28th August - East Tilbury, Essex

East Tilbury was where I really cut my teeth as a birder, I reignited a love in Essex at Wat Tyler Country Park in the early eighties but it was here where things became very serious.  The habitat was saltmarsh, silt lagoons, gravel pits, open rough ground and farmland, but the major attraction was the River Thames estuary.  Here the Thames flows from London and turns north in a ninety degree turn and then night degrees again to the east making a really wide expanse of estuary water and mud depending on the tide.  A sea wall of concrete runs alongside the marsh and lagoons making access and visibility good 

I first came to East Tilbury in 1986 and was amazed to see Avocet in the mid channel.  I was hooked and started to visit more frequently.  I was still a very uncertain birder in those times, but sometimes you come across a bird that is so distinctive it is difficult to get the identification wrong.  For me that bird was a Black-winged Stilt in late May that flew from the marsh and over my head into the tip pools.  I was not the only one to see it and this started a friendship with a couple of birders that taught me an awful lot, Paul Wood and Andy Kane.  We became regulars and would meet up almost every week.

To the north in my time there was the working Mucking tip that has now been returned to nature, but as a working pit there were gravel pits with deep and shallow water.  Access was not formally allowed but we had an arrangement that allowed us in, much to the disgust at times of other Essex birders. This gave us access to a lot of birds that would normally be found by just walking the sea wall

To access these gems it was necessary to park at Coalhouse Fort, an English Heritage site that was built in the 1860's to protect from seaborne attack during war with the French. I pulled into the car park today and nothing looked any different.

From the car park we would walk through the lawns past the moat up onto the sea wall.  Arriving just before dawn we would normally be in time to see the Barn Owl fly into the fort to roost, and on coming back sometimes we would find the resident Little Owl in one of the windows.

If the Little Owls were not on view they could be heard calling.

Crossing the lawn and coming on to the sea wall we would come to the lagoons.  Back then in th elate eighties they were lagoon with pools of water.  Here their were sightings of Broad-billed Sandpiper, Temminck's Stint, Kentish Sand Plover and Greater Sand Plover, plus of course the commoner waders and Wheatear and Whinchat.  Today the lagoons are almost completely over grown, but I was pleased to see they are still considered of scientific interest.  The wooden fence though wasn't there just open access across all the area

The sea wall winds around the lagoons and it is difficult to see the river from here, what you would see though would be any movement of Brent Geese up and down river and would always be a teaser of what you might be in store for.  The sea wall itself would also be a good place to see Wheatear and Stonechat, the Wheatear dropping down and flying on in front of you as you approached and then doubling back behind the wall.

As you approached the end of the lagoons there was a ramp that lifts you above the wall and provides the first real view of the river, but still distant and with a large expanse of saltmarsh in front of you that never really provided cover for any birds other than Meadow Pipits

The walk continues along the concrete sea wall.  In places there are ramps, I suppose to allow animals to get over the wall, these and steps were often used to get to the fields on the other side.  You can see the Coryton oil refinery on the other side of the river and the cranes that were used to off load the rubbish that would come down the river from London on barges

Turning the bend you would become closer to the river and at low tide a lot of mud is exposed and would be covered in the winter with Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Turnstone, Grey Plover, Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwit, Curlew and of course the Avocet.  On passage there would be Greenshank, Whimbrel, Curlew Sandpiper in high numbers in the autumn and one or two Little Stint. The river was continually dredged to keep the channel open for the large ships and on the pipelines that would deliver the silt to the lagoons every winter there would be a single Purple Sandpiper

We were heading for what we called the "first bend".  I was never sure if this referred to the river or the sea wall, if the wall, technically it was the second bend, but never mind, the reason for being here was it was the closest point to the river and afforded excellent views down the river towards Canvey and Southend.  The sea wall also provided some shelter from the elements, we sat on the ground with telescope set on the wall and marsh.

During the winter the river will have Great-crested Grebes, the earlier mentioned Brent Geese, Wigeon, Teal, Pintail and Mallard, but we would be hoping for Goosander and Red-breasted Merganser, on a couple of occasions there was a red head Smew, Scaup, Common Scoter and if lucky a flash of white in the wing to identify Velvet Scoter.  Divers were rare but all three were seen with the Red-throated being the commonest.

Here you can see the vast open expanse of water that was in front of us

But if the weather conditions were right you could get some wonderful birding.  The ideal conditions were a south easterly wind with a high tide and some restricted visibility (if you could see Southend that wasn't good).  The best time of year was September to October.

The prized birds were the skuas All four were seen but with the Long-tailed being the rarest with only one report during my time birding here.  Arctic Skuas and Great Skuas were be the more regular birds and would head up river going past the bend at Coalhouse Fort, but the skua you hoped for was the Pomarine Skua, preferably with full spoons.  On a day in September in 1991, 17 were counted coming up the river reaching Mucking Bay in front of us and hanging around as if lost and wondering where to go, many of that group had full spoons and it was a wonderful sight to watch.  No camera in those days, but the memory stays with me.

Gannet too would come up river and gain height in front of us and turn back as if realising there mistake.  In winter Kittiwakes could be seen following the freight ships up and down river. After the hurricane in October 1987 there were the skuas but also up to four Sabine's Gulls, still my only sighting of this beautiful gull.

Auks would also put in an appearance, Guillemot and Razorbill flying up river or hanging about on the water in Mucking Bay.  The other two were seen as well, Puffin in winter plumage flying up river and then back again and when the wind went to the north east in the autumn it was almost guaranteed there would be Little Auk.  The one bird I dipped out on was Leach's Petrel, seen during storms, but unfortunately never by me.

