A rainy day at Rainham

The unsettled weather continues to play havoc with the spring migration, it has rained heavily and for prolonged periods every day for the last seven days with today being one of the wettest. I decided to do a quick tour of the lower Lea and then head off to Rainham for the day where birding from the hides would afford some protection from the weather. The patch was, not surprisingly, disappointing; ten Shelduck were bickering at the basin where both the Portuguese saddled Tufted Duck were present in a diminished flock of 25 birds; during the week the female had disappeared and it transpires she spent a few days at Hilfield Park Reservoir some 15 miles to the north of the basin.Three Common Sandpipers were in the roost, two Common Terns flew east on the Thames and three Stock Doves were on the Pura Foods peninsula. Passerine activity was predictably low key with just two Reed Warblers and three Blackcaps singing; that was it and so to Rainham. it was immediately apparent that the three Common Swift recorded in the log book this morning had been joined by a few dozen more by the time I arrived, at least 50 were hawking low over the Marshland Discovery Zone and Aveley Pools along with good numbers of all three hirundines with at least 40 each of Swallow and House Martin and maybe 70 Sand Martin present, a wonderful sight after a spring of virtually bird free skies. A distant wader in Aveley Bay turned into a Whimbrel when it flew off and landed on the river wall in front of me, two Ringed Plovers were also in Aveley Bay, a Greenshank was calling but remained invisible and one or two Oystercatchers were moving on the river; I also had scope views of a Grey Plover and two Sanderling on the Kent shore, the latter was a London tick for me and an overdue one at that, I'm now on 270 for the capital. Plenty of Reed and Sedge Warbler were singing along with the odd Cetti's Warbler and  singles of Common Whitethroat and Chiffchaff and at least two Yellow Wagtails were feeding along the north shore of Aveley Pools. Plenty of wildfowl were still around including several Shoveler, Gadwall and Common Teal and at least three Wigeon. All in all a rather good day in some pretty unpromising weather conditions.