Godwits galore at Gallions

Black-tailed Godwit at Gallions Reach, 8/4/12

Black-tailed Godwits at Galltons Reach, 8/4/12

High tide today was late afternoon so I decided to spend the morning at Gallions Reach watching waders on a rising tide before heading back to the lower Lea for high water. I met up with Gary who had aready counted 320 Black-tailed Godwits, but the tide was pushing them closer and concentrating them in one area and a recount revealed an astonishing 435 birds, almost all of them in complete summer plumage; we watched them until the tide pushed them off and they flew downstream to roost, an amazing sight. Others waders included at least 85 Redshank, seven Oystercatcher and a Curlew. Just as we were about to leave the gull colony on the pilings started to make an awful racket; the reason was a typically marked Common Buzzard heading south across the river, my first at this site but Gary's third in eight days. Other notables included at least five Common Terns,  two Swallows heading east, a Wheatear and two or three singing Chiffchaffs. Back at the lower Lea there were seven Common Sandpipers together in the roost; two Kestrels were displaying over the Pura Foods peninsula, a Blackcap and Grey Wagtail were singing and the first Mallard brood of the year was at the basin, but it contained only two ducklings.It was a seven metre tide today and all the wildfowl were concentrated on the basin at high water and included two Greylag Geese, 24 Common Teal and 37 Tufted Duck.