Ring-necked Duck with Tufties, Brent Reservoir, 15th Mar 2017 (Andrew Haynes)
London’s Bird of the Month for March has to be the drake Ring-necked Duck at Brent Reservoir from 11th to 20th Mar, spending much of its time making amorous advances to female Tufties. Unless I have overlooked a record or two, it was the London recording area’s first RND since a long-staying female toured several Surrey sites in 2001–03.
Ducks also provided some of the other more interesting March sightings. When the Ring-neck arrived, Brent’s drake Scaup was still present, hanging around into April. Meanwhile, Walthamstow’s Scaup was last seen on the 11th, and the two drakes at Staines lingered until the 18th. Two drakes at Walton Reservoirs on the 12th may have been the Staines birds on a day trip.
Other winter ducks (Smew, Goosander, Goldeneye) were still around in good numbers, and Red-breasted Merganser were seen at Rainham Marshes on three March dates. Common Scoter were spotted late in the month at Rainham and Queen Mother Reservoir.
The first Garganey of the year, a pair, were at the London Wetland Centre on the 12th. Less welcome visitors to the same site were two male Ruddy Duck on 25th/28th — possibly the two birds seen at Staines Reservoir last month. (Thanks to the DEFRA cull, no Ruddies were reported in the London area between spring 2015 and last November, when one appeared briefly at Cheshunt.)
Wild goose sightings in March included 68 Barnacle Goose over Beddington Farmlands on the 4th, 25 White-fronted Goose over Mill Hill on the 9th and a single White-front back in the Lea Valley on the 11th and 12th.
Other water-loving birds[]
Staines Reservoir’s long-staying Slavonian Grebe was joined by a second bird on the 18th and one of them remained until the 24th. On the following three days a summer-plumaged Red-throated Diver was at Queen Mary Reservoir.
Reports of Great White Egret came from Gallions Reach and West Ham on 12th Mar, and another passed over Amwell NR on the 29th. A Spoonbill was at Rainham Marshes on the 22nd, and three days later three Glossy Ibis flew over the same site. A Common Crane flew over Mitcham on the 28th.
As for larids, no fewer than 10 species of gull were at Beddington Farmlands on 4th March, when the five usual suspects were supplemented by a Mediterranean Gull, a Yellow-legged Gull, four Caspian Gull, an Iceland Gull and two Glaucous Gull. All these species were seen there again on various dates and also reported elsewhere in the London area. Another uncommon larid was Little Gull, which showed up at several venues on the weekend of 11th–12th March, with further London sightings only in the last week of the month. Brief visits by Kittiwake were reported from three sites late in the month. Sandwich Tern began passing through London from the 23rd.
Game birds[]
This wiki frequently mentions both Red-legged Partridge and Jamie Partridge but rarely Grey Partridge. Indeed, there was not a single report of this declining species during 2016. So it was encouraging that a Grey Partridge was found on 3rd March near Upminster, which is not only within the LNHR recording area but even within the M25 circuit. (In my January round-up I neglected to mention three Grey P records from extra-M25 Essex sites.) Red-legged Partridge, meanwhile, have been invading the north London suburbs, with garden sightings in Finchley and Archway, a bird on a raft at Brent Reservoir and reports also from Wood Green and Walthamstow.
Birds of prey[]
The year’s first Osprey passed over Dagenham on the afternoon of the 29th, and an hour or so later another bird (or the same?) stopped off briefly at Amwell NR before continuing north. Other notable birds of prey were a Merlin at Upminster on the 9th and Goshawk over Putney and Hyde Park on the 13th and 30th, respectively.
Up to three Short-eared Owl were at Rainham Marshes until late in the month, with one or two reports from other wetland sites. The most intriguing SEO sighting came from suburban Palmers Green, where a migrating bird stopped off briefly to hunt by the New River on the 21st.
Passerines and near-passerines[]
Spring passage migrants and summer visitors began arriving generally on the sorts of date one might expect, but one surprising record was a Cuckoo heard (by an experienced birder) at Riddlesdown on the 18th — a full week earlier than the previous London record, although by no means the first in the UK this year. Another early bird was a Swift (presumed Common) heading north over Alexandra Park on the afternoon of the 27th — not the earliest ever record for London but, according to BirdGuides, a first for the whole of the UK this year.
Flocks of up to 50 or so Waxwing were still being reported early in the month, and a few birds were still around at the month end. A Yellow-browed Warbler was found in Notting Hill on the 12th and the Siberian Chiffchaff found at Walthamstow Reservoirs on 25th Feb was heard singing on 23rd Mar.
A World Sparrow Day request from Michael Mac for information on House Sparrow colonies in London produced a dozen encouraging responses from north of the Thames but worryingly elicited only a single report from transpontine London.
(Contributed by Andrew Haynes, who accepts full responsibility for any errors. Historical information is mainly based on earlier reports on this wiki and on ‘The Birds of London' by Andrew Self.)
Friday 31st March 2017[]
Alexandra Park: 5 singing Blackcap (Bob Watts)
Bankside SE1: Singing Willow Warbler in the Birch trees at Tate Modern (Simon Fogg)
Bloomsbury: Russell Square - 1 Firecrest seen during UCL Staff Walk (incl. 2 photos taken) (per Evan Landy at UCLGreen Twitter)
Bloomsbury: University College London - 2 Grey Wagtail (Jon Agar)
Brent Reservoir: drake Scaup still, Snipe, Little Ringed Plover, 7 Sand Martins feeding awhile, 6 Blackcap, 9 Chiffchaff, 3 Cetti's Warbler (Brent Birders); Shelduck, 2 Green Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover all this evening (Oliver Simms)
Jubilee Country Park, Bromley: 1 Blackcap, 7 Chiffchaff, 1 Jay, 1 Sparrowhawk (female), 2 Nuthatch, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Green Woodpecker, 2 Coal Tit; also 2 Brimstone, 1 Comma, 1 Peacock - 12.20-13.15 (Jamie Fletcher)
Kentish Town: 1 Swallow N (Frank Nugent).
Leatherhead, Common Meadow: 1 Little Egret flew down river, 2 Common Buzzard thermalling, 1 Kestrel, 1 Mute Swan, 2 Grey Wagtail, 7 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, 2 Grey Heron sw, 1 Cormorant (Neil Batten)
London Wetland Centre: Swallow flying over, 6 Redwing, 3 Redshank, 4 Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, 6 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 15 Sand Martin, 3 Great Black-backed Gull (2 ad summer & 1 3rd-winter) and Little Egret with a yellow/pale colour ring with a letter K writing on it Hi - this bird has been around for a few weeks. It has 2 colour rings (the other being red with the letter B) and was ringed in North Cotes, Lincolnshire as a nestling on 10 June 2013. [Martin Honey] (Shailesh Patel); 4 Shelduck main lake & resr lagoon, Red Kite S, Little Ringed Plover main lake, 5 Redshank marsh & main lake, 2 Swallow W, 57 Redwing SW (WWT website)
Richmond Park: 1 Common Buzzard hanging around at 11am, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 drake Pochard, 4 Mandarin - fairly quick visit to Pen Ponds only (Keith Bates); Red Kite, Red-legged Partridge - flew to golf course, f Wheatear (Friday Group)
Rye Meads RSPB: Marsh Harrier through (Graham White via Twitter)
St James's Park: 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Blackcap, 1 Chiffchaff all singing, Kestrel, Peregrine (Frank Nugent)
Staines Moor: 2 Little Egret, 2 Red Kite, Buzzard, 2 Redshank, Little Owl, Kingfisher, 2 Cetti's Warbler, Water Pipit (Allan Goddard via Twitter); 2 Buzzard, 4 Lapwing (Robert Martin via Twitter)
Staines Reservoir: 12 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Redshank, 3 Little Gull 1ad & two 1w (Dominic Pia via Twitter); Wheatear (Paul Watts via Twitter)
Stanwell Moor: 2 Gadwall, Kingfisher, 3 Cetti's Warbler, 10+ Blackcap, 15+ Chiffchaff (Robert Martin via Twitter)
Walthamstow Marshes: 15 Swallow, 5 Meadow Pipit, 1 f Sparrowhawk, 2 Stock Dove m f courtship on large Poplar; also cyclist reported Marsh Harrier over rail track which I couldn't relocate (Marcin Kempa)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: 3 Little Ringed Plover & 1 Common Sandpiper on No 5; 4 Goldeneye still on East Warwick, 25 Sand Martin (David Bradshaw, Paul Whiteman, Mike Messenger).
Willows Farm: c150 Golden Plover landed nr Shenleybury, 60 Linnet (per Herts BC); Lesser Redpoll over (Rupert Evershed via Herts BC)
Woodberry Wetlands: Red Kite (9.45am per Gary Southam), 2 Snipe, Willow Warbler, 4 Egyptian Geese, 2 Shelduck (Chris Farthing)
Thursday 30th March 2017[]
Alexandra Park: Black Redstart female type filter bed nearest railway 1010 and still 1753 until at least 1815, also 2 Wheatear m & f in and around same bed but mobile occasionally chasing black red, also White Wagtail m seen briefly south end Wood Green Res 1740, but being chased off by Grey Wagtail (Gareth Richards & Bob Watts)
Blacklands, High Elms: 4 Blackcap, 10 Chiffchaff, 1 Common Buzzard, 5 Goldcrest, 4 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Green Woodpecker, 3 Jay, 1 Mistle Thrush, 4 Nuthatch, 5 Song Thrush, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Stock Dove; also 2 Brimstone, 2 Peacock, 1 Small Tortoiseshell - 09.45-11.10 (Jamie Fletcher)
Brent Reservoir: Scaup 09:30 & 13:30 Main Res, 14 Great Crested Grebe, Common Buzzard, Red Kite over N 13:20, 3 Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, male Peregrine, Oystercatcher 12:25 from main hide, 2 Little Ringed Plover 12:45 from main hide, 3 Common Snipe, 3 Green Sandpiper, 4 Cetti's Warbler, 20+ singing Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap (Brent Birders)
Bushy Park: Chiffchaff (calling), 4 Egyptian Goose, Great Spotted Woodpecker, 3 Green Woodpecker, Song Thrush (Ian R Watson)
Creekmouth: 2 Common Sandpipers, Curlew, Green Sandpiper, Swallow, Blackcap, 5 Cetti's Warblers, 5 Grey Wagtails, 3 Chiffchaff (Dave Morrison)
Cuckoo Wood, High Elms: 1 Blackcap, 11 Chiffchaff, 6 Goldcrest, 4 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Mistle Thrush, 2 Nuthatch, 2 Redwing, 2 Song Thrush, 4 Treecreeper; also 4 Brimstone, 1 Green Veined White - 11.10-12.45 (Jamie Fletcher)
Downe Bank & Hangrove: 1 Blackcap, 5 Chiffchaff, 1 Common Buzzard, 3 Goldcrest, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 3 Jay, 1 Nuthatch, 2 Treecreeper; also 11 Brimstone, 2 Comma, 2 Peacock, 2 Green Veined White - 13.15-14.15 (Jamie Fletcher)
East India Dock NR: 2 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Oystercatcher, House Sparrow (Paul Hyland)
Esher Common: 3 Buzzard soaring together seen from A3 (Neil Anderson)
Finchley Central: Red Kite low over Ballards Lane by Victoria Park 14.25 (Ben Epstein)
Hampstead Heath: 30+ Waxwings flycatching from trees at back of Highgate No.1, also 2 singing Willow Warblers one as above & another at Parliament Hill, 6 singing Chiffchaffs and 4 singing Blackcaps (Pete Mantle)
Oxleas Wood Common Buzzard Kestrel Sparrowhawk Tree Creeper[pair] Nuthatch[pair Coaltit Stockdove Chiffchaff Blackcap Jackdaw Goldfinch chaffinch[John Bushell Ron Turner]
Pinner (HA5): 4 Common Buzzard south-east at 12:28, 2 Red Kite north at 14:24, 3 Sparrowhawk, 2 Pied Wagtail, Jackdaw & 4 Goldfinch; also Holly Blue & Comma butterflies (Jon Ridge)
Pinner Park Farm: 2 Common Buzzard, adult male Stonechat, singing Willow Warbler, 2 singing Chiffchaff, singing Blackcap, 7 Fieldfare, Mistle Thrush, 2 Song Thrush, Meadow Pipit north-west, 7 Stock Dove, Green Woodpecker, Nuthatch & 60 Jackdaw (Jon Ridge)
Rammey Marsh Lake: Red Kite over am (Daniel and Sandra Wade)
Richmond Park: 4 Wheatear m 3f, Linnet over, 6 Collared Dove (J.Wilczur); m Wheatear - the Bog a 5th bird, Red Kite, 3 House Sparrow - Kingston Gate (R.Herbert)
St James's Park: Peregrine, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and Chiffchaff (Frank Nugent).
Southall: Red Kite over 12:45 headed E (Phil Belman) TQ1280
Stanborough Lakes: Oystercatcher, 7+ Blackcap (Andrew Steele via Herts BC)
Staines Moor: 7+ Water Pipit south end (BirdGuides)
Staines Reservoir; 4 Little Ringed Plover, Redshank, Little Gull 1w, Water Pipit (Dominic Pia via Twitter)
Stocker's Lake: Lesser Spotted Woodpecker fr causeway 0830 (Gordon Cox via Twitter); f Goldeneye, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Cetti's Warbler (Geoff Lapworth via Herts BC)
Tomswood Hill Allotments Barkingside: Red-legged Partridge (Keith Meakin)
Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park: Orange Tip (Bob Watts)
Tyttenhanger GPs: 6 Little Ringed Plover, 30-40 Sand Martin, 5+ Swallow evg (Simon West via Twitter); 8 Little Ringed Plover incl 2 on fishing lake, 2 Green Sandpiper (Rupert Evershed via Twitter)
Upminster: Yellow Wagtail (BirdGuides)
Wandsworth Common: Central Pond - Willow Warbler, 2 Chiffchaff (S Woolfenden)
Warlingham: m Ring Ouzel in private gdn briefly (per Surrey BC)
Woodberry Wetlands: 2 Peregrine, Sparrowhawk, 2 Snipe, Water Rail, 2 Teal, 2 Shelduck, 2 Shoveler, 6 Great Crested Grebe 4m2f, Buzzard at 2pm (Chris Farthing)
Wednesday 29th March 2017[]
Amwell NR: Great White Egret high S over Gt Hardmead L toward Rye Meads RSPB 0805 (Chris Beach via Herts BC); Osprey nr viewpt briefly then N 1800 (Ron Cousins via Twitter)
Bow Creek: 2 Common Sandpiper, 14 Teal, Cetti's Warbler heard in Ecology Park 11.16 & 11.18 (Alex Massey)
Brent Reservoir: 2 Little Ringed Plovers, Red-legged Partridge on raft, also Red Kite over, Peregrine (Steve Leeke via AS & RB); Cetti's Warbler behind dam (Andrew Self); Green Sandpiper, 3 Snipe, 3+ Chiffchaff, 3 Cetti's Warbler, Little Ringed Plover pair till 14.50 (Steve Leeke, Andrew Verrall)
Greenwich Park: Red Kite west from Vanburgh Dips and over southern end of the park 18:10 (Gus Wilson)
Gunpowder Park: Willow Warbler singing 07:30 in hedgerow to east of River Lea relief channel (Martin Shepherd)
Hackney Marshes: singing Blackcap just outside filter beds at 1745 (Alastair Dent)
Hammersmith: Caspian Gull 2cy on R Thames to 13:30 red-ringed 'G0UT'(!) - NTGG ring - also seen at London Wetland Centre on 27 March (Josh Jones)
Hampstead Heath: fem Black Redstart still at 08:10 by the rolled-up cricket screens to the east of the pitch (Tim Blackburn & others); f Black Redstart still in same place at 13:00, 2 Pied Wagtail (Deiniol Owen); f Black Redstart still in same place at 17:30 (Allan Stewart)
Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park: Dunlin on Serpentine edge by old boat houses 09.00 (Paul Hyland)
King George V Res: 6 Sand Martin (Tony Clancy)
London Wetland Centre: 10 Sand Martin, 1 Little Egret, 1 Redwing, 5 Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap, Green Sandpiper, 4 Redshank, 2 Snipe, 4 Shelduck (WWT website); Glaucous Gull 2cy - usual recent bird present this afternoon [main lake & grazing marsh] (anon); 2 Yellow-legged Gull - both 3cy also a possible hybrid 5cy, 180 Herring Gull (J.Wilczur); 4 Common Snipe, 1 Jack Snipe, 1 Peregrine (Martin Honey); Glauc present until around 1630, c20 Sand Martin, 1 Swallow (Matt Palmer); Caspian Gull 2cy fr peacock_tower (BirdGuides)
Pinner (HA5): Lesser Redpoll north-west at 15:50, 2 Goldfinch, Pied Wagtail & 4 Herring Gull (Jon Ridge); f Sparrowhawk attempting to subdue Stock Dove on pavement in Lloyd Court 18:30. Disturbed by pedestrians and crows. Dove escaped (Richard Francis).
