Common Teal pair still hanging on

Common Tern at East India Dock Basin, April 2011

After drawing a blank yesterday, I found the pair of Common Teal going to roost on a rising tide at Bow Creek this morning, my latest spring date for this species; the male looks quite content to hang around but the female is definitely getting itchy wings, leaving the roost after a few minutes and indulging in small flights on the creek, today could well be their last day. No sign of yesterday's Pochard but Tufted Duck numbers were well down with only 12 on the basin, there is obviously a large turnover of birds at this site which is why I always take care to go through them all at least twice per visit. Two pairs of Common Terns were showing interest in the rafts this morning and there was an increase in Black-headed Gulls on the river with 36 mostly 1st-summers floating upstream on the tide. As I was leaving the site I found another singing Sedge Warbler, just outside the patch recording area but audible from inside, had I not scored an unequivocal bullseye on the 17th I would be facing a bit of a dilemma, but I did so I'm not. Other warblers today; seven Reed Warbler, three Blackcap and five Common Whitethroat. I made a return visit late in the afternoon, Tufted Duck numbers had risen to 40 but nothing unusual was with them, the only other notables were four Shelduck and three Common Sandpipers feeding in the same place on the creek as yesterday.

First Pochard of the year

Pochard at East India Dock Basin, April 2011

Another scorching hot April day, albeit a little cooler early on in the brisk north-easterly wind. Many migrants are well established now and with water constantly in the basin a pair of Common Terns were displaying over the rafts, a third bird occasionally joined them but was indignantly driven off by the propecting couple; a few non-breeding Black-headed Gulls are still hanging around on the river and the commotion from the terns had them investigating, resulting in some spectacular intraspecific dogfighting over the mill pond still water of the basin. The stable water level was also no doubt responsible for the only addition to the yearlist, a male Pochard roosting on the island along with a Shelduck and some of the 36 Tufted Duck present today; another Shelduck was at Bow Creek and five broods of Mallard were noted throughout the site. Three Little Ringed Plovers were very vocal, mainly at the Pura Foods peninsula and four Common Sandpipers were feeding together at Bow Creek on the falling tide. Sand Martin numbers were up to seven today, five at the basin and two over Bow Creek the latter pair were joined by two House Martins, never easy here in the Spring, and two vocal Swallows flew west at the basin mid-morning. Finally, singing Reed Warblers and Common Whitethroats numbered six and five respectively along with at least five Blackcaps, although this is almost certainly an underestimate as non-singing birds seemed to be everywhere, but very mobile, making an accurate count impossible.

A brief high tide visit

Incubating Mallard at Bow Creek, April 18th 2011

I made a brief post-work visit to the patch today in the hope of adding something to the yearlist, a Lesser Whitethroat perhaps which usually turns up about now but the whole site was very quiet. A Mallard with ten ducklings was at Bow Creek and another with four was on the basin, that's at least three broods this year so far, but the nest in the above photo was empty, probably robbed by children rather than gulls or a fox as there were no damaged eggs or indeed empty eggshells to indicate a hatching. Other odds and ends included five Shelduck, the Common Teal pair and a Common Sandpiper at Bow Creek, 52 Tufted Duck, two singing Song Thrushes, four Sand Martins and single singing Reed Warbler, Blackcap and Common Whitethroat.

First Swallow of the year

As I've mentioned in a previous post the money allocated for the de-silting of the basin has been withdrawn. A short-term solution to this problem is to raise the sluices on the inner dock gate to keep in the water entering the basin on a high tide; and so Gary, my fellow patch worker, had arranged to meet Andy, the Lea Valley Regional Park Warden, to get the job done and as I had a rare Monday off work I decided to go along and see if I could lend a hand. Andy turned out to be an enthusiastic young bloke and a keen botanist, he soon had the sluice gates sorted out with minimal help from Gary and myself. It was another glorious day, more like June than mid April and we decided to do a few hours skywatching in the hope of a large raptor, we had good views of an adult female Peregrine, a Sparrowhawk downriver at Silvertown which put up everything on the river and had me thinking that perhaps something bigger had caused the commotion but whatever it was we couldn't find it; a female Kestrel made up the trinity of raptors for the day. The only other addition to the yearlist was Swallow, I picked up two relatively low birds heading north-west, other moving migrants included a Meadow Pipit north and a very high-flying Jay heading north-west. Other migrants included two Northern Wheatears, one each on the Pura Foods peninsula and Orchard Wharf and two Common Terns whilst a 1st-winter Common Gull was also probably on the move rather than just a tardy leftover from the winter. Other highlights included three Shelduck, the Common Teal pair still hanging on at Bow Creek, a flock of five vocal Otstercatchers flying up the Thames, two Little Ringed Plovers, four Common Sandpipers in the roost, a pair of Linnets and the follwing singing warblers: two Reed Warblers, at least three Blackcaps and a Common Whitethroat.

