Another austral escapee

A very brief visit to the patch this morning, en route to a planned day out at Rainham Marsh with Gary. Common Teal were up to 25, numbers should increase on an almost daily basis now until peaking around the new year; a single Tufted Duck flew south at the basin, I can't remember an August when this species has been so scarce here. Other highlights included a Sparrowhawk hunting the northern scrub, a Common Sandpiper at Bow Creek and a Grey Wagtail, scarce here lately, by the lock gates. We also added a new bird to the very short escape list; Black Swan, the second species of Austral wildfowl to have graced the basin this summer, following on from the drake Chestnut Teal. The only other escapes that I am aware of are Hartlaub's Gull and Alexandrine Parakeet, although some of the Pintail records from the late nineties are probably a bit suspect. Rainham delivered superb close-up views of a Hobby hunting dragonflies over Aveley Pools and a flock of 12 Avocets in Aveley Bay; the best was saved for last when Gary picked up a dark-phase Arctic Skua heading up the Thames in a brief rain shower, a new London bird for both of us and a fitting end to what had been a somewhat strange days birding.

Arctic Tern new for the year

Saturday August 13th: The first visit to the patch in almost a month, the weather was overcast but fairly warm; a couple of Robins were singing their winter song, a hesitant wistful affair, the perfect lament for the passing season. A 90 minute river watch produced two Arctic Terns flying west up the Thames, new for the year and not recorded annually so a good omen. Seven Common Teal were on the basin with another at Bow Creek, all so heavily into eclipse that it was impossible to separate drakes from ducks; as I have mentioned in previous posts Mallards have had an excellent breeding season and I made a new site record count today of 173; other wildfowl included a single male Tufted Duck on the basin, four Mute Swan at Bow Creek and four Canada Geese, a pair each at the basin and the creek. Bow Creek also produced the only waders of the day, two Common Sandpipers and an Oystercatcher. The first Common Gull of the autumn was roosting on the Pura Foods peninsula along with at least 108 Black-headed Gulls, all but two or three were adults, juveniles have been very scarce this year indicative of a very poor breeding season, probably as a result of the heavy rains that made this spring such a wash-out. Reed Warblers are still around in small numbers, I counted at least five today along with two each of Blackcap and Chiffchaff; passerines in general were not very evident, but I did make a personal best count of 14 Blue Tits feeding together in a small Horse Chestnut along Bow Creek. Finally there has been a small invasion of Jersey Tiger moths into north London, presumably from their stronghold south of the river in Brockley, I couldn't find any on the patch but I did find a Marbled Beauty and two Emmelina monodactyla, a common plume moth whose natural habitat appears to be advertising hoardings; the only butterflies on the wing today were around 20 Small Whites, a Gatekeeper and two Meadow Browns.

Sunday August 14th: A shorter visit today, I found a dead Jersey Tiger moth in Poplar High Street, about 800 metres from the patch; it was completely dessicated so had probably been dead for a few days, it might even have been blown there or fallen out of the radiator grille of a car, but it livened me up no end and had me searching every nook and cranny on the short walk to the basin, to no avail but I still live in hope. On the butterfly front I saw my first Red Admiral for the patch this year, a few other people have remarked on the relative non-appearance of this summer staple. Singles of Sparrowhawk and Kestrel were logged along with three Common Sandpipers and an Oystercatcher; three Sand Martins were hawking insects over the copse at the basin but apart from that it was a quiet day.