Priest Hill, Surrey: m Ring Ouzel am but no sign pm (Steve Gale via Twitter)
Rainham RSPB: Ring Ouzel, 3 Wheatear, 2 singing Corn Bunting, 2 Water Pipit h, Rock Pipit, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 80+ Redshank, 10+ Curlew, 8 Snipe, Jack Snipe, 2 Peregrine Falcon, 2 Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk, Swallow, 15+ Cetti's Warbler (RSPB/Nick Croft); Jack Snipe & Water Pipit fr Butts Hide, f Wheatear Wennington (Max Hellicar via Twitter)
Richmond Park: Red Kite (James Wiltshire via Twitter)
River Cray, St Mary Cray: 2 Little Egret, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Mistle Thrush, 2 Song Thrush, 1 Chiffchaff, 6 Mallard, 10 Moorhen - 14.30-15.45 (Jamie Fletcher)
South Norwood Lake: Willow Warbler yr-1st singing (John Watson per John Burkett via Twitter)
Staines Moor: 4 Swallow (Robert Martin via Twitter)
Staines Reservoir: Black-necked Grebe still, another unID'd small grebe sp, 6 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Redshank, Little Gull 1w still (Dominic Pia via Twitter)
Trent Park: 2 Red Kite SW at 12:35 hrs, male Kestrel, 13 Chiffchaff, 4 Nuthatch 3m 1f, 2 Treecreeper - birch stump where they were nest building partially pulled down by rope (Robert Callf)
Tyttenhanger GPs: 3 Little Ringed Plover, 6 Sand Martin, Swallow (Steve Blake via Herts BC)
Waltham Abbey: Farthingale Road - Red Kite 16.30hrs (Nigel May)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: 2 Shelduck on the bank of Warwick Reservoir West seen from train (are they here all the time - just thought I'd mention it in case not) [up to 50 on reservoirs at moment] (Andrew McCafferty) That seems like an extraordinary count for the Lee Valley? - R Callf; 30 birds were recorded here on 22nd April 2009, so this is just about a plausible record (JR); On Sunday there were 30 birds resting together on one island on the drained No 5 so it is not plausible. just factual (DB); I was referring to the record of 50! (JR) I asked Pete Lambert. His count for Sunday was exactly 50, Well would you believe it! - R Callf; 1 Grey Plover on No. 4, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Little Ringed Plover heard flying over, 1 Meadow Pipit - No. 5, 4 Goldeneye (1 M & 3 F) on West Warwick & Pr. 2 Kestrel mating in tree by Pylon. 7 - 8am (Davey Leach, David Bradshaw & David Callahan); m Garganey West Warwick am, Red Kite, singing Willow Warbler (Paul Whiteman, Lol Bodnini, Jamie Partridge); Grey Plover now gone 1140, Swallow W Warwick (Lol Cumming via Twitter); Garganey still West Warwick south end till 1535 at least (TeRNSorg twitter)
Whetstone N20: Myddleton Park by all saints church pair Red Kites circling (Brian Dawton)
Woodberry Wetlands: Swallow N at 08:20, Snipe, 3 Teal, 2 Shoveler, Blackcap, 4+ Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler (Chris Farthing)
Tuesday 28th March 2017[]
Brent Reservoir: 6 Common Snipe, Lapwing, 2 Green Sandpiper, 5 Blackcap, 4 Cetti's Warbler, 20 Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, 3 Meadow Pipit, Grey Wagtail (Andrew Self, Simon Worsfold); 2 male Wheatear on fields both flew north c12.15 and c12.30, 3 Sand Martin north from Main Hide 12.10, drake Scaup back near bridge (Steve Leeke, Andrew Verrall)
Finsbury Park, N4: two Chiffchaff singing (Harringay Birder)
Fir & Pond Woods near Potters Bar: 2 Sparrowhawk pair displaying, 1 Common Buzzard, 8 singing Chiffchaff, singing Goldcrest, 2 Long-tailed Tit pair lining nest with feathers, singing Coal Tit, 3 Nuthatch incl pr, 2 Treecreeper pair nest building (Robert Callf)
Gunpowder Park: 2 Skylark and a male Smew in relief channel and several Small Tortoiseshells (Brian Dawton)
Hampstead Heath: fem Black Redstart feeding from hedge at the cricket pitch 1315, earlier a MarshHarrier circling over Parliament Hill at 1030 drifted off E, also 6 Meadow Pipits N 1230 (Pete Mantle); Black Redstart still present 14:35-14:50 mostly on N side of cricket pitch and perching on trailers etc (Francis Tusa); Black Redstart still present 18:00-18:25 but less showy - generally in hedge and trees to left of pitch by school, also 5 Pied Wagtails (several observers)
Heathrow: Common Sandpiper, 3 Cetti's Warbler, Little Egret, Peregrine (Adam Cheeseman)
Hogsmill STW Nature Reserve: 4 Shelduck (2 E), pair Shoveler, m Mandarin Duck E (probably 1st record for Hogsmill SW), 3 Little Egret S, Green Sandpiper, 26 Stock Dove (17 over), Willow Warbler, 4 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, 14 Greenfinch (11 NW), f Reed Bunting (Andrew Skotnicki)
Hornchurch: 20 Waxwing Abbs Cross Ln opp Harvester pub RM12 4XS at 1715 (Shaun Harvey via Twitter) TQ532866
Leatherhead Station: Singing Chiffchaff still (Neil Batten)
London Wetland Centre: 5 Redshank, 1 Glaucous Gull 2cy (14:00), 1 Mediterranean Gull, 2 Ruddy Duck, 4 Shelduck, 2 Snipe, 7 Sand Martin, 2 Blackcap, 5 Chiffchaff (WWT Website); 8 Redshank, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 1m Wheatear, 12 Sand Martin, 4 Common Snipe, 1 Yellow-bellied Slider (terrapin), Firecrest, Tufted X Pochard hybrid, 1 Red Kite also seen (Martin Honey); 11 Sand Martin, 1 Glaucous Gull and 2 Brimstone Butterfly (Shailesh Patel)
Mitcham: Common Crane seen flying over my garden coming in from the east.Heading towards beddington s/f. (Roy Weller).
Motspur Park: Joseph Hood Wood - Firecrest (Bob Smith)
Mudchute: Chiffchaff, Ring-necked Parakeet, 4 Monk Parakeet; also Comma, Red Admiral, Peacock, 3+ Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Small White (Richard Harrison).
New Addington: Tree Sparrow on dying tree with ivy, 2 Common Buzzard, Kestrel, displaying Sparrowhawk, 3 residential streets with a few House Sparrows (Michael Mac)
Petts Wood & Hawkwood Estate - National Trust: 14 Chiffchaff, 10 Goldcrest, 9 Jay, 1 Song Thrush, 6 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 5 Green Woodpecker, 5 Stock Dove, 2 Nuthatch, 2 Treecreeper, 5 Coal Tit, 2 Sparrowhawk; plus 5 Comma, 4 Brimstone, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Peacock Butterfly, 1 Weasel - 13.00-14.45 (Jamie Fletcher) Can you give me a grid reference for the weasel sighting please? Clive Herbert, Mammal Recorder
Potters Bar (near New Cottage Farm): 2 Bullfinch pair (Robert Callf)
Primrose Hill: 2 Red Kite drifting S 1215, joined briefly by Buzzard, Redwing, 50 Meadow Pipit N/NW 07:15-08:35 incl flock of 16 on deck - unusual here (Twitter)
Queen Mary Res: 2 Brent Goose, 2 Oystercatcher, 4 Red Kite, 2 Mandarin, 4 Shelduck 1400 (Allan Goddard via Twitter)
Queen Mother Reservoir: Brent Goose, Common Scoter, Little Gull am - permit only ('DJB' per M Walford via Berks BN)
Rainham RSPB: 2 Avocet, pr Common Scoter, Wheatear, 6 Sand Martin, pr Bearded Tit, Red Kite (per ELBF Facebook)
Richmond Park: m Wheatear, 3 Redwing (R.Herbert); 3m Shoveler, m Gadwall, Teal - heard, 7 Pochard 3m 4f, Red Kite (J.Wilczur)
St James's Park: Common Buzzard drifting W from 14:25, 2 Peregrine pr and 2 Sparrowhawk (Frank Nugent); Sand Martin 0810 (Nick Senior); Chiffchaff singing east end of park (James Hudson)
Sewardstone Marsh: male Ring Ouzel 08:30 (Harry Lacey); also 4+ Chiffchaffs, Cetti's Warbler, Blackcap (Brian Dawton)
South Hornchurch: 18 Waxwing New Rd (Dave Dawson per ELBF Facebook)
Southwark Park: 2 Chiffchaff, 8 Tufted Duck, 2 Egyptian Goose, 2 Little Grebe, 1 Cockatiel over at 13:00 (John & Janet Cadera)
Staines Reservoir: Black-necked Grebe, 8 Little Gull, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Redshank (Jim Sweetland); 1 Avocet (reported), 1 Sandwich Tern, 1 Common Tern, 1 Water Pipit, 1 Red Kite (Peter Alfrey) pics
Walthamstow Reservoirs: no.5 - Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Little Ringed Plover (Twitter); 3 Green Sandpiper, pr of Goldeneye, 7 Sand Martin (Magnus Andersson/Nick Croft); Grey Plover No4, Blackwit still No5 1820 at least (TeRNSorg twitter)
Alexandra Park: Swift presumed Common 1753-55 then lost to view slowly drifting north - distant from traditional raptor watch point adjacent to top of Golf Course (Bob Watts)
Amwell NR: Raven over viewpt evg (Ron Cousins via Twitter)
Brent Reservoir: Little Egret, Great Black-backed Gull, Common Buzzard, Little Owl (Joe Taylor); plus 3 Cetti's Warbler (E Marsh), 8 Chiffchaff (E Marsh) (Roy Beddard, Steve Leeke)
Bushy Park: Chiffchaff (calling), 4 Egyptian Goose (2 mating in Chestnut Ave), 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 3 Green Woodpecker, 2 Mistle Thrush, Nuthatch, 2 Song Thrush (Ian R Watson)
Islington: 7 Waxwing feeding north end of Liverpool Rd N7 8DJ (Alastair Rae) TQ311852
Kentish Town: Arctic Street - Linnet SE at 1730, also first Holly Blue (Pete Mantle)
Kingsbury: Red Kite (Joe Taylor)
Leatherhead Station: 1 singing Chiffchaff, 1 Meadow Pipit sw, 3 Common Buzzard at 17:45 and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull east (Neil Batten)
Little Britain Iver/Cowley: 2 Little Egrets, Nuthatch, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Treecreeper, 2 Egyptian Geese, Goldfinch, 2 Grey Wagtails, 15+ Greylags, 2 Red Kites, Buzzard, 2 Green Woodpeckers, 10+ Grey Herons (Sue Giddens)
London Wetland Centre: 1 Marsh Harrier (male) S, 1 Kingfisher, 6 Sand Martin, 26 Shoveler, 5 Pintail, 4 Redshank (WWT Website); 7 Little Gull (R Dunne); 9 Little Gull - at 14.15 (J.Wilczur); 2 Blackcap m f, 6 Redshank, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Water Pipit, 2 Common Snipe (Martin Honey); Red Kite high N at 11:52, 9 Little Gulls since 11:50 at least (Josh Jones); Firecrest 3.45 - close (R Dunne); Caspian Gull 2cy (reportedly with Polish ring), 2 Water Pipit (one bird in approx full summer plumage & the other with some apricot coming through on breast sides), Yellow-legged Gull presumed 4/5cy (with seemingly retarded bare part colouration) or possibly LBB x HG hybrid, small numbers of Commas, Peacocks and a Brimstone (Matt Palmer); Willow Warbler (Josh Jones blog)
Mayflower Park: Barn Swallow north, Common Buzzard south (Bob Smith)
Richmond Park: 10+ Red Kite - two trios and two couples and a few singles mainly moving E and NE between 11.15 and 13.15, 14 Meadow Pipit - N and NE, 2 Linnet over (J.Wilczur); 2 Red Kite flew off E at 16.00 so presumably 12+ in total (M.Lewis per JW)
Trent Park: 3 Common Buzzard including a pair, 5 male Blackcap, 15 Chiffchaff, 5 Coal Tit, 5 singing male Nuthatch (incomplete total - at least 8 territories here this year), 4 Treecreeper including a pair nest building, 3 Bullfinch including a pair (Robert Callf)
Twickenham: 1st Year Glaucous Gull flew ENE along A 316 at 11.16 (Franko J. Maroevic)
Tyttenhanger GPs: ad Little Gull main pit 1550 (S Murray/Steve Blake via Herts BC); 6 Sand Martin through (Rupert Evershed & Richard Coombes via Herts BC)
Vauxhall Bridge: mini murmuration of 50 Starlings (Michael Mac)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: Black-tailed Godwit [found by Paul Watts], 4 Little Ringed Plover (Walthamstow Birders)
Alexandra Park: Kestrel pair prospecting box adjacent to Wood Green Res, also 3 Grey Heron (Bob Watts); 1 Red-legged Partridge - pitch and putt 16.00 (Sam Cooke via Jonathan Cooke).
