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 River Thames at Purfleet © Fraser Simpson

 

Birding from the living room window (The Observatory)
In July 2015 I moved from London to Purfleet-on-Thames, Essex. The Thames estuary is a major flyway for many species and the tidal mud exposed along the river, particularly at the mouth of Dartford Creek (River Darent) attracts waders, gull and wildfowl. In addition, the seasonal north-south movements of migrants between Essex and Kent and the daily movents between the river and Rainham Marshes at high tide provide an ever-changing scene, rewarding regular observation. So far, I have recorded 166 species.

Highlights
Black Tern, Avocet, Common Scoter, Barn Owl, Little Tern, Hobby, Short-eared Owl, Ring Ouzel, Caspian Gull, Fulmar, Iceland Gull, Kittiwake, Curlew Sandpiper, White-fronted Goose, Arctic Skua, Great Skua, Merlin, Waxwing, Guillemot, Osprey, Lapland Bunting, Great White Egret, Woodlark, Red Kite, Hen Harrier, Great Northern Diver, Cattle Egret, Roseate Tern, Goshawk, White Stork, Spoonbill, Gannet, Sabine's Gull, Dartford Warbler, Slavonian Grebe.

The List Purfleet-on-Thames

 Lockdown 2020 Trip Report                                                        * Sound recorded (nocmig) - not heard/seen 'live'

No

Species

Date

Notes

166

Slavonian Grebe

03/12/22

Drifting downstream on River Thames

165

Goldeneye

17/10/20

Female flying up and down river

164

Dartford Warbler

15/10/20

Female in the garden!

163

Sabine's Gull

27/09/20

Juvenile flew upriver 14:09

162

Gannet

27/09/20

Adult and juvenile on the river 12:26

161

Spoonbill

28/06/20

Feeding in Thames late evening, 2 on 29-30 Jun.

160

Tawny Owl*

25/05/20

Female calling distantly at 03:09. M on 20/03/21.

159

Pochard

30/04/20

Two males and a female flew downriver

158

White Stork

13/03/20

Pair circling. Roosted overnight Crayford Marshes

157

Goshawk

18/12/19

Male at Darent mouth

156

Moorhen

20/11/19

West bank of creek mouth, flushed by dog.

