With good numbers of Shelduck on the marsh and river at the moment and some fine springlike weather it is not too surprising that they have been getting frisky. The males seem to outnumber the females about 5:1 and are often seen in hot pursuit of the ladies whistling and grunting!
They will not settle down for some time yet and have weeks of preliminary courtship to go before she choses a mate and finds an old rabbit burrow in which to nest. As you will see in the photo by Mark Hart below, the females are about a third smaller than the males and I was always led to believe that this allowed them to incubate without intrusions from the more robust amourous males! If this is wrong please tell me!
Hopefully a Stonechats will stay and breed again this year. One or two are in traditional spots already and so hopefully they will be producing some extra pebblechats for us to watch! Always entertaining litte birds and definitely an inconic Rainham Marshes bird in the same way that Short-eared Owl and Water Pipit always were in the early days to visiting birders.
Footage by Clive Watts .... again!
Although they not yet in high breeding plumage, our Reed Buntings have been finding their voice in the last few spring like days. Their quirky little simple song is a familiar sound out on the marsh and as they like to sing predominantly from the reed tops they are actualy rather easy to see. Nice video by Clive Watts.
Not a bad few days with a good mix of species and some lovely weather to bring in the punters! Both Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper were recorded which is unseasonal to say the least. They could be birds that have over-wintered further out of the Thames at East Tilbury. The White-fronted Geese were still present Saturday but not yesterday and they may have moved on with the glorious springlike weather. Buzzard and Marsh Harrier were seen and our immature male has also been seen ranging as far as Belhus Woods CP and Bonnetts's Farm at Upminster. Hopefully he will find a woman soon! The Bearded Tits drew and admiring crowd of 50 people at one stage yesterday and could even be seen from inside the centre and a Chiffchaff was in song as well as the now noisy chorus of Skylarks.
Skylark (Mark Hart)
Starlings are still in good sized flocks but there is lots of displaying now and most of he adults have wonderfully glossy plumage and a bright yellow dagger of a bill.
Starling (Mark Hart)
We still have five Little Egrets on the marsh and as each day goes by they seem to grow another plume! If you look closely you will see that not only do they have two long lovely streamers coming from the rear of the crown but a mass for almost fuzzy, downy looking aigrettes drifting down over the tail and wings. This couple with the now very contrasting black legs and yellow feet and a black dagger of a bill shows them off at their best. Hopefully these birds will breed again nearby like they did last year and we hope to see them bringing their youngsters in here during the late summer.
(Mark Hart)