This is Mucking Bay as seen from the "first bend" and beyond that the old tip which has now been reclaimed and turned into a major nature reserve.

The tip was great for Green Sandpiper and Spotted Redshank and one summer we had the privilege of a singing Bluethroat in a small reed bed.  It was present for a week and due to access we had to suppress its presence.  Beyond the tip was the Golden Gates lakes.  In the woods around the water we had Wood Warbler Pied Flycatcher and Lesser spotted Woodpecker in spring and Woodcock in the winter.  On the lake on summer a smart pair of Black-necked Grebes.  Other small copses in the area would also deliver sing Nightingales in spring

If the sea watching was delivering we could always look to explore the fields behind the sea wall.

In winter there could be Hen Harrier, Peregrine, Merlin and Short-eared Owl.  We would walk through the field and in doing so would flush Jack Snipe and the any owls that didn't show.  Birds of prey that today are considered fairly regular like Marsh Harrier, Osprey and Buzzard were major sightings.  Just before I left Essex in 1993 easterly winds delivered Osprey, three Buzzards and Honey Buzzard overhead.  For Marsh Harrier sightings we had to poach them from Cliffe Pools on the other side of the river as they became visible above their sea wall.

This field one New Year's Day produced a Dartford Warbler as we walked the field in search of Short-eared Owl and Jack Snipe, why it was there at that time of year no one could work out.

I stood and looked across the river and fields remembering all this, the birding was good but not always as productive as I describe here.  Many days were quiet and today seemed to be one of those such days.  I had limited time so having reached the "first bend" it was time to make my way back.  Out on the water there were Common and Sandwich Terns and Shelduck were on the water and flying up river. A large ship headed down river, this was smaller than some of the freighters that left Tilbury and I am sure in recent years there have been huge cruise ships, but not at the moment

The ships make a considerable bow wave which reminded me that we would also see cetaceans such as Harbour Porpoise, Bottlenose Dolphins and Pilot Whales, I would have loved to have seen the Humpback and Beluga that came up river over the last few years.

Walking back you get a better view of the salt marsh and I could make out group of Grey Plover, some showing summer plumage.

A moving dot in the water caught my eye

Unusually it came out of the water onto the mud and revealed itself as a Grey Seal 

Walking on a little further I was able to get a little closer to see it moving around with that rhythmic pulsing movement all seals have on land

When I reached the lagoons I was able to get some elevation but the sun came out and ruined the light.

Dark clouds were now surrounding me and there was alight drizzle.  I could see the clouds were going to miss me, looking towards Basildon the skies were very dark and the misty rain produced a sort of rainbow against the dark clouds.

When the sun returned the butterflies came back.  I had seen both Large and Small Whites but I picked up one that was a little darker.  Getting the binoculars on it I could see it was a Clouded Yellow.  I used one of the ramps to climb the wall but on reaching the other side I could locate it to photograph.  During my time birding East Tilbury I had no real interest in butterflies so this was an East Tilbury tick for me!

No sooner had I got one butterfly tick I got another with a Small Heath!

Walking the sea wall around the lagoons the field on the other side was left for cows to graze, I don't recall this farming practice when I was here.

There were Wood Pigeon and Starlings feeding amongst the cattle and with it being late summer I wondered if maybe there might be something else and almost as soon as I thought this I heard the call of a Yellow Wagtail.  Scanning though the cattle I found two following the cows as they fed.

Not the best of pictures but does describe the scene

As I neared the fort once again I was reminded of the hedgerows around the fields.  This was an excellent spot for bot Tree Sparrow and Corn Bunting.  There was no sign of either but the area does look like it still would be good for both autumn and spring migrants.

I then decided to walk around the fort moat, this was not something we used to do that often, normally I would be late to get home and would rush to the car and head off.  But today I had some time.  The moat is not deep but would usually have a few Little Grebe and sure enough there were two pairs present.

Swallows flew low over the water probably having nested in the fort itself.  Around by the wall at the end of the moat a single Great crested Grebe was on the water.

Then a real East Tilbury tick!  In the late eighties early nineties a Little Egret was a major rarity, today they get over looked, even their cousins the Cattle and Great Egrets are becoming expected birds on a year list.  This egret in the far corner of the moat though was the first one I have seen at East Tilbury!  I don't have an exact total for the list here but I know it was something over 200

As I got closer the egret flew off leaving me with the Great crested Grebe again.

I left the moat and headed to the car park, but before leaving I walked to the edge of the car park and looked across the field.  The south facing hedgerow was excellent for warblers and migrants in both spring and autumn while the field would hold Golden Plover in winter.  Beyond the field was more rough ground and the path would elevate to allow you to look over it.  Here, in one winter, I had six Short-eared Owls hunting one afternoon

In mid summer on overcast days the fields would be covered with low flying Swifts and hirundines a magical experience

And that was my trip don memory lane, great memories of some wonderful birding, I suspect the area is not so intensively watched today, at the time we had an answer phone to record daily sightings, today I am sure that would have been a blog.

Leaving the car park I was reminded of the drive home, there were still the big trucks moving around the various sights and the narrow roads through East Tilbury and Linford villages.  The pubs look like they have survived but the old BATA business seems to have gone.  Annoyingly the level crossing was still a delay point.  

A great morning and I am pleased I have had the chance to record the memories here on my blog.