Swanscombe Part 9 - August

It's amazing what a bit of rain can do, and following some long overdue showers the Peninsula is looking much better in places. Although some areas are still very dry and water levels still low, there is a lot more happening and most of the site was looking fairly replenished at the start of the month before the next wave of heat hit. I managed 68 species including 4 new birds so pretty successful!

A huge spot of luck on the Thames Foreshore on a low tide turned up a tonne of waders! A small group of Sanderling were passing through, along with a single Ringed Plover, followed by Redshank, Common + Green Sand, Lapwing and Oystercatcher. Interestingly the Sanderling were halfway between moulting from summer to winter plumage, and took me a while to ID! But the size, dark legs, straight bill and the supercilium starting to come through eventually gave them away. That's two more cheeky wader species onto the site list!

On the same day I had another bonus encounter, whilst scanning some gulls I heard a loud snoring sound coming from the water, and looked up to see a Seal chilling out, poking his nose up to see what was going on! Both Common and Grey Seals are fairly regular in the Thames if you know where to look, but it's still rare for me to see one at Swanscombe. I think this one is a Grey Seal, but my Pinniped ID leaves a lot to be desired 😂😂 

Safe to say I don't tend to really check tide times before coming down, as it's only round the corner I tend to get a nice varied spread of conditions as it is, but on another low tide afternoon I picked up my first ever Curlew on site! Although generally declining, they're fairly widespread and common in Kent so this is a bit of a strange quirk, but a record I'm happy to break! The local Green Sandpiper can also regularly be seen again on the central reservoir 

A dawn visit was quite fruitful, with plenty of bats circling overhead, a group of Red Legged Partridge and several Ravens croaking overhead early doors. There was heavy rustling in so much of the undergrowth, indicating some mammal activity but i failed to physically spot any on this occasion. It was way too dim for any decent photos but all the same a nice way to experience the site in a different atmosphere.

Bird of the month was this Spotted Flycatcher flitting about in Botany, apparently a very rare find for the site even in passage, so I was absolutely thrilled to find it! This was my second lifer of the year found on my own patch, which is always a special experience 😁The seasonal migrants have definitely started, with Whinchat also being seen on the top path.

The first stages of Autumn are well and truly in place, the Hirundines seen early in the month have now all but disappeared (1 small flock of House Martins briefly seen feeding on the 30th), and the Winter Thrushes will be pleased to know that lots of berries are starting to bloom in preparation for their arrival!  

Finally had a session back ringing with Terry and the guys at the end of the month, we caught 61 birds in a strong morning before the wind picked up and the nets became too obvious. The catch was mostly juvenile Warblers all fattening up before their first migration back to Africa, this stunning Willow Warbler amongst them (modelled by Alex, those are not my nails 😂😂), with the rest made up of Blackcaps, Reeds, Sedgies, Cettis, Common and Lesser Whitethroats with a few Tits thrown in for good measure. It was interesting to see that many Warblers due to the fact that they're nearly silent now (Cettis aside) and I figured most had already departed!

All in all a solid month!

August Full List

Woodpigeon 

Collared Dove

Stock Dove 

Feral Pigeon 

Jackdaw

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Jay

Raven

House Sparrow

Reed Bunting 

Chaffinch

Goldfinch

Bearded Tit

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Pied Wagtail 

Spotted Flycatcher 

Meadow Pipit 

Whinchat

Robin

Dunnock

Wren

Starling

Blackbird

Blackcap

Cetti's Warbler 

Sedge Warbler 

Reed Warbler

Willow Warbler 

Whitethroat 

Lesser Whitethroat 

Ring Necked Parakeet 

House Martin 

Swallow

Red Legged Partridge 

Pheasant 

Black Headed Gull

Herring Gull

Yellow Legged Gull 

Lesser Black Backed Gull 

Great Black Backed Gull 

Common Gull

Cormorant 

Ringed Plover

Lapwing

Sanderling

Common Sandpiper 

Green Sandpiper 

Common Redshank

Oystercatcher 

Curlew

Mallard

Gadwall

Greylag Goose 

Egyptian Goose 

Canada Goose 

Mute Swan 

Coot

Moorhen

Little Grebe

Grey Heron

Little Egret 

Buzzard

Marsh Harrier 

Sparrowhawk

Kestrel

Peregrine

Total 68

Running Total 109