Beckenham Place Park: 2 Green Woodpecker, singing Chiffchaff (Tom Moulton)
Beddington Park: Red Kite (Roy Weller)
Bowyers Water: Raven E 1145 (Alan Harris via Herts BC)
Brent Reservoir: drake Scaup, 2 Pintail m f, 2 Little Egret, 6 Snipe, Common Buzzard E at 12.25, Peregrine, 21 singing Chiffchaff, 4 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Blackcap (Brent Birders); Nuthatch (LNHS Group); Black Swan (Shailesh Patel)
Darenth: opposite Co-op - 23 Waxwing this morning, photos Twitter (Donna Zimmer); flew east at 14.10 - did not return within the hour (Andy Meaton)
Epping Forest, Bury Wood: evening - 2 Brambling, 4 Nuthatch, 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Sparrowhawk (Chris Baldwin)
Epping Forest, Copped Hall: Red Kite, 11 Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel, singing Skylark, Swallow, 5+ Nuthatch (Simon Papps)
Greenwich Ecology Park: Little Grebe pair, Kestrel, Redwing, Siberian? Chiffchaff (John Bushell, Conrad Ellam & Richard Green)
London Stadium, Greenway: 4 Little Ringed Plovers (Harry Harrison)
Pinner (Cannon Lane): Common Buzzard north-east at 15:00, Coal Tit & singing Goldcrest (Jon Ridge)
Pinner (HA5): 2 Common Buzzard over at 15:25 & 15:32, 3 Meadow Pipit north (5000 through Portland today via PBO sightings), 3 Goldfinch, 3 Pied Wagtail, Coal Tit, singing Goldcrest, Green Woodpecker, Jackdaw, Lesser Black-backed Gull & 7 Herring Gull ; later: an adult Yellow-legged Gull was picked up on the playing fields from the garden at 17:20 - dog walkers made sure that it soon departed though (Jon Ridge)
Rainham RSPB; Jack Snipe fr visitors centre (Neville Smith via Twitter)
Staines Moor: 2 Little Egret, Red Kite, Buzzard, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 6+ Chiffchaff, Lapwing (Robert Martin via Twitter); Water Pipit still by R Colne (Shaun Ferguson via Twitter)
Stanwell Moor: Peregrine, Red Kite, 10+ Lapwing, 2 Redshank, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 4+ Chiffchaff (Robert Martin via Twitter)
Ten Acre Wood area: 6 Pheasant (1m & 3f together & 2 heard), Little Egret, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, 8 Lapwing, Little Ringed Plover, 6 Stock Dove, 6 Skylark, Meadow Pipit, 13 singing Song Thrush, 5 singing Chiffchaff, Rook, 2 Reed Bunting, 4 Linnet (1st of season), 20 Chaffinch (3 singing 11N 6E) (Neil Anderson/G. Westley)
Tottenham: White Hart Lane - Red Kite NNE over New River Stadium 1505 (Bob Watts)
Totteridge Valley: Red Kite and 4 Common Buzzard together at 12:40, 2 Little Egret, 3-4 Lapwing, 2 Rook, Bullfinch, 6 singing Chiffchaff, Blackcap, 18-20 Teal (Frank Nugent); also 3 Common Buzzard, f Sparrowhawk and Linnet over Woodside Park early afternoon (Ian Ellis)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: Redshank on W Warwick, 3 Goldeneye on E Warwick, 3 Green Sandpiper on overflow, Buzzard (Pete Lambert, David Bradshaw); Little Ringed Plover on Lockwood 13.40 (Phil Aylen on Twitter)
Alexandra Park: Egyptian Goose Wood Green Res, 4 Chiffchaff singing (Gareth Richards, Bob Watts)
Bermondsey: 1 Common Buzzard high heading SW at 13:20 (John Cadera)
Brent Reservoir: Hides have been damaged again.Please be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the police. 3 Greylag Goose, drake Scaup, 2 Pintail m f, Green Sandpiper, 3 Cetti's Warbler, 8 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, singing Goldcrest (Roy Beddard and LWT Volunteers); 2 Great Black-backed Gull (Brent Birders). Muntjac Deer behind small Heron Hide, Eastern Marsh (Bob Husband)
Bromley Common: Peregrine heading East at 1pm (Dave Thrussell)
Brookmill Park: Little Egret, 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Blackcap, 8 House Sparrow (Conrad Ellam)
Brunel University, Uxbridge: 1 Buzzard over 14.30; 1 Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell (Roger Dewey)
Cowley: Celandine Way along the River Pinn - pair of Mandarin Ducks on stream, 1 Buzzard over, Chiffchaffs; also Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshells 10.15am (Alex Randall)
Darenth Lakes: 19 Waxwing still opp co-op in tall trees c1pm (Barry Wright via Twitter)
Eastcote (Boldmere Road): Red Kite north-east at 11:45 (Jon Ridge)
Greenwich: Buzzard being mobbed by 2 Crows going over Maze Hill heading towards Greenwich Park 14:30 (Richard Green)
Hampstead: Roderick Road NW3 - 2+ House Sparrows in a bush, one resident has put up plastic Peregrine to scare them, he told me so! Thanks for all sparrow posts keep them coming (Michael Mac) Have you got an email address MM for us to send our sparrow details to? the_urban_nester'at'hotmail.com (Michael Mac)
Hampstead Heath: 4 Chiffchaff singing, 1 Blackcap singing, 2 Meadow Pipit (one flyover & one on field alongside Ladies' Pond), 1m Wheatear on 'Little Owl' field 07:20-08:00 (Matt Evans)
Hogsmill STW Nature Reserve: 2 Greylag Goose S, 4 Shelduck 2pr displaying, 4 Shoveler 2pr, 23 Tufted Duck, 7 Little Grebe, 7 Cormorant over (6 E), Water Rail, Snipe, Peregrine NW, f Blackcap, 6 Linnet (Andrew Skotnicki) Andrew - have gull movements now ceased? It would be interesting to know if so - thanks - Colin Brooks
Isleworth: Red Kite quite low from my back garden (Elaine McGlynn)
Kensal Green Cemetery and St Mary’s Cemetery: 1 Chiffchaff singing, 8 Stock Dove (4 pairs displaying - up from usual 3 birds), 2 Green Woodpecker, 2 Meadow Pipit (a flock usually overwinter but these are the first of the year), 2 Brimstone butterfly (Charlie Farrell)
KGV Res: Black-necked Grebe, 20+ Goldeneye, 15+ Goosander, 2 Shelduck, Red Kite, Cetti's Warbler (Neville Smith via Twitter)
Leyton, Orient Way: singing Cetti's Warbler - my first here (Stuart Fisher)
London Wetland Centre: 1 Little Ringed Plover, 2m Ruddy Duck, 3 Little Egret, 3+ Redshank, 1 Blackcap, 3 Sand Martin (Louis Freeland-Haynes); Glaucous Gull 2cy early pm on main lake (Birdguides); 5 Snipe, 2 Water Pipit (Mat Hare); 2 Peregrine, 1 Buzzard and 2 Sparrowhawk seen (Martin Honey); Kestrel, 5 singing Cetti's Warbler, 2+ singing Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, Reed Bunting, 5 Shelduck and Black-tailed Godwit early (Angus Innes); 5 Pintail, 4 Redshank, 5 Sand Martin, 5 Chiffchaff (WWT website)
Lower Clapton E5: 30+ House Sparrows in 'my' colony, corner Powerscroft Rd/Median Rd - though suspect real number is 40-50 (up from c10 a few years ago) Conservation advice - sunflower seeds all year, live mealworms breeding season - and keep those old-fashioned privet hedges (Alastair Dent)
Millfields E5: 3 Stock Dove in poplars in the orchard at 1030 - have been 4 recently between here and the filter beds so hopefully 2 breeding pairs (Alastair Dent)
Morden Hall Park: Kingfisher, Grey Heron, Little Grebe, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker (MHP Nature Grp twitter)
North Sheen Rec: 8 Jays with nesting materials 07.15 (Peter Hart)
Pinner (HA5): Red Kite over at 11:50 & Kestrel over at 13:04 (Jon Ridge)
Pinner Park Farm: 3 Common Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, Fieldfare, 2 Mistle Thrush, 4 Stock Dove, Green Woodpecker, 3 Nuthatch & 72 Jackdaw (Jon Ridge)
Primrose Hill: f Mandarin S toward Regent's Canal 0745, Little Egret E 0620, f Peregrine SE toward Temple 0600, Pied Wagtail N 0810, 18 Meadow Pipit N/NW 06:00-08:15 - skywatch 05:45-08:15 (Twitter)
Queen Mary Reservoir: 1 Red-throated Diver summer plumage at SW side all am - flew to E side twice in pm. Sailors and wind surfers causing bird to move, 1 Water Pipit summer plumage on E bank 100 meters S of pier till mid pm, 6 Oystercatchers, 2 Peregrine hunting pigeon flying high N 08.35. Permit access (Franko J Maroevic)
Rainham RSPB: 3 GLOSSY IBIS S over cordite 0720 (Howard Vaughan via ELBF Facebook); 6 Marsh Harrier 2m 4f, 2 Buzzard, 12 Snipe, 5 Little Egret (per ELBF Facebook)
Richmond: Buzzard flew over Thames by Richmond Canoe Club towards Richmond Park at 1230 (Mike Foster)
Richmond Park: pr Shoveler, 20 Mandarin (18 Isabella), Buzzard low, Red Kite low, 4 Kestrel, pr Stonechat, singing Chiffchaff, 2m Brimstone, Peacock, Red Admiral, Comma (Neil Anderson); Buzzard between Isabella and Pen Ponds 1830 (Mike Foster) Mike- same area I saw mine so possibly the same bird [NA]
Sevenoaks WR: 3 Little Ringed Plover, Redshank, Blackcap (Gary Howard via Twitter)
Sidcup Golf Course: 2 Little Egret feeding on the Lake, Red Kite and 2 Common Buzzard drifted over (Frank Nugent); also pair Teal, pair Grey Wagtail at dusk (Mike Amos).
Thorpe Water Park: 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Wigeon, 2 Teal, Blackcap (Allan Goddard via Twitter)
Tolworth: 1 Red Kite low over A240 (Simon Osborn)
Tooting Commons: Blackcap singing at lake, 6 Chiffchaff (ringed bird still present), 2 Cormorant, 3 Jackdaw, 2 Egyptian Goose & 4 juv, 3 Nuthatch, 1 Mistle Thrush, 5 Green Woodpecker, 6 Song Thrush, 17 Stock Dove (James Hudson)
Totteridge Valley: Red Kite W, 2 Common Buzzard, 3 Lapwing, Little Egret, 2 Rook, 7 singing Chiffchaff, 18 Teal, Tawny Owl called twice at 11:55 am (Frank Nugent); 3 Fieldfare at Folly Farm and 2 Coot at Warren Pond evening (Ian Ellis).
Tufnell Park, NW5: Common Buzzard heading east over Laurier Rd towards Hampstead Heath at 1415 (Tim Blackburn via Twitter)
Tyttenhanger GPs: Ringed Plover & 3 Little Ringed Plover main GP c1700 (Rupert Evershed via twitter)
Vincent Square SW1: 2 Stock Dove, Chiffchaff; small colony of c12 House Sparrows nearby (Nick Senior)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: 2 Goosander on Lockwood, Redwing, Sand Martin (Stuart Fisher/David Bradshaw); Buzzard N 1355 (Phil Aylen via Twitter)
Warley: Raven S over Hartwood allotments calling (Joy Dunn per David Dunn via EBwS News)
Warley Place EWT: Firecrest again (David Atkins & Janice Bright via EBwS News)
Wanstead Flats: Male Stonechat - Rubicola (Tony Brown)
Woodberry Wetlands: 4 Snipe, 2 Shelduck, 3 Teal, Great Black-backed Gull 2cy, 4 Red-crested Pochard flying towards Finsbury Park 8:45am, hybrid Aythya (poch x tuft) flew with 8 Pochard towards Clissold Park 7:10am (Chris Farthing & Tony Butler)
Bermondsey: St James Rd SE16 - 1 Chiffchaff singing (John Cadera)
Brent Reservoir: Little Egret & Cetti's Warbler still behind dam (Andrew Self); m Scaup still (from viewing platform by Cool Oak Bridge), Yellow-legged Gull 2cy on Canoe Club pontoon, 2 Cetti's Warbler (in addition to AS's bird), 8 Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap (all warblers singing), Sparrowhawk (Bill Haines).
Brookmill Park: 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest (Conrad Ellam)
Darenth Lakes: c20 Waxwing outside co-op DA2 7JY at 1040 (David Darrell-Lambert via Twitter) TQ568714
Deptford: Little Egret flying north between High Street and Deptford Church Street at 1800 (Mike Paice)
Eastcote (Abbotsbury Gardens): 2 Red Kite drifted north-west at 12:04, Goldfinch & 4 House Sparrow (Jon Ridge)
Finchley Golf Course: female Sparrowhawk hunting along footpath running between the golf course (Samuel Levy)
Golders Green: Waxwing West Heath Avenue (James Levy)
Hackney Marshes: Little Egret on Old R Lea at 09:30 (Alastair Dent)
Hogsmill STW Nature Reserve: 19 Canada Goose, Shelduck, pair Teal, 26 Tufted Duck, 7 Little Grebe, Little Egret S, Water Rail, Reed Bunting (Andew Skotnicki)
Kensington Green W8: 1m Sparrowhawk, 2 Grey Wagtail (John Watson)
KGV Res: pr Goosander, 25 Sand Martin am (Paul Watts via Twitter)
Lee Valley, Cornmill Meadows: 2 Mandarin Duck, 25 Wigeon, 31 Teal, 16 Shoveler, 2 Red Kite, 2 Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk (female dived at Woodpigeon but missed), 2 Red-legged Partridge, 2 Lapwing, 2 Redshank, 5+ singing Chiffchaff, 2 Siskin, 3 Reed Bunting (Simon Papps)
London Wetland Centre: 1 Grey Plover grazing marsh then N, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Shelduck, 4 Sand Martin, 2 Snipe, 3 Little Egret, 2 Peregrine, 5 Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler (WWT Website); 5 Redshank, 4 Pintail m 3f, 5 Common Snipe incl 2 fr Wildside hide, 1 Water Pipit, 3 Sand Martin, Blackcap and Jack Snipe seen (Martin Honey); pair Pintail (Shailesh Patel)
Mudchute Farm: 6 Monk Parakeets, 1 Ring-necked Parakeet, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch (Eric Brown)
Palmers Green: 2 Sparrowhawk circling above Eaton Park Road N13 at 9:55. Very unusual to see more than 1 here, so guessing it was a courting pair. (Katy McGilvray)
Pinner (HA5): Red Kite over at 11:58, Coal Tit & 4 Goldfinch (Jon Ridge)
Primrose Hill: 2 Buzzard NE 1550 & 1600, pr Kestrel, 2 Peregrine - f S toward Paddington 1655 & m SSE toward Marylebone 1705, Pied Wagtail NW 1650 (Twitter)
Queen Mother Reservoir: Sandwich Tern sitting on raft by sailing clubhouse 1130 (P Newbound via Berks BN)
Rainham RSPB: Knot, m Wheatear, 4 Marsh Harrier 2m 2f, 2 Buzzard, Peregrine, 2 Dunlin, Jack Snipe, 14 Snipe, 4 Pied Wagtail, 24 Pintail, 5 Little Egret, Little Ringed Plover (per ELBF Facebook); 2+ Water Pipit in Butts hide area and probably 3 (on plumage differences) (Jonathan Cooke).
Richmond Park: Red Kite flying low around Pen Ponds (John and Mary Tate); 1 Water Pipit & 2 Reed Buntings also on Pen Ponds 13:00 (Peter Hart) Hi Peter, the Pipit is a 1st for the Park. Could you please give details of whereabouts at the Ponds you saw it and if it was still there when you left? Thanks, Jan.
