Local birding

Rainham Marshes and the Dagenham Chase provided some good local birding again on Monday with the Chase giving up 2 Firecrest, 2 Chiffchaff, male Blackcap, 2 Kingfisher and a Grey Wagtail, all showed well but I failed to nail the Firecrest with the lens-shame but cracking birds through the bins.

Rainham Marshes was all about the Short-eared Owls with good views down to about 20m but it was dark and again images were poor at ISO 3200 1/50 so hit the delete button on the back of the camera.

 3 Marsh Harriers were out over Wennington marsh as was this Adult Female below.

Grey Wagtail

Amongst the leaf litter and broken branches that had fallen into the river Rom that flows through the Dagenham Chase NR, this Female Grey Wagtail showed well.

Short-eared Owls again at Rainham Marshes

Spent the last hour of light on Saturday and the same on Sunday afternoon watching the Shorties at Rainham, which is turning into a bit of a obsession with me at the moment. I can't get enough of them........

Local birding comes good

Started at the Dagenham Chase on Sunday morning in the light rain and very overcast conditions not ideal for photography but the male Firecrest was moving along the river Rom  with two Goldcrest so the camera had to come out of its bag. They're stunning little birds.

 A bit grainy due to ISO 1600 but cracking views  along with Kingfisher, Grey wagtail and a wintering Chiffchaff in with the tit flock.

Then it was off to Rainham Marshes and I wasn't even out of the car when I added a Short-eared Owl to the day list as one stood on a traffic cone out on Wennington Marsh. With the car window down and some record shots of the SEO on the memory card, out of nowhere a calling Dartford Warbler was on top of a bush just left of the Owl. A very welcome site year tick!

Male Dartford Warbler

 A male Marsh Harrier and three Short-eared Owls kept interested the whole afternoon.

Another good day out locally........

Short-eared Owls Rainham Marshes RSPB

Over the last few weeks the views of the shorties on the reserve have been really good probably due to the fact that around seven birds are hunting around the site. On posts, on the deck and I've even seen them box each other when another bird comes in to its hunting territory, its been really good. But trying to photograph them in the dark or rain or they are just to far for the camera lens, has been frustrating, and the fact most of the images have been put into the recycle bin doesn't help. However, you get one bird that makes it all worthwhile.

Handheld ISO 1000 F 6.3 1/200

Great Northern Diver at Fairlop Waters

I enjoyed going to Fairlop Waters on Saturday morning to see the Great Northern Diver which has hung around for seven days now. With a clear blue sky and the sun was behind me when the Diver popped up in front at about 30m away, it was perfect but the fact that my camera was firmly zipped in my bag was not the start I wanted. A few quick handheld shots were made as the diver moved pass in between the large amount of rowing boats which was also enjoying the early Saturday mornings weather, I had to wait another hour before I could grab a few more shots of the best views of a GND that I seen in the London area, as most of my sightings of GND have been at distance on the Reservoirs in the Lee Valley. If time was on my side I would of liked to have spent more time with the Diver but I'd promised our daughter that I go and watch her play Hockey again ( and glad I did they won 2-0 and she scored one ). It does dive for long periods of time and does get moved about a bit, so much so that I'm watching it one minute and the next its over the other side of the lake.  Other than that, a few Siskin over and a chat with Tony Brown from the Wanstead crew, that was it really. If it hangs around I may go again but more than happy with the views.

A great bird to see again and still being able to bird locally makes it much better!

Chatting Rainham Marshes RSPB

With a rare day off work today (Friday) and a bit of a lay in I headed to Rainham Marsh RSPB with all good intention of doing the whole circuit but with a few pairs of Stonechat sitting along the side of the boardwalk I did get a bit side tracked and choose to photograph these Chats instead.

The rain stopped play and on the way back to the car I had a quick chat with Dominic M who had two Caspian Gulls 1x1w and a 3rd w near the tip.

 Female Stonechat

 Male Stonechat