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.
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