Sevenoaks WR: 2 Mediterranean Gull 0700, Green Sandpiper 1700 (Mathew Bournat via Kent OS News); 3 Shelduck East Lake, 5 Gadwall & 5 Shoveler nr Tyler hide, 2 Little Grebe Tyler hide, 2 Little Ringed Plover East Lake islands, Great Spotted Woodpecker h drumming nr North Lake, 7+ Chiffchaff singing, c15 Lesser Redpoll in alders along path from Sutton hide to Slingsby hide, Siskin Wildlife Gdn (James King via Kent OS News)
Springfield Park E5: Singing Blackcap by the old bowling green at 14:00 (Alastair Dent)
Staines Reservoir: Little Ringed Plover, Redshank, Water Pipit (S basin) (Nigel Sluman); Slavonian Grebe & 3 Black-necked Grebe still, 3 Little Ringed Plover (Dominic Pia via Twitter)
Thames Barrier Park: 4 Shelduck, 65 Teal, 2 Dunlin, Caspian Gull 2cy, 4 Pied Wagtail, 1 White Wagtail male, 2 Meadow Pipit over NW, 1 Chiffchaff; House Sparrow colony of c30 birds present 2014-16 seemingly gone (Nick Senior)
The Ridgeway, Mill Hill: 2 Eygptian Geese, 4 Pied Wagtail, Chaffinch, 2 Common Buzzard NE 13:44, Lesser Black-backed Gull NE 13:46 (Samuel Levy)
Totteridge Valley/Darlands Lake: 2 Lapwing, Common Buzzard, Rook, 7 singing Chiffchaff, 15 Redwing, Bullfinch, Grey Wagtail, c300 Starling, Little Egret, 11 Teal, 2 Coot and Cormorant (last two at Totteridge Long Ponds) (John Colmans); also 4 Nuthatch, 24 Ring-necked Parakeets, 16 Goldfinch, Greenfinch, 4 Stock Dove, 2 Green Woodpecker, 3 Chaffinch, 70+ Jackdaw, 70+ Carrion Crow, only 50+ Starling at 17:20, 5 Fieldfare dropped in briefly to feed with starling flock at 17:30, 5 Canada Geese, Goldcrest, 2 Song Thrush, Pied Wagtail (Samuel Levy)
Tyttenhanger GP: 5 Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper, Redshank, 2 Oystercatcher, Shelduck, 5 Red Kite, 2 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 10+ Tree Sparrow, c60 Linnet, 6 Skylark, 2 Grey Wagtail, Redwing & Fieldfare still lingering (Tyttenhanger Birders)
Wallington: (private garden) Firecrest singing early morning with 2 Goldccrest, 1 Chiffchaff (Arjun Dutta)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: Red-legged Partridge in warbler_bushes at S end of Lockwood next to old toilet block at 11:00 (Paul Whiteman); Buzzard over East Warwick (found by & seen with Lol Boldini & Paul Whiteman), 3 Red-crested Pochard 2m f & Cetti's Warbler on No. 1, singing Chiffchaff & Meadow Pipit flew over Reservoir Office - 12.30-1.15pm DL - thx for sightings but as already explained (below) PLEASE don't start your posts with the observation period (Davey Leach); 2 Goldeneye, 2 Goosander, 2 Green Sandpiper & Red-legged Partridge still around Lockwood pm (TeRNSorg twitter)
Yates Meadow E4: Common Buzzard, singing Chiffchaffs and Song Thrushes (Harry Harrison)
Thursday 23rd March 2017[]
Alexandra Park: Aythya numbers unusually high at lower water bodies - 6 Pochards Tunnel Res, 12+ Tufted Ducks Tunnel Res / Wood Green Res 0740 (Bob Watts).
Brent Reservoir: Cetti's Warbler, Little Egret behind dam (Andrew Self); drake Scaup, 2 Pintail m f, Red Kite, Lapwing, 3 Green Sandpiper, 3 more Cetti's Warbler (N & E Marsh), 5 singing Chiffchaff, 3 Linnet behind main hide 1 singing (Roy Beddard, Steve Leeke)
London Wetland Centre: juv Glaucous Gull main lake, ad Mediterranean Gull main lake, 4 Shelduck, 4 Redshank, 1 Little Egret, 5 Pintail, 1 Kingfisher, 8 Redwing, 5 Chiffchaff (South route\sheltered lagoon\wildside) (WWT website); second ad Mediterranean Gull grazing marsh, 1 Water Pipit, 1 Common Snipe, 1m Peregrine Ch.X Hosp., 1 Willow Warbler sheltered lagoon, 1 Jack Snipe seen by others (Martin Honey)
Morden Cemetery, Lower Morden: Red Kite south east 11:15 (Bob Smith)
Pinner (HA5): Red Kite over at 14:20, 2 Meadow Pipit north-west, 2 Mallard over & 4 Goldfinch (Jon Ridge)
Queen Mother Reservoir: Sandwich Tern 1025 sat on buoy [location relative to LRA boundary not specified] - permit only (A Tomczynski via Berks BN)
Rainham RSPB: 8 Common Scoter 6m 2f on river early-am (BirdGuides); also Little Ringed Plover, 6 Grey Plover, 3 Dunlin, 3 Curlew, 2 Oystercatcher, 4 Marsh Harrier, 70 Redshank, 6 Little Egret (Howard Vaughan via ELBF Facebook)
South Hornchurch: 23 Waxwing New Rd (BirdGuides)
Staines Reservoir: 3 Avocets N basin east bank, ad Little Gull S basin [12:45 per BirdGuides] (Dominic Pia via Twitter); 3 Avocet N basin still mid-aft - swimming w/ Coot nr far northeast bank, also ad Little Gull N basin (Lee Evans via Twitter)
Totteridge Valley: Common Buzzard being mobbed by Crows (Simon Worsfold)
Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park: Firecrest male still very vocal in Sanctuary Wood 1240 (Bob Watts)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: Peregrine, Sparrowhawk, 2 Wigeon, 4 Goldeneye, Green Sandpiper, 4 Meadow Pipit on Lockwood, singing Siberian Chiffchaff and 2 Chiffchaff just N of High Maynard, 2 Oystercatcher, Redshank, Kestrel, Goldeneye m, 8 Sand Martin NE on East Warwick, 2 Red-crested Pochard on Lee Navigation Canal, Goldeneye f, 2 Meadow Pipit on West Warwick 8.00-15:00 (Magnus Andersson, Simon Worsfold, Neil B); 2 Peregrine Lockwood, Common Sandpiper & 16 Little Egret on Lower Maynard, 2 Sand Martin over, Reed Bunting - 12.30-1.30pm (Davey Leach).
Warren Gorge: 2 Shoveler, 20ad Grey Heron & 20yg, Water Rail, Kingfisher, 2 Cetti's Warbler (R Barnes per ELBF Facebook)
Woodberry Wetlands: 2 Shelduck, 2 Shoveler, 2 Teal, Snipe, Water Rail, Reed Bunting (Chris Farthing & Tony Butler)
Wednesday 22nd March 2017[]
Abney Park Cemetery: Nuthatch (Dirk Chumley)
Alexandra Park: 30-40 House Sparrow in 2 colonies - in gardens and using hedge southern end playing fields & in houses adjacent to Filter Beds (Bob Watts)
Avenue House Park: 30+ House Sparrow colony in bushes bordering the playing fields (Samuel Levy)
Boxer's Lake, Enfield: Cormorant, 4 ad Grey Heron including three birds sitting on nests (ON), 4 Shoveler 3m 1f, 19 Tufted Duck 14m 5f, singing Chiffchaff, singing Nuthatch (Robert Callf)
Brent Reservoir: drake Scaup on main res, Common Buzzard north at 16:10, pair of Pintail in North Marsh, Lapwing, 9 singing Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, 3 Cetti's Warbler (Andrew Self)
Brookmill Park: Chiffchaff (Conrad Ellam)
Chiswell Green: 2 Siskin in gdn (Alan Gardiner via Herts BC)
Dollis Brook, Holders Hill: Singing Chiffchaff, 3 Redwing NE 07:05; also 20+ House Sparrow in colony on Gordon Road restricted to a row of gardens and only occasionally wander a bit in late summer (Samuel Levy)
Dollis Brook, Sussex Ring: 40+ House Sparrow colony uses the brook and the houses that back onto them near the childrens play area (Samuel Levy)
Drury Lane WC2B: (further to Michael Mac's request below), small colony of House Sparrows centred on Drury Lane Gardens (where they hang around close to a small bird feeder). Minimum of 12 birds seen today, although I'd estimate the overall colony size is close to 20 birds (Graeme Spinks).
East India Dock Basin: Little Ringed Plover still (Tom Speller via Twitter)
Eastcote (Abbotsbury Gardens): a small but noisy colony of House Sparrows just beyond Devonshire Road - highest count: 15 birds (Jon Ridge)
Finsbury Park: House Sparrow colonies - msg for Michael Mac, please e-mail me on jod9928'at'gmail.com for further info, further to your request from yesterday. (Dave)
Forest Gate: several House Sparrow colonies between Sebart Road and Capel Road on south side of Wanstead Flats (Harry Harrison)
Greenwich: Royal Hill/ Royal Place/ Prior Street. Several Sparrow colonies. (Ray Crouch)
Hogsmill STW Nature Reserve: Greylag Goose SE, 18 Canada Goose, 6 Little Grebe (nest building), 7 Cormorant over, Water Rail, Green Sandpiper, 22 Stock Dove, 4 Chiffchaff (Andrew Skotnicki)
Mill Hill East Station: 15+ House Sparrow colony uses bushes along the main road as well as nearby Gardens (Samuel Levy)
New Southgate: Warwick Road male blackcap in garden (Philip Dawton)
Pinner (HA5): about five pairs of House Sparrow seems a reasonable estimate - counts of twenty birds in the last 12 months (Jon Ridge)
Pinner Park Farm: about 15 pairs of House Sparrow estimated - highest recent count - at least 56 birds last autumn The highest count outright was c300 birds in a hawthorn hedge by the Garden Centre 09/11/1995 (Jon Ridge)
Primrose Hill: Little Egret foy E 1705, m Peregrine NE 1615 (Twitter)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: 2 Kittiwake both 1st Winter on No. 5 - 1 flew over towards W. Warwick other 1 feeding on mud for 5 minutes before flying off the same way, 1 Ruff and Pr. Teal on No. 4, Male Mandarin (My first one here) on No. 2 with Mallards, Singing Chiffchaff & Cetti's Warbler, Pr. Little Egret on Heronry, Peregrine on Pylon by Lower Maynard & 1 Sand Martin high over - 12 - 13.00pm in the rain (Davey Leach); Redshank on no 4 then flew to no 5, Common Sandpiper, 2 Reed Bunting, Kestrel, Chiffchaff & Cetti's Warbler - 3pm (Simon Worsfold); No sign of Ruff, 1 Redshank on No4, Little Ringed Plover Lockwood 16.45 then flew S (Stuart Fisher/Lol Bodini) Great sightings but please place timings after species names per standard format so data-extractor doesn't confuse them with species totals, thx
Tuesday 21st March 2017[]
Alexandra Park: Redwing, Great Crested Grebe still 4 yesterday evening (2 non regular close into SE bank) (Bob Watts)
Amwell NR: Peregrine & Raven fr viewpt (Roland Power via Herts BC)
Batchworth Lake nr Rickmansworth: 2 Kingfisher in chase Batchworth Lock (Anna Marret via Twitter)
Beddington Farmlands: 1 first-winter Glaucous Gull (a new bird), 1 first-winter Caspian Gull (X319 ringed bird from Germany), 3 Little Egret (Peter Alfrey) Glauc pics here
Brent Reservoir: 2 Pintail, 2 Cetti's Warbler, Chiffchaff (Simon Worsfold); no sign of drake Ring-necked Duck and drake Scaup by 14.30, Tufted Duck numbers lower, Green Sandpiper (Bob Husband & James Palmer); Scaup was present with tufties on main reservoir 11.30 to noon at least (Tim Blackburn)
Brentwood: 2 Grey Wagtail pr calling from roofs in High St (Andrew Stroud via EBwS blog)
Bunhill Fields: Chiffchaff singing (Nick Senior)
Bushy Park: 4 Red-crested Pochard (3 drakes) but suspiciously tame (Phil Bull) they're all feral in London (anon); Some or all of these 4 are pinioned, at least 3 I looked at there last week were. Full winged birds do show up though and there is one old recovery of a bird ringed in London turning up with wild birds in the Netherlands. (Phil Belman)
Dartford Marshes: 70 Teal, 50 Wigeon, 50 Gadwall, Marsh Harrier m, 2 Little Egret, 2 Lapwing, Green Sandpiper, 25 Redshank, Skylark, Stonechat f, Wheatear m, 3 Cetti's Warbler, 5 Chiffchaff (Conrad Ellam)
Enfield Town (Windmill Hill, EN2): 2 Grey Wagtail pr including singing male on Job Centre roof (Robert Callf)
Finsbury Park: parkland walk - 1 Chiffchaff (G Sawtell)
Greenwich Peninsula: 2 Wheatear (m), 4 Linnet by Golf Range behind O2, 2 Oystercatcher on foreshore by Yacht Club, Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park - 1 Chiffchaff the pale bird seen last week only a brief view (Richard Green)
Hartley, Kent: 7 Waxwing evg (BirdGuides)
Hilfield Park Reservoir: 7 Black-necked Grebe - view fr public viewing platform Hogg Ln TQ160 961 (per Herts BN twitter)
London Wetland Centre: 2 Shelduck, 5 Pintail, 2 Little Egret, 4 Redshank, 4 Snipe, 10 Chiffchaff (site count), 8+ singing Cetti’s Warbler, 1 Yellow-bellied Slider [terrapin] (Martin Honey); 1 Jack Snipe also seen (J. Cass per MRH); m Black Redstart 1w on fence by peacock_hide 1000 (BirdGuides); Kestrel over, Willow Warbler wildside (WWT website)
NewChange EC4: Common Buzzard W after brief skirmish with Peregrine above St Pauls (Nick Senior)
Oxleas Wood: Kestrel [fm], Common Buzzard, Firecrest, Goldcrest, Stock Dove [pair], Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Goldfinch, 2 Chiffchaff, 16 Jackdaw, Coal Tit, Sparrowhawk [fm], Chaffinch (Ron Turner)
Palmers Green: River Ave N13 5RX - Short-eared Owl hunting and being mobbed before flying off SE at 11:41 (Katy McGilvray); A good record for the area, but I doubt whether it was hunting - more likely just on passage (Robert Callf); birds do eat on passage! It was pretty intensely scanning the New River before it got tired of being mobbed and disappeared. It looked like it could have been after something, but who knows (Katy McGilvray); SEOs on passage normally fly determinedly in a straight line, so this one had clearly stopped off to hunt (Andrew Haynes); a suburban environment seems an unlikelyhunting ground for a SEO? (Robert Callf); unlikely maybe, but Katy's report does suggest that her bird had moderated its migration over the metropolis to seek out a sustaining suburban snack (Andrew H).
Pimlico: House Sparrow colony in small thorny hedge (not hawthorn) - male Peregrine carrying small bird. 4 Gadwall in river. 20th March was World Sparrow Day and I would like to request that anyone who has breeding sparrows in your area particularly Central London to post here or contact me personally via this web site with details for my research/campaign. Thanks (Michael Mac)
Pinner (HA5): 2 Red Kite over at 13:56, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Coal Tit, Pied Wagtail over, 3 Jackdaw over & 4 Goldfinch (Jon Ridge)
Pinner Park Farm: Common Buzzard, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Little Owl, 8 Fieldfare, 2 Redwing, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, 4 Stock Dove, 37 Jackdaw & 8 Herring Gull (Jon Ridge)
Primrose Hill: m Shelduck W, pr Sparrowhawk displaying over Regent's Park, 45 Meadow Pipit NW 06:05-07:20 - skywatch 05:30-08:00 (Twitter)
Rainham RSPB: Little Ringed Plover, s Red Kite, 3 Wheatear, 2 Short-eared Owl, 6 Marsh Harrier 2m 4f, 3 Buzzard, m Peregrine, 6 Little Egret, 2 Kingfisher (per ELBF Facebook); Water Pipit still fr butts hide 1215 (BirdGuides)
South Weald: 2 Buzzard circling & calling (Denis Tuck via EBwS blog)
Staines Reservoir: Slavonian Grebe & 3 Black-necked Grebe still, Little Ringed Plover, Redshank (Dominic Pia via Twitter)
Tooting Commons: Firecrest still (Will Rose via Twitter)
Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park: Firecrest still singing from Sanctuary Wood 0745 then moved to south end Monument Glade 1230, also 2 singing Blackcap, 1 Chiffchaff, Sparrowhawk f (Bob Watts)
Trent Park: 2 Tufted Duck pr, male Grey Wagtail water outlet lower lake, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, Treecreeper, 5 Goldfinch, 7 Lesser Redpoll (Robert Callf)
Warley Place EWT: 2 Buzzard pr circling & calling (Denis Tuck via EBwS blog); 4 Nuthatch 2pr, Treecreeper (Joanne Gates & Lee Wakefield via ELBF Facebook)
Barnes, Lonsdale Road Reservoir: m Shelduck, 11 Teal, 6 Gadwall, 14 Pochard, 9+ active Heron nests, Stock Dove singing at entrance to presumed nest hole, 10 Redwing SW, Meadow Pipit E, Cetti's Warbler singing S end, 5 singing Chiffchaff (R.Kaye)
Bexleyheath: Buzzard being mobbed by crow over Town Centre (Albion Road) 10:20 (Jo East)
Brent Reservoir: RING-NECKED DUCK 12.00 East marsh and lake, Scaup, Pintail (Jim Fell); Ring-necked Duck m 16.00 in North Marsh (Bruce Carson); Green Sandpiper North Marsh 17.55 plus all the aforementioned ducks (Phil Bull)
Brookmill Park: singing Chiffchaff (Conrad Ellam)
Chiswick Eyot: Yellow-legged Gull 2cy, Meadow Pipit NE (Josh Jones)
Feltham: 3 Little Egret one feeding in the Longford River at Ruskin Avenue & the other two at the Duke of Northumberland's River between Heathrow Southern Perimeter Rd and A30 (Frank Nugent).