155

Firecrest

16/11/19

In garden hedgerow

154

European Shag

30/09/19

Juvenile flew downriver 08:29

153

Willow Warbler

19/08/19

Two migrants in hedgerow

152

Roseate Tern

05/05/19

Ad flew upriver at 14:23

151

Cattle Egret

28/10/18

Flew SE from Rainham RSPB at 16:07

150

Great Northern Diver

28/10/18

Drifting upriver 11:07

149

Hen Harrier

28/10/18

Ringtail over Dartford Marshes 08:05

148

Great Skua

23/09/18

Flew west upriver

147

Bearded Reedling

12/08/18

Flew east along river bank

146

Red Kite

21/04/18

Two over Dartford Marshes

145

Jack Snipe

18/01/18

Flushed by a hunting Marsh Harrier

144

Water Pipit

02/12/17

Feeding on foreshore edge

143

Hawfinch

28/10/17

Two flew south

142

Woodlark

14/10/17

Migrant calling in flight

141

Siskin

08/10/17

Migrant calling in flight

140

Great White Egret

05/10/17

Dropped into River Darent, out of view

139

Lapland Bunting

23/09/17

Migrant calling in flight

138

Osprey

02/09/17

Circling River Darent mouth; perched on 03/09/17

137

Guillemot

31/08/17

Flew downriver 07:20; another on 22/10/19

136

Turtle Dove

04/05/17

Flew east along Kent river wall 08:16

135

Little Stint

04/05/17

On mud till 07:56

134

Coot

22/01/17

Single on river, frozen out of marshes

133

Waxwing

22/01/17

3 flew west, calling

132

Ruff

21/01/17

2 flew upriver 10:18

131

Corn Bunting

14/01/17

8 in scrub on Dartford Marshes river wall

130

Red-breasted Merganser

30/11/16

Pair flew upriver

129

Merlin

05/11/16

Adult male flew upriver

128

Tufted Duck

25/10/16

Male drifting upriver with 19 Wigeon

127

Arctic Skua

08/10/16

juv upriver 07:15

126

White-fronted Goose

06/10/16

24 downriver

125

Tree Pipit

02/09/16

One flew east calling at 08:06

124

Lesser Whitethroat

28/08/16

Female in the garden

123

Yellow Wagtail

27/08/16

One flew east calling at 09:23

122

Curlew Sandpiper

23/08/16

Dartford Creek mouth

121

Great Spotted Woodpecker

10/08/16

Heard from gardens

120

Green Woodpecker

09/08/16

Juvenile on bank of Dartford Creek mouth

119

Cuckoo

08/05/16

Flying west over Dartford Marshes

118

Whitethroat

08/05/16

Two pairs 'scoped on the Kent river wall scrub

117

Little Gull

14/04/16

1st-s on the river

116

Kittiwake

28/02/16

Winter-plumage adult downriver 15:12

115

Iceland Gull

27/02/16

1st-w on mud at River Darent mouth

114

Fulmar

13/02/16

 

113

Reed Bunting

12/02/16

 

112

Caspian Gull

06/02/16

 

111

Dark-bellied Brent Goose

06/02/16

 

110

Song Thrush

03/01/16

 

109

Goosander

26/12/15

 

108

Lesser Redpoll

26/11/15

 

107

Grey Plover

24/11/15

 

106

Pintail

22/11/15

 

105

Mistle Thrush

22/11/15

 

104

Brambling

12/11/15

 

103

Shoveler

04/11/15

 

102

Little Grebe

03/11/15

 

101

Knot

03/11/15

 

100

Rock Pipit

31/10/15

 

99

Spotted Redshank

25/10/15

 

98

Cetti's Warbler

25/10/15

 

97

Raven

24/10/15

 

96

Pink-footed Goose

24/10/15

 

95

Fieldfare

20/10/15

 

94

Chaffinch

19/10/15

 

93

Goldcrest

19/10/15

 

92

Ring Ouzel

19/10/15

 

91

Short-eared Owl

17/10/15

 

90

Stonechat

13/10/15

 

89

Blackcap

08/10/15

 

88

Redwing

08/10/15

 

87

Great Tit

02/10/15

 

86

Greenfinch

27/09/15

 

85

Golden Plover

26/09/15

 

84

Meadow Pipit

25/09/15

 

83

Jay

25/09/15

 

82

Whinchat

23/09/15

 

81

Chiffchaff

22/09/15

 

80

Snipe

06/09/15

 

79

Blue Tit

03/09/15

 

78

Hobby

02/09/15

 

77

Grey Wagtail

02/09/15

 

76

Pied Wagtail

01/09/15

 

75

Wheatear

01/09/15

 

74

Barn Owl

26/08/15

 

73

Pheasant

26/08/15

 

72

Long-tailed Tit

24/08/15

 

71

Black Tern

24/08/15

 

70

Wigeon

24/08/15

 

69

Mute Swan

24/08/15

 

68

Jackdaw

24/08/15

 

67

Robin

24/08/15

 

66

Rook

19/08/15

 

65

Bar-tailed Godwit

16/08/15

 

64

Little Tern

15/08/15

 

63

Kingfisher

11/08/15

 

62

Sandwich Tern

09/08/15

 

61

Wren

09/08/15

 

60

Teal

08/08/15

 

59

House Martin

07/08/15

 

58

Avocet

03/08/15

 

57

Great Crested Grebe

01/08/15

 

56

Peregrine

01/08/15

 

55

Turnstone

26/07/15

 

54

Ringed Plover

26/07/15

 

53

Green Sandpiper

26/07/15

 

52

Arctic Tern

26/07/15

 

51

Canada Goose

21/07/15

 

