Diamond Jubilee weekend

The four days of Jubilee celebrations have come to an end and I've hugely enjoyed sharing the occasion with family, neighbours, old friends and new friends! And despite the rather disappointing weather for the time of year, nothing could dampen the spirits of all involved and everybody I spoke with seem to have had a jolly good time - with large amounts of cake, burgers, sausages and alcohol consumed, leaving a lot of people including myself feeling a little jaded and in the need of a good detox.

Jubilee street party in full swing

Taking advantage of the additional time off, I was up early on Saturday morning and heading towards Rainham RSPB reserve and Wennington Mound (affectionately known as Serin Mound to the regular birders) to try and see the Marsh Warbler which had been singing from this location the previous day. Arriving shortly after 6am with already half a dozen birders on site, I didn't have to wait long before I heard the Marsh Warbler break into its incredible mimicking song.

The list of birds which the Marsh Warbler incorporates into its song is truly amazing and one of the few birds I was happy not to see very well, as its song definitely makes up for its rather drab Reed Warbler like appearance. In the 3 hours I stood on the Mound listening, I tried to note the number of other birds songs/calls I could recognise amongst its broad repertoire:

House Sparrow
Swallow
Blackbird - A random alarm call mid song
Nightingale
Skylark
Blue Tit
Starling
Linnet
Yellow Wagtail
Greenfinch
Whitethroat
Sedge Warbler
Blackcap
Great Tit

And in addition I've heard other accounts of the bird giving the calls of Cetti's Warbler, Bee-eater, Little Tern and Quail.

The link below is from the Rainham Marshes RSPB website which has an excellent recording of the Marsh Warbler in full song - have a listen and see how many birds songs/calls you can identify?

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/placestovisit/rainhammarshes/b/rainhammarshes-blog/archive/2012/06/02/who-shall-i-be-today.aspx

If you plan to visit the Rainham RSPB reserve to listen to the Marsh Warbler, please respect the bird by keeping your distance and do not attempt to get any closer than the arranged viewing point. The Marsh Warbler is a very rare breeding bird in the UK with estimates suggesting there are possibly only between 5 - 10 pairs in the UK and any unnecessary disturbance will scupper the slim chance of this bird finding a mate and potentially breeding on the reserve - if Marsh Warbler's were to breed at Rainham this would be a great success story for the RSPB and this east London site.

Other birds of note whilst overlooking the marsh at Wennington Mound were at least 3 Cuckoo's, a reeling Grasshopper Warbler, Hobby and a distant singing Corn Bunting. Thanks also to Dominic Mitchell who got me onto a second summer Yellow-Legged Gull which would have been easily overlooked.