Hogsmill STW Nature Reserve: Shelduck, pair Gadwall, pair Teal, 20 Tufted Duck, Water Rail, Little Egret S, Snipe, Green Sandpiper, Sand Martin, 31 Stock Dove (11 over), 5 Chiffchaff, Redwing (Andrew Skonicki)
Alexandra Park: 4 Great Crested Grebe Wood Green Res, also 25+ Herring Gull, 5 Lesser Black-backed Gull, but no Black-headed Gull (just 5 yesterday), Blackcap m singing Conservation Pond (Bob Watts)
Ring-necked Duck, Brent Reservoir (Andrew Self)
Brent Reservoir: RING-NECKED DUCK m, Scaup m, Pintail pr, Peregrine, 3 Cetti's Warbler (Brent Birders); also Black Swan, 28 Mute Swan, 56 Tufted Duck, 9 Gadwall, 37 Canada Geese, 2 Greylag, 23 Teal, 18 Shoveler, 2 Pintail, Cormorant, 4 Great Crested Grebe, Grey Wagtail, Pochard, 2 Coal Tit, Peregrine, Ring-necked Duck 09:00 viewable on main res (Samuel Levy); Ring-necked Duck at N end of North Reservoir at 1245, also 2 Snipe and Green Sandpiper (Roy Beddard, Fay Broome et al); 5 Waxwing N 07:45, Ring-necked Duck and Scaup both in North Marsh 15:00, also 2 Meadow Pipit & 4 Redwing over (Andrew Self)
Bricket Wood Common: 3 Lesser Redpoll School Ln (Alan Gardiner via Twitter)
Bushy Park: 2 Skylark singing over SHAEF memorial 0945 (Mike Foster)
Canons Farm: 25 Fieldfare, 19 Pied Wagtail (Ian Magness & Ian Ward via CFBW blog)
Chiswick Eyot: c20 Meadow Pipit NE at 12:20 (Josh Jones)
Gunpowder Park: 2 Little Grebe, Little Egret, 4 Gadwall, 4 Shoveler, Red Kite, Kestrel, 2 Skylark, 2 singing Chiffchaff, m Bullfinch, m Reed Bunting (Harry Harrison)
Ham, Richmond: Sparrowhawk over Thames Young Mariners 1045 (Mike Foster)
Hatfield Park: 7 Waxwing (Virginia Kennard via Herts BC)
Hogsmill STW Nature Reserve: Shelduck, 6 Little Grebe, Water Rail, Green Sandpiper, 10 Redwing NW/NE, 2 Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting (Andrew Skotnicki)
Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens: m Peregine (over Buck Hill), Cetti's Warbler, 3 Red-crested Pochard, 6 Mandarin, c8 Stock Dove (Charlie Farrell); Kensington Gdns - Collared Dove over, singing Cetti's Warbler, 3 singing Chiffchaff, Hyde Pk - m White Wagtail on Parade Grd till 0940 at least (Des McKenzie via Twitter)
Sewardstone Marsh: Smew drake from relief channel bridge, also Cetti's Warbler calling, Firecrest singing and showing well by Godwin Close entrance 08:00 (Neville Smith)
Stoke Newington: 30 Waxwing Victorian Avenue flying between aerials on both sides of street and garden behind no. 5 13:30 (Billy Tollemache & Minna Lacey)
Thames Barrier Park: 2 first-winter Caspian Gull including a german ringed individual X307 (Dante Shepherd et al) pic of ringed bird here
Tooting Commons: Firecrest singing & showing well in Bedford Woods, 5 Chiffchaff (inc one ringed), male Shoveler, 6 Jackdaw, 2 Egyptian Goose with 4 goslings, 2 Coal Tit (James Hudson)
Totteridge Valley/Darlands Lake: 8 singing Chiffchaff, Treecreeper, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, 14 Teal (John Colmans); also 5 Stock Dove, 3 Goldfinch, 5 Pied Wagtail, Grey Heron, Green Woodpecker, 5 Canada Geese, 2 Egyptian Geese, 2 Herring Gull, 3 Common Buzzard, m Pheasant, Grey Wagtail, Starling, 4 Mallard, 2 Coot, 4 Long-tailed Tit, 5 Meadow Pipit NW 16:30, 200+ Jackdaw and a similar amount of carrion crow (Samuel Levy)
Tyttenhanger GPs: ad Mediterranean Gull main GP 1045 (TyttGP twitter)
Walthamstow Marshes: 2 Stock Dove front paddocks, Mistle Thrush rear paddocks, Sparrowhawk through Bomb Crater Field, Green Woodpecker calling BCF 09:00-10:00 (Alastair Dent)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: 43 Shelduck on no 5, 3 Chiffchaff & Peregrine over Banbury seen via North Circular Road (Simon Worsfold); also 5 Goldeneye on East Warwick & 3 Fieldfare (David Bradshaw)
Alexandra Park: Adult male Wheatear in furthest filter bed 1055 until 1100 at least but mobile, consorting with 2 Pied Wagtails, also Blackcap singing Conservation Area, 2 singing Chiffchaff (Bob Watts)
Beddington Farmlands: Wheatear m, Glaucous Gull juv, 2 Caspian Gull both 1w, 2 Yellow-legged Gull 1w & ad, Mediterranean Gull ad, 6 Water Pipit, 2 Little Ringed Plover, Red Kite over NW 08:40, 3 Green Sandpiper, Barn Owl, 4 Fieldfare (BFBG) sightings
Brent Reservoir: m RING-NECKED DUCK by bridge & m Scaup still 0835 (BirdGuides); also Peregrine m, 2 Sparrowhawk, Water Rail, Little Egret, 2 Pintail, 10 Common Snipe, Green Sandpiper, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Reed Bunting, Coal Tit (Brent Birders)
Ingrebourne Valley: 5 Green Sandpiper, 2 Bullfinch (Dave McGough per ELBF Facebook); pr Kingfisher, 2 Chiffchaff (per ELBF)
London Wetland Centre: Willow Warbler, Siskin over and Meadow Pipit flew from river to wader scrape (Josh Jones); 1m Wheatear, 1 Jack Snipe, 2 Little Egret, 1 Peregrine on main lake washing and preening, 1 Sand Martin checking out nest holes, 1 Common Snipe, 4 Redshank (Martin Honey); 4 Shelduck, 5 Redshank, 2 Sand Martin, 5 Chiffchaff, Blackcap (WWT website)
Pinner (HA5): Peregrine Falcon north at 15:35, Sparrowhawk, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail over, 2 Pied Wagtail, Coal Tit, Goldcrest & 7 Goldfinch (Jon Ridge)
Richmond Park: 2 male Wheatears (Holly Lodge paddocks), 2 Red Kite (Hugh Bradshaw)
Riddlesdown: Red Kite north at 08:15, Cuckoo heard calling briefly at 10:18 - totally unexpected at this early date (John Birkett) - This appears to be the earliest London record (JR)Beautiful 'In March come he will' then [Dan Pinkham] Poetry should not be taken too literally - the vast majority of Cuckoos arrive in April and Mayhttp://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=2330
Sevenoaks WR: 2 Little Ringed Plover fr Tyler hide still, Kingfisher east lake, Grey Wagtail west lake (Mathew Bournat via Kent OS News)
Staines Reservoirs: 2 Slavonian Grebe one on S basin still & a new bird on N basin in transitional plumage, 3 Black-necked Grebe, 3 Black-tailed Godwit 1 S basin W bank till mid am & 2 through early am, 1 Little Ringed Plover (Bob Warden et al per FJM); 2 Scaup m still [& f per Surrey BC], 2 Oystercatcher, 3 Little Ringed Plover, Redshank, Kittiwake reported (Dominic Pia via Twitter)
Vincent Square SW1: am - Wheatear male, 2 Mistle Thrush, 7 Redwings dropped in then off NW, 16 Goldfinch (Nick Senior)
Wanstead Flats: 2 m Wheatear, Fieldfare, 6 Song Thrush, 6 Meadow Pipit, 4 Skylark, 2 Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, 4 Gadwall, 8 Shoveler, Little Grebe, 4 Linnet (Nick Croft/Rob Sheldon)
Woodberry Wetlands: 5 drake Red-crested Pochard, m Peregrine, Yellow-legged Gull, 3+ Chiffchaff, hybrid Aythya (poch x tuft) (Chris Farthing)
Friday 17th March 2017[]
Alexandra Park: Blackcap singing Conservation area, Meadow Pipit, 2 Chiffchaff (Bob Watts); male Blackcap on tree SW corner of Boating Lake, 2 Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Jay, 2 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Stock Dove (Eduardo López-Salas); Blackcap, 4 Chiffchaff, 2 Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Green Woodpecker, 4 Goldcrest, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, 2 Song Thrush, 3 Stock Dove (Bruce Carson)
Battersea Park Lake: pr Mandarin surprisingly first I've seen here, juv Grey Herons calling-appears they are in decline by 10 pairs since 2010 (Michael Mac)
Beddington Farmlands: Ring Ouzel, juv Glaucous Gull, juv Iceland Gull, 2 Caspian Gull, Sand Martin, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 8 Water Pipit (BFBG) picssightings
Boxer's Lake, Enfield: 4 adult Grey Heron (two occupied nests - with birds sitting), 2 Egyptian Goose, male Mandarin Duck, male Shoveler, 10 Tufted Duck 6m 4f, Stock Dove, 5 Ring-necked Parakeet, 2 Grey Wagtail pr, male Pied Wagtail, male Nuthatch singing (Robert Callf)
Brent Reservoir: RING-NECKED DUCK drake still on Main Res at 07:50 chasing tuftie skirt, drake Scaup still, drake Wigeon, drake Shelduck, 6 Chiffchaff, Little Egret, 3 Water Rail, 3 Cetti’s Warbler, Reed Bunting, 8 Common Snipe, Stock Dove, Kingfisher, Redwing, 2 Pintail, Green Sandpiper, Black Swan (Magnus Andersson); Ring-necked Duck in N Marsh at 1230 and 2 Pintail m f, Water Rail, 4 Cetti's Warbler (Brent Birders); 1 Common Snipe, 1 Green Sandpiper, Scaup on North Marsh at 13:30 (John & Janet Cadera); also 2 Greylag Geese & singing Blackcap at 16:30 (Simon Worsfold)
Bushy Park: 4 Black-headed Gull (usually 100+), 3 Green Woodpecker, Kestrel, 2 Mandarin Duck (in tree along Chestnut Ave), Redwing (calling), Song Thrush (Ian R Watson); pr Garganey Heron_Pond - pic posted 18 Mar (Stephen Darlington via Birding London Facebook)
East India Dock Basin: Little Ringed Plover [Basin Is 1300 per BirdGuides] (Paul Hyland)
Fairlop Waters: 4 Sand Martins on main lake late afternoon (Alan Bell)
Heathrow: m. Wheatear, Cetti's Warbler, Green Sandpiper. (Adam Cheeseman)
Hogsmill STW Nature Reserve: 1 Green Sandpiper (Nigel Jackman)
Kings Cross: c20 Pied Wagtail in roost opposite station at 18:10 - difficult to count accurately as the light was going (Martin Shepherd)
Leatherhead, Common Meadow: 2 singing Chiffchaff, 2 Common Buzzard displaying, 3 adult Herring Gull, 1 Nuthatch (Neil Batten)
Lee Valley, Seventy Acres Lake: 3 Sand Martin, Common Buzzard, Green Woodpecker, Cetti's Warbler, 3-4 singing Chiffchaff, 2 Siskin (Simon Papps)
London Wetland Centre: 1 Jack Snipe, 1 Little Egret (coloured leg rings - same bird seen March last year ringed in North Cotes Lincolnshire), 2 Common Snipe, 1f Wheatear, 5 Shelduck, 4 Redshank, 1 Sand Martin, 1m Mandarin Sheltered Lagoon (Martin Honey); 1 Willow Warbler - Sheltered Lagoon, 1 Water Pipit (Keith Cutting & Peter Charles); 2 Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, 2 Sand Martin, 5 Chiffchaff (WWT website)
Staines Reservoir: m Scaup, Slavonian Grebe & 3 Black-necked Grebe still, Little Ringed Plover, 2 Redshank, 2 Wheatear (Dominic Pia via Twitter)
Stave Hill/Russia Dock Woodland: 1 Chiffchaff singing, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Jay, Mistle Thrush (John Cadera)
Stoneleigh KT17: Singing Blackcap in The Glade am (Neil Batten)
Tooting Bec Common: Firecrest still, chasing Chiffchaff from tree (Will Rose via Twitter)
Trent Park: 15 Goldfinch, 2 Siskin, pair of Teal, m Mandarin, pair Tufted Duck (Pete Lowman)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: Red Kite, 3 Green Sandpipers, 5 Goldeneye, 7 Snipe, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Sand Martin back in usual nesting area (Walthamstow Birders).
Wimbledon: Red Kite drifting W over the station at 13:00 (Frank Nugent).
Woodberry Wetlands: 2 Shelduck, 2 Egyptian Geese, 3 Common Snipe, Water Rail, 3 Chiffchaff, 5 Teal (Chris Farthing).
