Rainham RSPB 29th april

Wheatear

Sedge 

Whimbrel

Fingringhoe Wick 23rd april

We took a trip to Fingringhoe Wick to see it's yearly arrival of Nightingales and were not disappointed although numbers were down on previous years.   23 were counted but they were still coming in.    Besides the Nightingales we also saw Bullfinches, Marsh Harrier, Cuckoo, Kestrel with Slow Worm,   and a strange golden bird flying around which Russ thought was a Yellow Finch and I believed it to be a Yellow Finch Golden Oriole hybrid.

The Strange Hybrid Bird

A Nightingale

Ditto

Ingrebourne Whitethroat

Grasshopper Warbler and Green Hairstreaks

Thanks to That keen birder Lee Brown for hearing and finding a Grasshopper warbler in the valley this morning,  we got some brilliant views of this strange bird as it reeled it's way to the top of the bushes and brambles.    Later I counted 9 Green Hairstreak Butterflies in the warm sunshine along the usual habitat towards the top paddock.

Garganey 18-04-14

Garganey in the ingrebourne Valley

It's been good these last few weeks,   long may it continue.   Went to the scrape late this afternoon looking for Wood Sandpipers and caught a glimpse of a pair of Garganey way over on the back Scrape,  Beautifull birds!  what next!?

Male Garganey

Common Whitethroat

Lesser Whitethroat

Common Lizard 1st one on the Hill

Green -Veined White

Orange Tip

Another Bloody OSPREY! Thursday 10th April

This is my second Osprey this week,  obviously different,   Russell thinks I've trod in something.   I would have been right underneath it had I not stopped half way up the litttle hill with the seat to talk to the Antiques man to tell him that there was an Osprey here on tuesday,  as I'm talking to him I'm looking over his shoulder thinking that looks like a Buzzard over the scrape,   then it hovered,  I couldn't believe my eyes," Osprey"  I screamed out for the second time this week,  pushed him out the way because this time I had my camera,  "record shots".   The Crow harassed it until the Osprey circled higher and higher and eventually disappeared,  it must have gone north,  brilliant!

OSPREY over the Ingrebourne Valley tuesday 8th april

There we were watching 16 Pochards from the viewing area with more arriving on the back scrape,  so we moved round over the black bridge to get a better view of them birds,  they were taking off then coming back with more arriving,  as I turned and looked up there was this bird about 100 feet up in bright sunshine, 8.15am,  I stared at it for a fraction of a second then screamed out "Osprey Russ, quick get a shot,  I had my camera in my backpack and was struggling to get it out while Russ was trying to take hand held photo's with the tripod swinging about in the air,  with more success than what we thought,  it was moving away steadily and actually turned and looked down at the scrape then continued on it's way North west,  finding out later that it had called in at Rainham which we had guessed and after passed through Wanstead.   Always have your camera ready!  Stunning bird.      Other birds at the Scrape; 3 Swallows,  Little-Ringed Plover,  5 Green Sandpipers,  20 Snipe,  3 pair Lapwing, Gadwall,  Little Grebe,   Kestrel, Teal,  Shoveler,  Cetti's,  Chiffchaff,  Willow Warbler,    Glades;    2 Willow Warblers,  Yellow Hammer,  Buzzard.

Photo's by Russ Sherriff

Looking down at the scrape

Sat 5th April Ingrebourne Valley

Peregrine low across scrape 2.50pm, Little-Ringed Plover, 4 Green Sandpipers, 15 Snipe, 3 pair Lapwings, Gadwall, Teal, Pochard, Mallard, Shoveler, Little Grebe, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest.
        Hopefully if the water goes down a bit  these and others will move to the front scrape.    I have been told sadly that the travellers had already dumped at the end of the gravel (road) where it meets Lowfield wood.

Couple of Plovers

Lots of these building up

Nutter!

Actually lots of these

Friday 4th April

Scrape;  Little-Ringed Plover,  4 Green Sandpipers,  23  Snipe,  assortment of Wildfowl.

4pm to 5.15pm Thursday 3rd april

Back Scrape attracting most things at the moment,  2 Little-Ringed Plover arrived out of the blue while I was looking through my bins at the back scrape from the viewing area,  they ran up and down the edge of the mud just the other side of the river on the back scrape then flew to the middle behind a willow in the water,  so I went round to the iron bridge side to try to locate them again,  as I arrived everything went up and a large rapter appeared flew round the scrapes low then disappeared back up the valley.   There were also 4 Green Sandpipers and 12 Snipe on that scrape.