50

Dunnock

20/07/15

 

49

Curlew

20/07/15

 

48

Gadwall

20/07/15

 

47

Sanderling

19/07/15

 

46

Sand Martin

19/07/15

 

45

Reed Warbler

19/07/15

 

44

Sparrowhawk

18/07/15

 

43

Little Egret

18/07/15

 

42

Goldfinch

17/07/15

 

41

Common Scoter

13/07/15

 

40

Greylag Goose

12/07/15

 

39

Mediterranean Gull

12/07/15

 

38

Swallow

11/07/15

 

37

Egyptian Goose

10/07/15

 

36

Whimbrel

10/07/15

 

35

Greenshank

09/07/15

 

34

Ring-necked Parakeet

09/07/15

 

33

Skylark

09/07/15

 

32

Common Gull

09/07/15

 

31

Black-tailed Godwit

08/07/15

 

30

Stock Dove

07/07/15

 

29

Buzzard

07/07/15

 

28

Wood Pigeon

07/07/15

 

27

Feral Pigeon

07/07/15

 

26

Blackbird

07/07/15

 

25

Kestrel

07/07/15

 

24

Linnet

06/07/15

 

23

Magpie

06/07/15

 

22

Little Ringed Plover

05/07/15

 

21

Marsh Harrier

05/07/15

 

20

Collared Dove

05/07/15

 

19

Swift

05/07/15

 

18

Starling

05/07/15

 

17

Mallard

05/07/15

 

16

House Sparrow

05/07/15

 

15

Common Sandpiper

05/07/15

 

14

Great Black-backed Gull

05/07/15

 

13

Cormorant

05/07/15

 

12

Dunlin

05/07/15

 

11

Carrion Crow

03/07/15

 

10

Grey Heron

03/07/15

 

 9

Common Tern

03/07/15

 

 8

Oystercatcher

03/07/15

 

 7

Redshank

02/07/15

 

 6

Lapwing

02/07/15

 

 5

Shelduck

02/07/15

 

 4

Yellow-legged Gull

02/07/15

 

 3

Lesser Black-backed Gull

02/07/15

 

 2

Herring Gull

02/07/15

 

 1

Black-headed Gull

02/07/15

 

 

Peak Counts (to Jan 2023)
Black-headed Gull (4000), Dunlin (1851), Lapwing (1200), Herring Gull (904), Starling (590), Fieldfare (430), Swift (380), Black-tailed Godwit (350), Wood Pigeon (300), Common Gull (300), Wigeon (265), Chaffinch (249), Golden Plover (244), Redshank (217), Lesser Black-backed Gull (177), Common Tern (146), Goldfinch (125), Redwing (120), Feral Pigeon (120), Great Black-backed Gull (116), Teal (94), Carrion Crow (93), Canada Goose (91), Yellow-legged Gull (88), Greylag Goose (80), Stock Dove (70), Swallow (62), Mallard (61), Linnet (60), Avocet (57), Arctic Tern (56), Shelduck (48), Meadow Pipit (48), House Martin (47), Magpie (43), Skylark (43), Collared Dove (42), Ringed Plover (36), Ring-necked Parakeet (36), Bar-tailed Godwit (35), Sand Martin (32), Curlew (29), Gadwall (27), House Sparrow (22), Kittiwake (21), Cormorant (19), Shoveler (17), Grey Plover (17), Long-tailed Tit (17), Sandwich Tern (16), Common Scoter (15), Pied Wagtail (15), Snipe (14), Jackdaw (14), Rook (14), Pintail (12), Whimbrel (12), Common Sandpiper (12), Little Gull (11), Oystercatcher (10), Brent Goose (10), Mediterranean Gull (10).

 

River Thames, Rainham Marshes - February 2017  © Fraser Simpson

 

 River Thames, Rainham Marshes - February 2017  © Fraser Simpson

 

 

   Design, Content & Construction © Fraser Simpson  ·  www.fssbirding.org.uk

 


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