Woodford Green: Treecreeper, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, Grey Wagtail, f Brambling and Redwing (Ken Murray)
Thursday 16th March 2017[]
Alexandra Park: Female Stonechat in cricket scrub and on fence by pavilion 08.45 (Brian Milligan); Chiffchaff singing half-way along nice new cycle path. Same place and time as yesterday 9.10 (Greg Smith); Chiffchaff (singing 11.00 main car park, 2 Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker (drumming), 2 Greenfinch, 17 Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Meadow Pipit, Female Stonechat (still active south perimeter) (Bruce Carson)
Brent Reservoir: male RING-NECKED DUCK on Main Res. at 11.30 with Tufted Duck then flushed to Northern Res. by sailing boat. At 12.15 with Tufted Ducks opposite Public Hide in N.Res, also drake Scaup still, 2 Pintail m f, 2 Green Sandpiper, 2 Common Snipe, 3 singing Cetti's Warbler and 4 singing Chiffchaff (Roy Beddard, Daniella Levene and others)
Brookmill Park: Little Egret, Peregrine, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Redwing, singing Blackcap, singing Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest (Conrad Ellam)
Camley Street Natural Park: 1 Cetti's Warbler very elusive by the little centre and next to the canal singing, Robin, 1 Wren, 1 Moorhen, 2 Carrion Crow flew over, 1 Woodpigeon, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Long-tailed Tit by centre, 2 Blue Tit (Jack Headley)
Canons Farm & Banstead Woods: Red-legged Partridge, 3 Sparrowhawk, 6 Buzzard, 6 Chiffchaff, 24 Fieldfare, 110 Redwing, 4 Meadow Pipit, 8 Redpoll, 3 Siskin (David Campbell, Ian Magness & Linda Mount via CFBW blog)
Coopers Green GPs: Stanborough GP - 2 Green Sandpiper, 2 Redshank (David Booth via Herts BC)
Dagenham Chase: m Pintail, 8 Pochard (Vince Halley-Frame et al per ELBF Facebook)
East Acton: 1 singing Coal Tit (tantalisingly close to the Scrubs) (Charlie Farrell)
Finchley: Garden N3 - 5 Starlings (Samuel Levy)
Fulham Palace: Red Kite NNW 1610 (Des McKenzie via Twitter)
Greenwich Peninsula: 4 Teal, Oystercatcher, 3 Meadow Pipit, Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park 2 Little Grebe, Sparrowhawk, Chiffchaff possibly ssp abietinus (Richard Green, John Bushall, Martin Hallam)
Hackney: No sign of yesterdays Waxwings at London Fields from 7.30-9am (Adam Winstanley).
Hoddesdon: Black Redstart ad m Stortford Rd front gdns pm (Tony Eldridge per Ross Facer via Herts BC)
Larkhall Park, Stockwell: 30 House Sparrows in dense creeper against fence (no leaves) and 2+ nests in creeper (Michael Mac)
Little Britain, Cowley, Uxbridge: 16+ Grey Heron (Heronry building up - 8 definitely occupied nests so far), 2 Little Egret, 2 male Mandarin, c60 Redwing (Roger Dewey).
London Wetland Centre: brief pm visit - 4 Shelduck being quite noisy and flighty, 2 Jack Snipe main lake (one had been seen of the grazing marsh earlier in the day), 4 Common Snipe, 2 Stock Dove, 4 Redshank (Martin Honey)
Pinner (HA5): 2 Red Kite making physical contact with one another (14:37-14:40), Jay, Coal Tit, singing Goldcrest, Jackdaw & 5 Goldfinch (Jon Ridge)
Rainham RSPB: 3 Jack Snipe (Marianne Taylor, Ian Lycett, Howard Vaughan via ELBF Facebook); 5 Marsh Harrier 2m3f, 4 Buzzard, pr Peregrine, 4 Bearded Tit 2pr, 5 Chiffchaff, Blackcap, 24 Curlew, 2 Ringed Plover, 29 Snipe (RSPB via ELBF Facebook); 26m Pheasant, Corn Bunting, 2 Great Crested Grebe (Howard Vaughan via ELBF Facebook)
Regent's Park/Primrose Hill: Water Rail still in rail ditch (area 2) 09:00, Chiffchaff singing a39, Blackcap singing briefly a41, 4 Siskin NW over Hill 06:30 (Twitter)
Rye Meads RSPB: 5 Buzzard, tailless Peregrine (RSPB twitter); Sand Martin (Toby Spall via Herts BC)
St James's Park: 1 singing Chiffchaff and a Collared Dove over E (Frank Nugent)
Staines Moor: 3 Little Egret, Redshank, Kingfisher, 6+ Sand Martin, 5+ Water Pipit (Robert Martin via Twitter)
Staines Reservoirs: 2 Little Ringed Plover N basin W bank 16.00, Scaup drake S basin W bank, 3 Black-necked Grebe (Franko J Maroevic); female/hybrid Scaup (Dominic Pia via Twitter)
Stanwell Moor: 2 Shoveler, 2 Little Egret, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 2+ Chiffchaff, 5 Fieldfare, 2 Redwing (Robert Martin via Twitter)
The Ridgeway, Mill Hill: 2 Grey Wagtail, 1 Teal W 14:00ish (Samuel Levy)
Totteridge Valley: Bullfinch, 5 Coal Tit, 14 Chiffchaff, 9 Goldcrest, Mute Swan flew over NE- a first on the patch for me, Little Egret, 2 Egyptian Geese, 3 Mandarin, 10 Teal, 24 Redwing, 8 Fieldfare, 4 Stock Dove, Collared Dove, 3 Meadow Pipit, Pheasant (Simon Worsfold)
Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park: Male Firecrest still Sanctuary Wood - leg iron clearly visible (Bob Watts); Common Buzzard (circling overhead 13:20), m Sparrowhawk (Charlie Farrell)
West Harrow: Sparrowhawk pair drifting over put absolutely everything up in the air before being escorted off the premises by local Carrion Crows (Alex Massey)
Woodberry Wetlands: Jack Snipe showing well from boardwalk, 2 Common Snipe, Water Rail, Yellow-legged Gull, 4 Teal, 2 Common Gull (Chris Farthing)
Wormwood Scrubs: 2 singing Chiffchaff, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker (drumming), 2 Green Woodpecker, 2 Meadow Pipit (1 displaying) (Charlie Farrell)
Wednesday 15th March 2017[]
Alexandra Park: Woodcock in flight in foggy conditions 7am heading from garden centre towards palace building (Gerry Rawlins per Bob Watts).
Archway: Goddard Place - Red-legged Partridge in private garden opposite Holloway Bus Garage (Alison Miller per Nigel Biggs)
Beddington Farmlands: Juv Iceland Gull, 9 Water Pipit, Rock Pipit (littoralis), 2 Red Kite, Barn Owl, Peregrine, 9 Buzzard, 2 Green Sandpiper, 6 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Fieldfare, 2 Grey Wagtail (BFBG website)
Beddington Park: 1 Rook, in 2010 there was 7 nest rookery here also a 6 nest herony in trees on island by Lake now all cut down (Michael Mac)
Brent Reservoir: drake RING-NECKED DUCK still from main hide 11:30, cavorting with 2 Tufted Duck m f (Andrew Haynes); R-nD in East Marsh behind Willow Island 14:30, also 2 Pintail m f, drake Scaup, Peregrine, 2 Green Sandpiper, 2 Snipe, Little Egret, 3 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Chiffchaff (Brent Birders & others).
Cassiobury Park: Little Egret by R Gade, m Lesser Spotted Woodpecker 0855 betw Cassiobury Fm & R Gade by Gade Ave (Geoff Lapworth via Herts BC)
Creekmouth: 41 Shelduck, 35 Gadwall, 14 Shoveler, 430 Teal, 3 Common Buzzard, 4 Oystercatcher, 6 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Curlew, 19 Redshank, 1 Grey Plover, 1 Caspian Gull 4cy near-adult, 4 Yellow-legged Gull 2 2cy 1 3cy 1 4cy, Iceland Gull 3cy at SF outfall 12.50 ish - generally 40% fewer Laridae present, 1 Rock Pipit littoralis, 7 Cetti's Warbler, 8 Chiffchaff all collybita, 1 Chiffchaff showing characters associated with abietinus, c20 Linnet (Nick Senior)
Deptford: 1 Peregrine chased by crow at New Cross Gate station at 5:30pm, 2 Grey Wagtail and 3 Greefinch on Deptford High Street (Paul Collins)
East Dulwich, SE22: Woodcock flew over my garden at dusk - a garden 1st (Steven Robinson)
Eastcote, Field End Recreation Ground: Chiffchaff (Tim Rymer).
Footscray Meadows: c6 Little Grebes, Little Egret, 2 Mute Swan, 4+ Tufted Duck, Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel, 2 Water Rail, Kingfisher, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail, 10 Redwing, Pair Mistle Thrush, c10 Chiffchaff, Nuthatch (Mike Amos).
Hogsmill STW Nature Reserve: 5 Greylag Goose SE, 18 Canada Goose, pair Teal, 19 Tufted Duck, 11 Lesser Black-backed Gull (10 E), 204 Black-headed Gull (189 E - a rapid reduction of numbers noted over the last four days), 2 Redwing, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting (Andrew Skotnicki)
Holmethorpe SPs: Redshank, Blackcap (Ray Baker via HSP blog)
Kew Gardens: 1 Common Buzzard flew high S 12.35, 2 Gadwall, 2 Shoveler on lake (Franko J Maroevic)
King George V Reservoir: Drake Smew & Black-necked Grebe still, 6 Goosander 3m3f, 15+ Goldeneye, 5+ Buzzard, 6 Linnet, 5+ Meadow Pipit, 5 Lapwing, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, large group of c50 Pied Wagtails with a few White Wagtails mixed in (Chris Farthing & Tony Butler)
Ladywell Fields: Nuthatch, singing Chiffchaff, 2 Song Thrush, 2 Grey Wagtail, Redwing; plus Brimstone, Comma, Red Admiral (Tom Moulton/Sue Gore/Judith Simmons)
Leatherhead, Randalls Way: 3 Common Buzzard overhead interacting with each other and drifting east 13.10, 2 Pied Wagtail in The Square (Neil Batten)
Leyton Flats/Snaresbrook: Siskin S, m Blackcap briefly in subsong, 2 Coal Tit, 8 Song Thrush, singing m Reed Bunting on Leyton Flats, 5 Great Crested Grebe (Stuart Fisher)
London Fields (E8): 12 Waxwings still, 2 Mistle Thrushes on Poplar next to Pub on the Park (Marcin Kempa).
London Wetland Centre: 4 Red-crested Pochard, 3 Sand Martin, 4 Shelduck, 4 Redshank, 2 Snipe, 4 Chiffchaff, 2 Water Pipit, 5 Pintail, 1 Little Egret (WWT Website); 5 Common Snipe, 2 Jack Snipe, 1 Bittern, 2 Peregrine, 1 Sparrowhawk (Martin Honey); 12 Common Gull high east, 22 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 250 Herring Gull, 50+ Black-headed Gull high east - part of a larger movement (J.Wilczur); Caspian Gull 2cy (S Woolfenden)
Rainham RSPB: Red Kite, 7 Marsh Harrier 2m 5f, 10 Buzzard, 4 Bearded Tit 2pr, 4 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, 10 Golden Plover, 10 Curlew, 2 Ringed Plover, 30 Dunlin, 2 Siskin (RSPB via ELBF Facebook); Short-eared Owl still (Ian Plume per ELBF Facebook)
Regent's Park: Wigeon still, Woodcock Leaf Yard Wd again southeast cnr (area 41) 0625, pr Blackcap - m singing a41; Small Tortoiseshell (Twitter)
Richmond Park: 2 Chiffchaff both singing (P. Redmond); 3 Red Kite, 10 Buzzard (J.Wilczur, M.Lewis, S.Read)
River Thames, Tower Bridge to Vauxhall Bridge: male Kestrel at Tower of London, GB-B Gull, c25 Cormorant (sev siniensis), 7 Mallard, 5 Coot, Egyptian Goose, small numbers of Common Gull heading E, House Sparrows at usual locations (John Colmans)
Roehampton: Lesser Spotted Woodpecker 1 calling Danbury Avenue near roundabout on Priory Lane at 9am (D Benton)
St. John's Churchyard, Fair St SE1: singing Greenfinch at 14:55, never had one here before (Paul Whiteman)
St. Katherine's Dock: c12 Tufted Duck, f Sparrowhawk 17:30 (Paul Whiteman)
Sevenoaks NR: Red Kite W 0800 (Mathew Bournat via Kent OS News)
Sewardstone Marsh: 2 Shelduck (Martin Shepherd)
South Ockendon: 9 Waxwing E over M25 north of A13 nr Thames Rugby FC 1500 (BirdGuides) TQ574809
Staines Reservoir: am - 16 Shelduck, 229 Wigeon, 118 Shoveler, 34 Goldeneye, Slavonian Grebe, Red Kite, Peregrine, 2 Redshank (Allan Goddard via Twitter); 3 Black-necked Grebe (Dominic Pia via Twitter)
Sutcliffe Park: Mute Swan pair repairing nest, 10 Tufted Duck, Little Grebe pair, Little Egret (Conrad Ellam); AM. 2 Little Egret, Cormorant, 3 Redwing, 2 Fieldfare (P Kite)
Teddington: Sparrowhawk circling high over lock harassed by Crow at 1515 (Mike Foster)
Tooting Bec Common: Firecrest Bedford Woods then visited Lake, also 2 Jackdaw, Red Admiral, Brimstone and Comma (Alan Wilkinson).
Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park: Male Firecrest still Sanctuary Wood, also Common Buzzard pursued by two crows 1250 then north, 6+ Brimstones, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma (Bob Watts)
Trent Park: 3 Nuthatch 2m 1f including fem clearing out nest hole Triangular Wood (B), 10 Common Toad spawning and 'chirping', male Brimstone (Robert Callf); 2 Common Buzzard, 2 Goldcrest, pair of Tufted Duck, 2 Song Thrush, 7 Mandarin 5m 2f, 6 Goldfinch, Sparrowhawk, Stock Doves, Chiffchaff (Pete Lowman)
Willows Farm: 2 Oystercatcher back on Willows Fm Lake island (per Herts BN); c60 Fieldfare (Steve Blake via Herts BC)
Winchmore Hill N21: male pheasant in garden and 2 Brimstones (Frances Shipp)
Woodberry Wetlands: Kingfisher, Jack Snipe, 2 Common Snipe, drake Red-crested Pochard, 4 Teal; Common_Gull and Redwing have now moved off (Chris Farthing) Where do you see the Jack Snipe Chris? [James Palmer] The map I put on twitter on March 7th is still almost spot on [CF] Thanks Chris [JP]
Woodford Green: Tawny Owl, Ring-necked Parakeet, male Siskin, my 1st local Kestrel of the year, and my 8th Peregrine, Little Egret, Common Buzzard, and displaying Sparrowhawk (4th of the day), male Brambling, with small flock of Chaffinches, 2 Grey Wagtail, also Small Tortoiseshell, Brimstone, and Peacock Butterflies (Ken Murray) Hi Ken, I used to live in Woodford area, whereabouts in WG do you see the Tawny? Is it the area where the cricket pitch is or Monkhams Lane? [Simon] Simon Hi, it roosts 'most' nights in my back garden Ivy hedge and is vocal at night and sometimes during the day. Location is Chingford/Woodford borders opposite Brook Rd. Cheers Thanks Ken. [SW]
Tuesday 14th March 2017[]
Alexandra Park: 2 Greylag Geese Wood Green Res, Fieldfare chakking 0640 (Bob Watts)
Brent Reservoir: drake Ring-necked Duck still on main res at 08:00 - mid afternoon seen in North Reservoir by public hide, also 9 Greylag Geese, 2 Pintail m f, male Scaup, Peregrine, 15 Redwing north (Brent Birders)
Brookmill Park: Stock Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, 2 Song Thrush, Redwing, Chiffchaff (Conrad Ellam)
Dollis Brook, Holders Hill: Grey Heron E 09:30, 2 Ring-necked Parakeet, Little Egret downstream 09:34 and another preening itself in a tree next to viaduct 12:10 (Samuel Levy)
East India Dock Basin: Water Rail, Sparrowhawk, 2 Shelduck (Paul Hyland)
Finchley: Garden N3 - 3 Starling, Jay, Goldcrest, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Stock Dove, Red-legged Partridge (only 2nd ever Garden Record and first for 8 years) (Samuel Levy)
Finsbury Park, N4: 7 Red-crested Pochard 6m f plus Dabchick on lake (Ann Feltham)
Gallions Reach: 2 Buzzard, 2 Sand Martin (KJMcmanus)
London Wetland Centre: f Wheatear on grazing marsh, 2 Sand Martin over sheltered lagoon, Water Pipit on wader scrape (Mike Wheeler); 4 Shelduck, 3 Pintail m 2f, 1 Little Egret, 4 Redshank, 7 Sand Martin (sheltered lagoon and also high over site), 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Buzzard over heading East, 4 Reed Bunting m 3f (WWT website & Martin Honey)
Trent Park: 3 Common Buzzard, 2 Siskin, 2 Nuthatch, f Tufted Duck, Green Woodpecker, Chiffchaff, 4 Mandarin 3m f, 2 Goldcrest, 10 Goldfinch, Stock Doves (Pete Lowman)
Twickenham: Black Swan near the bridge to Eel Pie Island 12:45 (Gareth Simkins)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: male Wheatear NE corner of No 4, 5 Fieldfare on No 5, 4 Goldeneye on East Warwick (David Bradshaw); Siberian Chiffchaff still at north end of Lockwood (Jamie Partridge); m Wheatear still present in same area at 12.30pm, also 1 Common Sandpiper & m Grey Wagtail on No. 4 (Davey Leach).
