More Meds

23rd July - I was hopeful that the forecasted thunderstorms might down an interesting wader or tern.  However, apart from some loud thunder claps and about 5 minutes worth of rain, nothing much materialised.  5 Common Sands were already present and a nice flock of 7 Little Egrets flew in - possibly my biggest flock here.  There were several juveniles in the flock and they stayed in front of the island for about 40 minutes before 6 of them flew off.  This splinter group returned shortly later, but an over flying helicopter sent them off again and I watched them fly off to the east.  The lone bird remained for a while but then also flew off east.

3 of the 7

Also present was a family party of Black Swans - a pair plus a half grown cygnet.  These first appeared here last Friday and they seem to like it.  I'm not sure where they bred - presumably along the Thames somewhere nearby and I did see what was probably the same adult pair here on a day back in April.

Late morning after the thunderstorm had gone through, a juvenile Med Gull appeared on the spit.  This is the third sighting following last Tuesday and last Thursday evening - possibly the same bird, but could just as easily be 3 different ones.

Otherwise, the usual pair of Oycs and a fly through Hobby were the only birds of note.

I made a second visit early afternoon just before school pick and found 2 juvenile Med Gulls amongst the throng of several hundred BHG, so that confirms that at least 2 birds have been involved in recent sightings.  Bird 2 below looks to have a bigger bill.

Bird 1

Bird 1

Bird 2

The regular adult YL Gull was loafing on the spit as to was a probable juvenile, but I didn't have time to scrutinise it properly before I had to leave.

CR BHG were well represented:

white EEM3 again - probably Dutch, but still no response from the ringer
black R34A again - regular French bird
black A2N0 - another returning bird seen last year.  This one was ringed in Germany and was first seen again this year on Sunday
white 25J3 - I think this is local bird and await details
white 507 - not seen today, but seen last Friday, was yet another returning bird seen last year.  This one was ringed in Copenhagen, Denmark

Amazing site fidelity when you consider where they have come from!