A marathon session

I had intended to get well away from the patch today, London Marathon day usually has me running for the hills but a late night saw me oversleep and consequently head for the patch mid-morning instead of somewhere more bucolic at dawn. At first it seemed a little disappointing, the two Willow Warblers from yesterday had moved on and a thorough search of the Pura Foods peninsula and Orchard Wharf drew a blank on the Wheatear front; then a somewhat surreal ten minutes began, I found a male Tufted Duck wearing a red nasal saddle and I moved around the north side of the basin in an attempt to read any inscription it might have, as I was grilling the tufty I became aware of a Sedge Warbler in full song in the scrub to my right, not only a year tick but a patch lifer, my first Sedge Warbler in 14 years. Bolstered by this unexpected bonus I decided to do another circuit of the ecology park, just as I was about to go in I heard a weak "ca" and on looking up I saw a Rook flying purposely east, my second patch lifer in ten minutes and only the second site record of this unlikely migrant. The rest of the day's haul included two Greylag Geese, four Shelduck, a pair of Teal, 40 Tufted Duck (including the aforementioned bird which was probably "saddled" in either France or Portugal), two Common Sandpipers in the roost, a Stock Dove, at least five singing Blackcaps and single singing Reed Warbler, Common Whitethroat and Chiffchaff.

First Common Tern, House Martin and Common Whitethroat of the year

A very early start this morning in an attempt to cover the patch completely before any dogwalkers appeared. Two Willow Warblers were singing in the copse at the basin and a female Blackcap was feeding in the canopy along with another warbler which, after a frustrating few minutes of hide and seek, turned into the first Common Whitethroat of the year, a Chiffchaff sang briefly from the northern scrub and a Song Thrush was singing from one of the gardens. At the ecology park at least two more Common Whitethroats and a Reed Warbler were singing along with another Song Thrush and throughout the patch at least five Blackcaps were in song; the only other notable vocalist was a Reed Bunting singing intermittently from the pylon reedbed. At least eight Sand Martin were present this morning and the first House Martin of the year was busily feeding over Bow Creek before moving off mid-morning. A pair of Kestrels were displaying over the north dide of the ecology park and were showing a lot of interest in a gasometer about half a mile north-west of the patch, the only other raptor seen was a Peregrine. Back at the Thames four very vocal Common Terns had arrived and were soon joined by a fifth, the third year tick of the morning. Wildfowl included a Greylag Goose flying south, four Shelduck including two males behaving as if they have mates on eggs nearby, a pair of Common Teal and 11 Tufted Duck. On the wader front a Little Ringed Plover was on the Pura Foods peninsula, two Oystercatchers were on the Millennium Dome flats and four Common Sandpipers were in the high tide roost. Other notables today included two each of Stock Dove and Jay and a single migrant Meadow Pipit flying south.

First Mallard ducklings of the year

Mallard and ducklings at Bow Creek, April 2011

I made a brief post-work visit today, the skies had become overcast early afternoon and by 5 o'clock it had started to rain so I was hoping for some tern or, perhaps, Little Gull action on the Thames, but the river proved to be very quiet on a rising tide. A female Mallard was leading a string of 11 ducklings on Bow Creek but was still being attended by three drakes, one of which tried to forcibly mate with her, many of the ducklings got separated in the ensuing melee, but fortunately (for now) none of yesterday's large gulls were on hand to take advantage of the situation, but I expect at least half of this brood to have become larid or corvid fodder by the weekend, that's if the local foxes or herons don't get there first. I didn't cover the site comprehensively but other notables included two Shelduck, 11 Common Teal, 54 Tufted Duck, a Little Ringed Plover and three Sand Martins busily feeding over the basin after the rain had moved through.