Westminster: 2 Peregrine (pair) soaring over Westminster Abbey at 14:00 (Frank Nugent).
Monday 13th March 2017[]
Alexandra Park: 20+ Redwing north 0645 (Bob Watts)
Amwell NR: 2 Barn Owl Gt Hardmead L still (William Bishop/Ron Cousins via Herts BC)
Antill Road E3: Female Blackcap, 3 House sparrows in garden (Harry Harrison)
Brent Reservoir: RING-NECKED DUCK still by SE shore of Main Reservoir around midday then by rafts pm, drake Scaup still near the bridge on East Marsh, Woodcock flushed by dog, 2 Pintail m f, 2 Green Sandpiper, 11 Common Snipe feeding later, also ad Little Egret feeding with crows/gulls on fields, 3 Cetti's Warbler, 6 Chiffchaff singing (Brent Birders)
Brookmill Park: Little Egret, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Redwing, 2 Chiffchaff (Conrad Ellam)
Canons Farm & Banstead Woods: 3 Sparrowhawk, 14 Buzzard, 2ad Mediterranean Gull N - 3rd site record, 5 singing Chiffchaff, 200 Starling NE, 30 Fieldfare, 10 Redwing, 9 Redpoll, 2 Siskin (David Campbell, Linda Mount and Ian Pratley via CFBW blog)
Charing Cross Hospital: 3 Peregrine Falcon (last year juvenile in 3-way courtship with his parents - public site) (Nathalie Mahieu)
Chelsea Bridge: 3600 Black-headed Gulls East during the afternoon in migratory groups typical for March some dropping in from NW at great height, 410 Common Gulls East, 1 Mediterranean Gull East (Nick Senior)
Fulham: Common Sandpiper and Yellow-legged Gull 2cy on River Thames (Josh Jones)
Greenford UB6: 30 Redwing low N 6.20 (Neil Anderson)
Havering CP: Red Kite, Goshawk ('PS' per ELBF Facebook)
Hogsmill STW Nature Reserve: 2 Greylag Goose SW, 21 Shoveler, 16 Tufted Duck, Little Egret S, Red Kite, 2 Sparrowhawk, 26 Stock Dove (15 E/NE), Redwing NE, Chiffchaff, singing Reed Bunting (possibly the 1st for Hogsmill SW since Nov 2003) (Andrew Skotnicki)
Holyfield Hall Farm: imm White-fronted Goose still (BirdGuides)
Horsenden Hill: 4 singing Chiffchaff, 2 Common Buzzard (circling to Southwest), female Sparrowhawk over Perivale LNR, 5-6 Great Spotted Woodpeckers in Horsenden Wood (Martin Smith)
Horsenden Hill Wood: put up Woodcock at 3.30 (Rob Wheeler)
Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens: Woodcock flew SW over Lido cafe at 11:20, singing Cetti's Warbler just NW of Road bridge by Long Water, singing Chiffchaff E end of Serpentine Island (Bill Haines).
Lamorbey Park: Male Brambling (10.30am near rear entrance gate with entryphone to Rose Bruford College. First Brambling I have seen here in 28 years watching this site), 2 Egyptian Geese, Great Crested Grebe, Sparrowhawk, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, 4 Redwing, 2 Goldcrest, Chiffchaff; Comma butterfly (Eric Brown)
Leyton Flats/Snaresbrook: Common Buzzard, m Sparrowhawk, 2 singing Chiffchaff, 7 Redwing, Fieldfare, Meadow Pipit, singing m Reed Bunting, 16 Shoveler, 17 Gadwall, 42 Tufted Duck (Stuart Fisher)
Little Britain, Cowley: pair Egyptian Geese, Little Egret, Sparrowhawk female soaring with 3 Buzzards, Red Kite, Stock Dove, Coal Tit, 5+ Chiffchaffs singing (Alex Randall)
London Wetland Centre: 2 Jack Snipe, 1 Short-eared Owl, 1 Little Egret, 5 Redshank, 3 Pintail, 3 Shelduck, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Snipe, 1 Dunlin, 1 Sand Martin, 2 Kingfisher, 1 Meadow Pipit (WWT Website); also 1 Common Buzzard, 3+ Cetti's Warbler, 2 Stock Dove, 2+ Reed Bunting (Joe Beale)
Mile End Park: 2 Chiffchaffs, signing Blackcap (Bob Watts)
Palmers Green: Hedge Ln - 16 Waxwings 7.15am feeding on small trees on edge of Hazelwood Recreation Ground W of Huxley Close commuting to large tree opposite side as well (Davey Leach); there were 32+ Waxwings present 3.00-3.46 p.m. before they flew off SW (Simon West); sounds like the same flock I saw before on Bourne Hill nearby - I saw 4 there on the large tree at 4.30 pm on my way back but were flighty. Not many berries left (Davey Leach)
Pinner (HA5): 3 Red Kite over at 13:45 (pale), 15:22 (stronger colours) & 15:53 (outer tail feather missing), Grey Heron, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, 3 Goldfinch, 3 Pied Wagtail & a Brimstone butterfly (Jon Ridge)
Primrose Hill: 10 Woodpigeon NNE, Rook NE 0800, 10 Starling NE 0635, 6 Redwing NE 0630, 6 Meadow Pipit NW, Linnet N 0745, Siskin NW 0700 - vismig 06:05-08:35 (Twitter)
Rainham RSPB: 9 Snipe, 3 Curlew, 45 Pintail, Barn Owl, 5 Little Egret, 3 Skylark, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, Bearded Tit, Woodcock, Water Pipit, Chiffchaff, Buzzard (per ELBF Facebook); R Thames Purfleet - 2 Shelduck, 165 Wigeon downriver 0750, 23 Curlew; Chiffchaff singing Rainham West (Fraser Simpson via Twitter)
Regent's Park: Woodcock flushed fr Leaf Yard Wd north edge (area 40) again then NE 0915 (Twitter)
Rye Meads RSPB: Bittern flew N fr kingfisher_hide area to Lee Marsh (RSPB twitter)
St James's Park: flock of 9 full-winged Red-crested Pochard, also Brimstone (Andrew Self); Peregrine pursuing a Cormorant, also Comma (Frank Nugent). One of the White Pelicans has grown a compete set of flight feathers and was flying up and down the lake during the afternoon (which was certainly impressive!). There is an un-ringed bird there so if this is the same bird that was capable of flying, be wary of any reports of Pelican at other sites, if one goes missing (Bill Haines).
Southfields, SW18: Blackcap singing in my garden this morning - the first sighting this winter (Martin Honey)
Staines Reservoir: 3 Black-necked Grebe, Mediterranean Gull (Dominic Pia via Twitter)
Sydenham Hill Woods NR: 5 Redwing south just over canopy, Chiffchaff (Dave Clark)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: (Lockwood) Red Kite, Peregrine, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, pr Goldeneye, singing Blackcap (Lol Bodini); 4 Red-crested Pochard, 5 Goldeneye, 2 Green Sandpiper, Blackcap, 4 Chiffchaff (David Morrison via Twitter)
West Putney, Huntingfield Road: 3 Red Kite, 4 Buzzard including a largely cream bird, juv Goshawk N 11.40, Rook NE, 3 Redwing NW, 3 Meadow Pipit SE/NE, 10 Chaffinch mostly SW, Siskin S (R.Kaye)
Withey Beds LNR: Green Sandpiper, Chiffchaff singing (Joan Thompson/Anna Marett via Herts BC)
Woodberry Wetlands: Jack Snipe, Water Rail, Yellow-legged Gull, 2 Common Snipe, Sparrowhawk, singing Chiffchaff, singing Blackcap, 20 Redwing W (seem to be moving off now), 3 Teal (Chris Farthing)
Woodford Green: c60 Redwing North low over canopy at 7.55 am (Ken Murray)
Worcester Park: 3 Chiffchaff; Brimstone and Comma butterflies (Bob Smith)
Wormwood Scrubs: 1 Jackdaw over, 2 Chiffchaff (including a singer), 1 Reed Bunting, 1 displaying Meadow Pipit (this time last year there were c5) & a Carrion Crow uttering a weird 'subsong' like the bleat of a Snipe but slower and lower pitched. Very odd. (David Lindo)
Sunday 12th March 2017[]
Alexandra Park: 2 Chiffchaffs singing Lower Slopes and adjacent to Wood Green Res, Meadow Pipit north, 6+ Redwing deer enclosures; WeBS (Wood Green Res/New River/Boating Lake) - 44+ Mallard Aylesbury & 4 hybrids, 59 Tufted Duck, 8 Common Pochard, 39 Canada Goose, 30 Coot, 16 Moorhen, 2 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Mute Swan, 102 Black-headed Gull, 17 Herring Gull, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 8 Common Gull, 1 Cormorant, 1 Little Grebe New River, 1 Grey Heron (Bob Watts)
Amwell NR: 2 Pintail m f fr viewpt (Phil Ball via Herts BC); Barn Owl 17:15 (Neville Smith); 14 Siskin, 2 Smew, 6 Goldeneye and Chiffchaff (RSPB NW London Local Group).
Battersea Park Lakes: 2 Mandarin Duck (pair), 13 Shoveler, 9 Pochard, 3 Little Grebe, 2 Great Crested Grebe, Grey Wagtail, singing Chiffchaff (Nick Rutter)
Ring-necked Duck, Brent Reservoir (Andrew Self)
Brent Reservoir: RING-NECKED DUCK showing from Main Hide 13:40 to at least 16.30 (Steve Leeke); drake Scaup still, 3 Cetti's Warbler (Andrew Self); 2 Pintail m f, Green Sandpiper, 8 Snipe (Roy Beddard); Little Owl (Ian Ellis)
Cassiobury Park: Lesser Spotted Woodpecker m still just east of green bridge at Gade Ave end 0930 (per Herts BN); 2m Lesser Spotted Woodpecker together - usual male in tall trees by river nr Gade Avenue joined by one from Cassiobury Fm area then they chased each other (Lee Evans via Herts BC)
Chelsea Bridge: 2 Ringed Plover N, Caspian Gull 2cy on landfill barges, 2 Grey Wagtail (Nick Senior)
Creekmouth: west side - Siberian Chiffchaff in Beckton Creekside NR and Caspian Gull 1w on warehouse roof on E side of creek (Sean Huggins)
Deptford: Peregrine on crane by Creek Road (Tom Moulton)
Notting Hill: Yellow-browed Warbler Holland Pk Ave W11 calling frequently in plane trees & shrubs 1215 flew over rooftop towards Ladbroke Mews - no further sign by 1330 but worth checking Ladbroke Sq area (Des McKenzie per NT) TQ245802
Panshanger Park: m Pintail lower Broadwater, 3 Green Sandpiper shallow floods south of Broadwater (Tim Hill via Herts BC)
Pinner (HA5): Red Kite over at 13:57, Stock Dove over, Great Spotted Woodpecker, 7 Jackdaw over, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, 2 Pied Wagtail & 9 Goldfinch (Jon Ridge)
Richmond Park: 20 Greylag Goose, Red Kite, Peregrine - chased Skylark then took Woodpigeon, Woodcock, singing m Stonechat (S.Read per JW)
Roundshaw Downs: Wheatear (per Surrey BC)
Rye Meads RSPB: 3 Green Sandpiper fr gadwall_hide (Emily Leonard via Twitter)
Sevenoaks NR: Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in woods west of reserve, 2 Waxwing on cotoneaster Rye Ln north of reserve (found by O Bournat per Mathew Bournat via Kent OS News]
Staines Reservoir: Slavonian Grebe & 3 Black-necked Grebe still S basin (Roger Morton via Twitter); Little Gull 1st-summer south basin 0800 (Dominic Pia via Twitter)
Teddington: Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Nuthatch (private garden) (Ian R Watson)
Theobalds Park Farm: [aka Oylers Farm (obsolete name}] - 127 Golden Plover in field W of the A10 & N of M25 opp Travelodge Cheshunt (Adam Wilson)
Totteridge Valley: 65 Redwing incl flock of 44+ NE 11:00, Long-tailed Tit, 5 Ring-necked Parakeet, Dunnock, 2 Goldcrest, 2 Wren, 7 Robin, Nuthatch, 5 Canada Geese, 5 Mallard, 2 Moorhen, 5 Chaffinches, 12 Black-headed Gulls, 70+ Jackdaw, 50+ Crow, Green Woodpecker, Pied Wagtail, Common Buzzard (prior report all from around Belmont Childrens Farm); also Kestrel, 8 Canada Geese, 2 Mallards, Common Buzzard, 300+ Jackdaw into roost, 200+ Common Gull, 2 Dunnock, Redwing (All in fields next to Folly Farm) (Samuel Levy)
Tyttenhanger GPs: Greenshank, Redshank main pit 0830, 5 Dunlin 1745, no sign of Barn Owl evg, Tawny Owl calling in Garden Wd fr hide 0905 (Ricky Flesher via Twitter); main GP - 3 Little Egret, Caspian Gull still, 4 Snipe, Chiffchaff (Steve Blake via Herts BC)
Walthamstow Marshes: 2 Sand Martin checking out regular nest sites along the canal N of the black bridge at 1115 (Alastair Dent)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: Rock Pipit, Wheatear, 3 Sand Martins on Lockwood; Ringed Plover flying around No 4/5 without landing, 10 Goldeneye 5 on Lockwood and 5 on East Warwick (Walthamstow birders).
