No Bitterns,Bearded Tits or Bikes

Todays birding Bonanza comes from South Essex again,in fact it wasn't so much a Bonanza but a damp squid bird wise with nothing remotely out the ordinary but the weather was set fair and the surroundings were good so i still had a cracking day out.
I started the day with a 5am run to Heathrow,this got me home again by 7am and that was it for me for the day workwise as its pretty quiet with the airports this time of the year,i planned on going back to bed for a couple of hours but the missus having a severe case of the smelly bumitus,due to her mothers dodgy cooking and the nipper jumping all over my head and constantly kicking me in the nuts while climbing on me,led me to  sod off over the Valley,Ingrebourne Valley for the first time in a few months.
The Valley as its known to the local birders is technically my local patch as its 20 feet from my house on the other side of the road,it comprises of Ingrebourne Hill,Hornchurch Country park,Berwick ponds,basically anywhere along the River from here to Rainham Tescos,i used to bird it a couple of times a week but one thing after another put me off,namely getting my car keyed,a little chav oik trying to nick my telescope,dog walkers who can't control their dogs,little herberts on motorbikes whizzing around without being punished plus i become frustrated at hearing good things were to happen with the site but nothing seems to get done,although today i did see some positive signs in work parties to plant new trees etc,so maybe it will be managed better but its a large site so it would take a while.
The annoying thing for me is its a lovely site,gets some cracking birds at times,although today wasn't one of them but over the years i have seen less birders on the site so maybe some of those issues aren't just me,although it is worse in the summer when its busier.
Today i didn't have such issues,i did get attacked by a Jack Russel,ok he licked me but i don't really want to be licked by dogs in all honesty,and i certainly don't want their mud all over me.
I started off at the Rainham end,overlooking Berwick Ponds,i was looking for Bittern but had no luck,the Valley is a good place for Bittern in winter with birds usually being quite regular,another bird i hoped to see was Bearded Tit,not that theres been any reported or they are usually there but i always hope they will be.The habitat is perfect for them but for whatever reason they just don't seem to like the site,perhaps the chavs put them off!!!
I walked from the Ponds through the Woodland encountering a few Goldfinch,woodpeckers,a couple of Fieldfare,small tit flocks and finches,i had 5 Siskin overhead and a Bullfinch of which i have a crap flight picture below.I made my way to tit lake where there were 4 Teal on the lake,nothing else but a couple of snipe on the island in the middle,in years gone past there would be tens if not hundreds of wildfowl but its still a bit early in the winter so maybe the numbers will pick up.I had a Great Spotted Woodpecker as well,another poor flight shot below.I made my way back to the car via Berwick Glades,didn't see anything other than a Skylark and a Kestrel.
I then went to Essex WT Thurrock Thameside for the second day running,on arriving it had a different feel from yesterday,the Sun was out,the wind was light(ish) and there were birds all over the car park,namely Stonechats,Meadow Pipits and skylarks.I thought this would be a good start but i spent 4 hours in the hide and didn't see too much at all,plenty of Gulls,a couple of Kestrels,a decent amount of Curlews,a few Dunlin,around 80 Black tailed Godwits but not much else apart from a pair of very obliging Stonechats.I got some photos of these but the time was around 3pm so i dissapeared around the back of the visitor centre to look for Short Eared Owl or Barn Owl but nothing was doing,i left just after 4pm as i had to take my van into Renault as the washers weren't working,2 hours and £145 later i was on my way home.Got work again tomorrow morning,afternoon and night but hope to do a spot of birding somewhere,traffic permitting!!!