Willow Warbler new for the year

An overcast day to start with but clearing up and becoming very sunny later, a singing Willow Warbler in the copse was the only addition to the year list. Apart from a rise in Tufted Duck numbers from 43 to 51 and two Greylag Geese on Bow Creek wildfowl numbers were almost identical to yesterday's count. At least four pairs of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and three pairs of Herring Gulls were also at Bow Creek and around 120 large gulls, mostly Lesser Black-backeds, were loafing on the Millennium Dome mudflats along with a dozen Black-headed Gulls. Sand Martin numbers had risen to four and at least seven Blackcaps were singing along with single Reed Warbler and Song Thrush. A Little Ringed Plover was song-flighting over the Pura Foods peninsula and I flushed another one from Bow Creek, two Common Sandpipers were also at Bow Creek and finally a female Peregrine was watched soaring above the Millennium Dome, much to the indifference of the assembled larids on the mudflats below.

Reed Warbler new for the year

The unseasonably warm weather that has been prevalent for most of the week made it to the weekend, however a dawn start beneath a cloudless sky was a reminder that this was early April and not mid June, it was cold enough for a scarf and gloves for the first hour or so until the sun had climbed high enough to dispel the overnight frost. Lea Valley Regional Park have finally taken some action on the silted-up basin by raising the sluices on the inner dock gates trapping the water from high-tide inside the basin, all three tern rafts now have water beneath them and the "island" really is an island again, the sluices are not completely watertight, but should do enough to retain sufficient water between high tides to make the basin an attractive prospect for Common Terns again after the worst breeding season on record in 2010. Migration is well under way now, at least six Blackcaps were singing throughout the patch and a single Reed Warbler was sub-singing from the ecology park reedbed, my earliest record here; a male Northern Wheatear was on the Pura Foods peninsula along with at least three Little Ringed Plovers, a fourth bird was on the island at the basin, and two Sand Martins were hawking midges, mainly over Bow Creek. Wildfowl included three Shelduck, nine Common Teal and 43 Tufted Duck; other odds and ends noted today were a male Peregrine on the Millennium Dome, two Common Sandpipers on Bow Creek, a silent but typical collybita Chiffchaff in the northern scrub, a male Chaffinch in the ecology park and finally a singing Reed Bunting in the pylon reedbed.

Song Thrushes salvage a quiet day

After a good run of six visits adding nine new birds to my yearlist I finally drew a blank this afternoon, arriving at around 17:30 my first priority was to check the wooded areas for new migrants; a rather nagging south-westerly was blowing and, apart from the odd burst of song from one or other of the residents, passerine activity was confined to a single Sand Martin over the basin and a pair of Song Thrushes which came out to feed around half an hour before dusk. One or two pairs of this superlative songster breed on the patch but they are very rarely seen well, a usual encounter consisting of a subdued "sip" call as the bird vanishes into cover, so it was good to see them so well for a change. The tide was ebbing and I flushed two Common Sandpipers from the foreshore at Bow Creek; a pair of Shelduck were also on the creek with another pair apparently prospecting nest sites on the Pura Foods peninsula. Tufted Duck numbers were around 25% up on yesterday with 40 counted, all on the basin, other wildfowl included a Mute Swan, two Canada Geese, 36 Mallard and 13 Common Teal; finally around 80 mainly immature large gulls were loafing on the Millennium Dome mudflats.

Northern Wheatear new for the year

As the weather gets warmer and the days longer, both the basin and the ecology park become a hotbed of activity for the increasing human population of the Lower Lea. There is nothing in the way of amenity parkland in the area so the nature reserves are utilised and binocular toting birders going about their legitimate business are often regarded with suspicion or sometimes hostility. Inevitably the birds are marginalised by all this activity and are often to be found on the less accessible areas of the patch, notably the Pura Foods peninsula, a mothballed housing development on the next meander downstream from the ecology park. Today was no exception with the star bird being a cracking male Northern Wheatear; this species is just about annual in the spring and the peninsula is proving to be the most reliable spot to find it. It was high tide when I arrived so I checked the wader roost which was deserted but I did find four Common Sandpipers roosting on the west side of the peninsula, the only waders of the day; three Stock Doves were also foraging on the peninsula and that was about it for the day, with just a single Sand Martin the only other passerine migrant noted, and surprisingly, not a single warbler seen or heard. A comprehensive wildfowl count was undertaken (but hardly worth the effort given the level of disturbance) and returned the following low totals: two Mute Swan, Two Canada Goose, two Shelduck, 38 Mallard, ten Common Teal and 29 Tufted Duck.