A Wander on the Wildside: London Young Birders Meetup at RSPB Rainham, 13th August 2018

Over the last 6 months or so, I've gotten to know numerous young birders via Twitter, including quite a few in and around London. The eldest young birder, Samuel L, and I had decided to organise a meet-up for the summer, so we could get to know each other better and see some good wildlife. Considering birding in London is normally in parks and small nature reserves, the most obvious place to do this was RSPB Rainham Marshes, which was not only his patch but the best place for us to meet.

Common Seal

So on the 13th August, I was dropped off by my dad, alongside my mum and sister, at around 9am. We were followed into the car park by Kabir, who I'd met a few weeks earlier, and his family. As the reserve wasn't actually open yet, we decided to start by having a quick look on the river front where a few waders were on the far side, as well as a few juv YLGs. By 09:30am, the visitor centre opened and we spoke to Howard, who I met last time I went to Rainham., as well as the other 4 young birders - Alex Liddle, Calum Mckellar, Ben and Sam.

Bearded Tit pic Copyright Calum Mckellar

We started our walk along the Thames, as Sam had seen Sandwich Tern and Med Gull there earlier in the morning. Despite our best efforts, I didn't quite get a lifer but there was still plenty to be seen - Whitethroat and Reed Warbler were in the scrub, while a Whimbrel, c.65 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Dunlin, Redshank and a few Common Seal were along the river.

We then walked onto the reserve, first to the Shooting Butts Hide where it was quite quiet - only a few Teal, Kestrel and Reed Bunting were of any note. We began to walk on towards Aveley Pools - the wetland on the Northern part of the reserve - but were stopped numerous times by Marsh Frogs and Bearded Tits. Despite showing very close they were always brief views, and Calum took the only good picture of them.

Aveley Pools was the place where we spent most of our time, for most of the early afternoon. To start there were nearly 15 Little Egret, Peregrine, 4 Yellow Wagtail and a Snipe. Though looking more carefully through the scope we found LRP, 3 Ruff, Greenshank, 2 Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Water Rail and a green-tagged Marsh Harrier. A moment of personal frustration was when Sam spotted another Garganey - which flew into Aveley Flash - that I missed. It then refused to show again so I consider that another Garganey dip.

By just after 2 we started to move on, towards the woodland, with a Wigeon and a few Little Grebe also seen. The Barn Owl showed distantly in its nest box, and another Greenshank went down after calling. We then stopped at a small bridge as Sam found a few Willow Emerald damselfly (lifers for most of us) as well as a tired Ruddy Darter. A few Linnet were lifers for Kabir, as were the Marsh Frogs.

We spent a short time in the woodland, trying to find any grounded migrants, since rain seemed imminent. The best we managed was Whitethroats, Reed Warblers, Chiffchaff, a Willow Warbler and a possible Lesser Whitethroat. A few more Emeralds were seen along the woodland area. Just as it started to drizzle, I spotted a warbler pop up on a bush and call briefly, with a "piu" like call. With rain bringing down migrants I was thinking Wood Warbler. However, we didn't find it and with rain getting heavier we retreated back to the visitor centre.

Once the rain stopped by around 15:30, I went back to the river with Kabir and Calum, in an attempt to get closer pictures of a pair of Whimbrel and to try and find anything interesting on the river. We hung around for around 40 minutes, and Kabir left at around 4pm. Just before we went back up I found a striking gull on the river, a real beast of a bird with what looked like a plain head and dark eyes. It was really miles away, so was impossible to tell exactly what without an expert on scene. Sam thought it was possibly one, as did Howard when I showed him my record shots later on. Nonetheless, young birder Dante - one of the biggest gull experts in the country probably - said LBBG so that bird will have to wait as a lifer...

It was an enjoyable day, and meant I got to meet more like-minded people that live quite close to me. Hopefully we will have a few more in the near future, with people that couldn't make it like Isaiah Row and Dante. Also many thanks to Howard for the new tripod, a brilliant replacement for my old one, which fell apart before I reached the visitor centre!