i was thinking I must visit pcolbec. I have never seen a lesser spotted woodpecker.
I had two sightings of cuckoos today, whilst walking between Benfleet and Leigh along the sea wall path. The first had been cuckooing and was therefore a male*. The second was skulking around the reedbeds for all the world looking as though it was hunting for reed warbler nests to parasitise.
Oh, and I made the pleasing discovery that the freshwater marshes in that area contain marsh frogs! I didn't see any but I heard them. I think it's the first time I have heard them in Essex, although I have a feeling that they are present on Rainham Marshes.
*I believe this to be the case, having read stuff, but I am always acutely aware that the wildlife I observe has very rarely read the same books that I have, and therefore might have other ideas.