackcap of the year was tacking in the scrub at Bow Creek although not showing; the only other evidence of passage was a calling Meadow Pipit overhead at the ecology park and it or another briefly perched in a Silver Birch at the basin along with a Linnet. Two Greylag Geese were at Bow Creek and another pair flew up the Thames mid-morning whilst 11 Canada Geese scattered throughout the site was a good count for March; other wildfowl included 53 Common Teal and 42 Tufted Duck. An adult female Peregrine was on the Millennium Dome and presumably the same bird was seen flying up-river shortly later, the only wader noted was a Common Sandpiper at Bow Creek; still no Little Ringed Plover or Sand Martin, but other observers have seen both species and the next few days should see them fall.

Greylag Goose and Sparrowhawk new for the year

Another glorious spring day in London prompted an after work visit in the hope of connecting with a migrant or two, but to no avail, Little Ringed Plover and Sand Martin are well overdue and it's a complete mystery why we haven't had a singing Blackcap yet. I did add two to the year list however, a pair of Greylag Geese on Bow Creek and an immature female Sparrowhawk flying south over the basin being mobbed by Starlings; the year list now stands at 53, a reasonable total considering it contains no migrants. It was high tide so I checked the wader roost, it held two Common Sandpiper and nothing else, that's probably it for Redshank now until the late autumn, unless we get a passage bird or two. Finally a comprehensive wildfowl count produced two Canada Geese, two Shelduck, circa 40 Mallard, 96 Common Teal and 49 Tufted Duck.

Three year-ticks but still no migrants

Pintail at Bow Creek, March 2011

Saturday March 19th: I arrived at the basin in glorious sunshine, cloudless skies and just a hint of a south-easterly wind, perfect conditions for a flyover raptor, a male Kestrel flying north over the Thames being mobbed by a Carrion Crow wasn't quite what I had in mind but was a year-tick nonetheless. Two Oystercatcher feeding on the Millennium flats and a Collared Dove flying north-east were also welcome additions but the conditions really should have delivered something better; we'd already had Little Ringed Plover and Sand Martin by this time last year but no obvious migrants were logged today. Wildfowl included two Canada Geese on the Millennium flats, a single Shelduck flying east, 96 Common Teal, the female Pintail at Bow Creek (I took the above photographs this morning, the flight shot shows really well the long-bodied, narrow-winged jizz of this elegant duck) and 30 Tufted Duck. Redshank numbers have dropped off in the last week or so and only a single bird came into the roost today, three Common Sandpiper were also noted at Bow Creek. A single Stock Dove was display flying over the old gravel works before landing on a warehouse roof, I couldn't find a second bird but a pair is usually present in this area although its not exactly typical habitat for this species something is clearly going on.

Sunday March 20th: A pre-work dawn start in overcast conditions produced a very similar tally to that of yesterday, wildfowl include two Canada Geese on the basin, 2 Shelduck and the female Pintail on Bow Creek, 146 Common Teal throughout the site and 37 Tufted Duck, all but three on the basin; a Redshank was heard and three Common Sandpipers were seen on the creek and a collared Dove flew in from the east and landed in a tree on the other side of the A13. I also returned late in the day and concentrated on covering the Pura Foods peninsula in the hope of a Little Ringed Plover or a Wheatear, no sign of either just around six each of Pied Wagtail and Linnet feeding on the short grass area; the only other notable passerines were two Reed Buntings in the pylon reedbed at dusk and a calling Chiffchaff in the ecology park.

A pair of post-work visits

From around the middle of March post-work visits to the patch become possible due to the longer days, I made two visits this week on Tuesday 15th and Thursday 17th. It's a race against the setting sun to cover the patch completely as I have just over an hour of workable daylight by the time I arrive. The most notable difference between the two days was the fall in Common Teal numbers from 98 on the 15th to 63 on the 17th and a smaller fluctuation in Tufted Duck numbers from 44 on the 15th to 38 on the 17th; in the case of the Tufted Duck I think it's just local movement and I fully expect numbers to rise again before seriously dropping off as the birds pair up and move off to their breeding sites; but I think the Common Teal are definitely moving out, most birds are paired up and lots of displaying is apparent. Six Shelduck were noted on the 15th but only two on the 17th, these birds are very flighty at the moment, no doubt propecting for nest sites, and the drakes are very aggressive towards other species. The Water Rail that has been giving me the runaround since early January was seen on both dates, preening in front of the western reedbed at dusk. Two Common Sandpipers were seen on the 15th with with two Redshank noted on the 17th, finally the only year tick was a Meadow Pipit flying east on the 15th.

Water Rail new for the year

Common Seal: Thames off East India Dock Basin, March 2011

After spending many hours staking out the western reedbed at the basin in an attempt to add the wintering Water Rail to my yearlist I finally connected with it at dawn this morning, no waiting, no fuss, it was just standing at the front of the reeds preening; apart from that it was fairly quiet, the first singing Chiffchaff of the year was in the ecology park along with a second bird that was calling incessantly; they were in an area of the park that held no wintering birds so they could have been the first migrants of the year. Wildfowl included five Shelduck, the female Pintail briefly, 107 Common Teal and 59 Tufted Duck, three Redshank and two Common Sandpipers were at Bow Creek and at least five Pied Wagtails and three Linnets were foraging on the Pura Foods peninsula; an added bonus came in the form of a Common Seal in the Thames just off the basin, the second I have seen here, it caught at least two flatfish, probably Dabs; my personal mammal list at the Lower Lea is not a long one: Pipistrelle sp (probably Common), Red Fox, Common Seal, Bottle-nosed Dolphin, Grey Squirrel and Brown Rat; I'm thinking of investing in a Longworth trap to see if I can catch some of the smaller insectivores and rodents that ought to occur in the various habitats of the Lower Lea.

A record count of Pied Wagtails

Pied Wagtails at Bow Creek, March 2011

I timed my visit today to coincide with high tide, ten Redshank and three Common Sandpiper were in the roost, a good count given the recent mild conditions although today was rather cold with a nagging north-easterly adding to the wind chill. A complete site count of Common Teal produced at least 163, again not a bad count for the time of year; 56 Tufted Duck were on the basin along with a pair of Canada Geese, another pair were on Bow Creek and two Shelduck flew in at Dusk. It was proving to be an unpromising day for passerines until I got on to a flock of at least 12 Pied Wagtails flying west over Bow Creek and coming down somewhere behind the Esso garage, I then realised that there were seven more all sitting motionless on the pavement alongside Bow Creek, at least 19 in total, my best count ever here surpassing the 11 I recorded on April 7th 2007. Presumably, given the time of day, these birds would be roosting locally but I could not find the roost site in the gathering darkness.