Wanstead Flats: 36 Meadow Pipit (a ground patch record for me), 6 Skylark, 4 Chiffchaff, 1 Reed Bunting, 2 Teal, 7 Shoveler, 9 Gadwall, 4 Pochard, 16 Tufted Duck, 4 Little Grebe (James Heal)
Wanstead Park: 1 Chiffchaff (Bob Vaughan); 5 Gadwall, 49 Shoveler, 13 Teal, 19 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe, 1 Little Egret (Tim Harris and the WeBS count surveyors from the Wren group)
West Ham, Grange Rd: Great White Egret over west at 15:10 (John Cadera)
Woodberry Wetlands: Little Gull first winter in winter plumage 07:40 but no further sign, Jack Snipe, 3 Common Snipe, 2 Water Rail, 5 Teal, Jackdaw, Reed Bunting, Sparrowhawk (Chris Farthing); 3 Red-crested Pochard (2m 1f), 1 Teal, Cetti's Warbler, 2 Snipe, Peregrine (f south), Reed Bunting, no sign of Little Gull mid PM (Sam Jones)
Woodford Green: Woodcock flew over green at 11:15 (Joe Dickens)
Saturday 11th March 2017[]
Abbey Wood: Male Kestrel, singing Chiffchaff (Conrad Ellam et al)
Alexandra Park: 60+ Black-headed Gull, 15 Canada Goose, Chiffchaff (0815 heard singing by south observation platform), 3 Chaffinch, Cormorant, 5 Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker (drumming), Green Woodpecker, Kestrel, 5 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Mute Swan, Redwing, 3 Song Thrush, Stock Dove (Bruce Carson); Chiffchaff singing at N end of WG reservoir, 1 Siskin over, 4 Tufted Duck, Grey Wagtail, 1 intermedius-type Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1645 (Sam Jones); 5+ Redwing Lower. Slopes, 2 Sparrowhawk displaying (Bob Watts)
Amwell NR: Barn Owl still Gt Hardmead L (William Bishop via Herts BC)
Banbury Reservoir area: singing male Blackcap (Stuart Fisher)
Beddington Farmlands: 1 first-winter Glaucous Gull, 5 first-winter Caspian Gull, 1 second-winter Yellow-legged Gull, 1 adult Mediterranean Gull, 1 Sand Martin, 1 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, 1 Barn Owl, 1 Common Buzzard over (Peter Alfrey, BFBG) gull pics here [1]
Brent Reservoir: RING-NECKED DUCK drake North Marsh just north of Cool Oak Lane bridge 1130 until 1220 then flew to main res and seen briefly 1255 south bank near jetty then flew towards bridge and no further sign by 16:00 (Joe Taylor, Bob Watts); also drake Scaup, 3 Green Sandpiper, 2 Little Egret, Cetti's Warbler, Little Owl (Joe Taylor); Blackcap singing behind dam early evening (Andrew Self) Badly phone-scoped R-nDuck pics here
Burnt Oak: Little Owl heard near Burnt Oak Brook at 13:00. Heard quite regularly for the last few weeks (Deb Jackson)
Bushy Park: 3 Green Woodpecker, 6+ Meadow Pipit, 2 Skylark (Ian R Watson)
Cassiobury Park: m Lesser Spotted Woodpecker still - drumming & calling from Oak nr Gade Ave car park 0750 (Stephen Middleton via Herts BC)
Cely Woods: Lesser Spotted Woodpecker again (Steve Smith via ELBF Facebook)
Dagenham Chase: 2 Shelduck, Little Egret, Water Rail, 2 Snipe, Cetti’s Warbler, 4m Chiffchaff, m Blackcap, 2 Redwing, f Stonechat, 6 Meadow Pipit, 3 Reed Bunting (Vince Halley-Frame per ELBF Facebook)
Mudchute: Snipe flushed, 1 Sand Martin W, 1 Rock Pipit high E, 7 Redwing, 3 Chiffchaff (Nick Senior)
Muswell Hill: Bullfinch pair - a garden first; and now 40-50 Waxwing over - last seen in tall trees at north end of Muswell Hill golf course 1105 (Andrew Bailey) TQ289916
Panshanger Park: 2 Red Kite, 7 Buzzard, Chiffchaff ('Panshangerpark' tweet)
Pinner (HA5): Peregrine Falcon over at 12:38, Red Kite over at 14:11, 3 Common Buzzard south/south east at 11:56, 12:39 & 14:09, Sparrowhawk, Linnet over, female Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Jackdaw, 2 Coal Tit & 4 Goldfinch; later: Tawny Owl heard at 22:45 - five species of raptor from the garden today :) (Jon Ridge)
Priest Hill: 30 Meadow Pipit, Little Owl, Tawny Owl (Steve Gale via Twitter)
Primrose Hill: 30 Starling E 0640, 8 Redwing (Twitter)
Queen Mother Reservoir: 4 Pintail 3m f, Water Pipit north bank & nr pier then flew to gravel works 0800 - permit only (A Tomczynski via Berks BN)
Rainham RSPB: Short-eared Owl hunting along riverside at 4.30pm (Ian Bradshaw); m Wheatear (Mike Messenger per ELBF Facebook); m Red-breasted Merganser, 2 Corn Bunting (Ben & Mike Rumsby per ELBF Facebook); 48 Shelduck, 3 Little Egret, 6 Marsh Harrier 2m 4f, 3 Buzzard, m Peregrine, Avocet, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Ringed Plover, 2 Curlew, 12m Ruff, 9 Redshank, Jack Snipe, 17 Snipe, 7 Yellow-legged Gull, Barn Owl, 3 Short-eared Owl, 2 Kingfisher, 2 Bearded Tit, Sand Martin, 13m Cetti’s Warbler, 4m Chiffchaff, m Blackcap, Water Pipit (per ELBF Facebook); R Thames Purfleet - 48 Shelduck, 86 Wigeon, 6 Gadwall, 43 Teal, Avocet still, 2 Oystercatcher, 7 Yellow-legged Gull, Sand Martin, 3 Redwing (Fraser Simpson via Twitter)
Richmond Park: m Shoveler, Teal - heard, 6 Pochard - 3 pairs, 3 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Buzzard, 2 Water Rail - heard, 145 Common Gull, 7 Skylark - away from main area, 4 Stonechat - two pairs, 3 Chiffchaff - singing (J.Wilczur, S. Woolfenden, H. Bradshaw)
Roundshaw Downs: Wheatear on cattle fence (BirdGuides)
Staines Moor: 2 Red Kite, 3 Lapwing, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 25+ Fieldfare, 2 Grey Wagtail (Robert Martin via Twitter); 3 Little Egret, Short-eared Owl 1530 flew to KGVI Res, Water Pipit (Tony Sweetland via Twitter)
Stanstead Abbotts Lakes - N Lake: Shelduck, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Kingfisher, 4 Cetti's Warbler, Chiffchaff (Jane Free via Herts BC)
Stocker's Lake: Lesser Spotted Woodpecker still - calling on island fr boathouse end of causeway then flew towards shoveler_hide am (Chris Sharp via Twitter)
Stockwell: various places - plenty House Sparrows at nest sites (Michael Mac)
Streatham Common: Chiffchaff singing, Little Owl at roost, Goldcrest pair (Peter Newmark)
Swanscombe Marsh: 2 Marsh Harrier, 3 Common Buzzard, 15 Turnstone, summer-plumage Water Pipit, 11 Cetti's Warbler, 4 singing Chiffchaff, 2 Raven, Siskin; also 2 Brimstone, 5 Small Tortoiseshell, Comma (Andrew Self)
Tyttenhanger GPs: ad Mediterranean Gull on main pit spit till 1015 (Andrew Steele via Herts BC); 2 Little Gull ad 1w arr'd from north over main pit 14:00 (Steve Younger via Herts BC); Sand Msrtin over (S Blake/R Flesher via Herts BC)
Walthamstow Marshes: 1 Sand Martin by canal 16:30 (Sue Barry)
Walthamstow Reservoirs, Lockwood: 5 Avocet on NE bank then landed in water for several minutes before presumably departing, 3-4 Little Gull all too briefly on west side, Dunlin, drake Scaup, 2 Goosander (Stuart Fisher/David Bradshaw); Common Buzzard over Billet Rd 12.30 (S Fisher)
Wanstead Flats: Northern Wheatear (m) London year-1st (Tony Brown, Jonathan Lethbridge) photo here[2]
Woodberry Wetlands: 4 Common Snipe, 2 Water Rail, 4 Teal, Yellow-legged Gull, 2 Grey Wagtail, 2 Reed Bunting (Chris Farthing)
Woodford: f Smew police station still (Tony Brown et al per ELBF Facebook)
Friday 10th March 2017[]
Amwell NR: 2 Barn Owl fr viewpt (Phil Ball/Ron Cousins per Herts BC)
Cassiobury Park: 2 Little Egret, m Lesser Spotted Woodpecker still - commuting betw tall trees by the river at west end nr Gade Ave & birches in miniature railway compound am (Lee Evans per Herts BC); LSW again by R Gade up from bridge by Gade Ave 1245 (per Herts BN)
Chiswick: Caspian Gull 2cy at King's House Sports Grounds early morning then flew to River Thames [usual bird seen at London Wetland Centre & Hammersmith etc since start of 2017], also 2 Stock Doves and drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker there; 4+ Stock Doves and Grey Wagtail at Chiswick House and Gardens (Josh Jones)
Crouch End: 2 Male Blackcaps still singing on territory in gardens (1 since 27 Feb) (Sam Jones)
Dollis Brook: Between Fursbry Allotments and Gordon Road Allotments - Little Egret 16:00 heading upstream then relocated behind Finchley tennis club, 2 Teal, 6 Long-tailed Tit, 3 Goldcrest, 5 Nuthatch, Stock Dove, Grey Heron S 17:00, 2 Mistle Thrush, 2 Redwing (Samuel Levy)
Finchley: Garden N3 - M Blackcap (Samuel Levy)
Greenwich Ecology Park: Little Grebe, Common Snipe, Chiffchaff (John Bushell)
Heathrow: 3 Cetti's Warbler. (Adam Cheeseman)
Hogsmill STW Nature Reserve: 13 Shoveler, m Gadwall left high to NW, 8 Little Grebe, 10700 Black-headed Gull (10650 E), 19 Common Gull (18 E), 2 Redwing (Andrew Skotnicki)
Islington, Liverpool Road: Sparrowhawk, mobbed by Carrion Crow (Jon Agar)
Leyton Flats/Snaresbrook: Firecrest heard near Leyton Flats car park early morning (Stuart Fisher)
London Wetland Centre: 2 Shelduck, 5 Pintail, 3 Redshank, 3 Kingfisher, 1 Water Pipit, 1 Stonechat, 3 Common Snipe, 1 Little Egret, 7 Mute Swan, 1 Jack Snipe, drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker (Martin Honey et al.); there was a report of a Ringed Plover seen from Headley Hide (Shailesh Patel); Reported to me as 2 Ringed Plover - disturbed by a predator. An uncommon bird at LWC (MRH).
Lynsters Farm: pr Oystercatcher mating (Joan Thompson via Herts BC)
Lynsters Lake: 3 Red-crested Pochard 2m f (Joan Thompson via Herts BC)
Mile End Park: 2 Chiffchaffs one singing occasionally in Arts Pavilion reed bed (Bob Watts)
Motspur Park: Firecrest in gasholder wood, Little Egret over (Bob Smith)
Oxleas Wood: Common Buzzard, 2 Nuthatch, Treecreeper, 3+ Redpoll, Goldfinch, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel [f/m], Jackdaw, Stock Dove [pair], Great Spotted Woodpecker, Chaffinch, Mallard [pair] (Ron Turner)
Pinner (HA5): male Sparrowhawk alighted the feeding apparatus, pair of Great Spotted Woodpecker, 6 Redwing, Coal Tit, Jackdaw & 4 Goldfinch (Jon Ridge) - Tomorrow looks good for arrivals (JR)
Primrose Hill: Collared Dove NE 0820, 5 Redwing (Twitter)
Rainham RSPB: m Corn Bunting, f Yellowhammer (Howard Vaughan via ELBF Facebook); 2 Little Egret, 4 Marsh Harrier 2m 2f, Buzzard, pr Peregrine, 2 Oystercatcher, 9 Curlew, 66 Dunlin, Jack Snipe, 13 Snipe, 2 Short-eared Owl, 4 Bearded Tit 2pr, 2m Chiffchaff, m Blackcap (per ELBF Facebook); R Thames Purfleet - 48 Shelduck, Avocet still (Fraser Simpson via Twitter)
Roydon: Barn Owl hunting over field by Roydon stn 1715 (Jan Swan via EBwS News)
Staines Reservoir: 35 Goldeneye & 2 Black-necked Grebe still but no sign Scaup or Slavonian Grebe (Dominic Pia via Twitter)
Thorney Counrtry Park: Bullfinch (m), Cetti's Warbler, Goldcrest, 2 Common Gulls, 4 Great Crested Grebes, Mistle Thrush, 4 Chaffinch, Grey Heron, Red Kite (Sue Giddens)
Totteridge Valley/Darlands Lake: Lapwing, Little Egret, c300 Common Gull, c25 Fieldfare, 20 Redwing, 3 Bullfinch, 16 Teal (John Colmans)
Tyttenhanger Gravel Pits: Pair of Raven preening on fencing in llama field by Willows Farm drive as per March 1st. (See photo.) Both occasions around 10.00 am then flew off singly. (Jo Edwards); Green Sandpiper, Mediterranean Gull 1w till 1115 then W (Simon West via Twitter); 2 Siskin waterworks (Rupert Evershed via Herts BC)
Victoria Park: West Lake - 1 Chiffchaff, 3 Red-crested Pochard 2m f, 4 Shoveler, 10 Pochard, 3 Egyptian Goose (Bob Watts)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: M Scaup on Lower Maynard, Pr Goosander, Fem Goldeneye & 12+ Little Egret on Lockwood, 4 Goldeneye 2pr & 8 Teal on Upper Maynard - general build up of Pochard and Gadwall in area, Chiffchaff singing by River Lea & Cetti's Warbler calling by Forest Road Bridge - 12-1pm (Davey Leach); 5 Goldeneye - East Warwick; Stonechat - West Warwick; 2 Common Sandpipers 1 each on No 4 & 5; ad Yellow-legged Gull - Lockwood; 2 Green Sandpipers on overflow (Paul Whiteman, David Bradshaw).
West Drayton: Swan Rd - 2 Little Egrets on river by bridge (Sue Giddens).
Woodberry Wetlands: 4 drake Red-crested Pochard, Buzzard high W, Sparrowhawk mobbed by crows and wagtails, 2 Water Rail, 2 Common Snipe, 2 Teal, 3 Great Crested Grebes (2 in courtship display), 2 Stock Dove, m Goosander over NE at 14:05 (Chris Farthing)
Thursday 9th March 2017[]
Alexandra Palace: 15-20 Waxwing in trees near deer enclosure entrance 0835, also Kingfisher on reservoir (N) (Andrew Bailey); 2 Male Blackcap, 4 Goldfinch, 17 Canada Goose, 2 Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, 4 Greenfinch 3m f, Kestrel, 2 Nuthatch, 3 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Redwing, 3 Stock Dove, 2 Song Thrush, 6 Tufted Duck - 08:30-10:30 (Bruce Carson)
Antill Road E3: Male Blackcap, Brimstone in garden (Harry Harrison)
Brook Farm, Upminster: 240 Wigeon, Little Egret, Red Kite, Merlin (R Barnes per ELBF Facebook)
Bush Hill Park, Enfield: Red Kite over 1130am (Andrew Peel)
Cassiobury Park: Lesser Spotted Woodpecker again nr mini railway & gym equipment am (Ian Bennell via Twitter) TQ091971
Enfield Lock: singing Blackcap at Swan & Pike Pool at 08:45 (Martin Shepherd)
Leatherhead: 2 Goosander R Mole (per Surrey BC News)
London Wetland Centre: 4 Redshank, 1 Bittern, 1 Chiffchaff, 2 Shelduck, 1 Water Pipit, 2 Common Snipe, 1 Kingfisher, 4 Pintail, 4 Siskin (WWT Website); 4 Common Snipe, 1 Jack Snipe, 3 Kingfisher [m 2f] very active in Sheltered lagoon (M. Honey et al.)
North Met Pit: Goosander, Goldeneye, 30 Siskin, Chiffchaff, 3 Goldcrest and Kingfisher (Katy Thomas and Dave Morrison)
Panshanger Park: 30+ Siskin (Keith Smith via Herts BC)
Pinner (HA5): Red Kite over at 12:53, Common Buzzard over high at 12:06 & low north at 12:15, Green Woodpecker, Jay, Coal Tit & 3 Goldfinch (Jon Ridge)
Pinner (Hill Road): Sparrowhawk over & a Coal Tit (Jon Ridge)
Pinner Park Farm: Little Owl, 4 probable migrant Meadow Pipit, 8 Fieldfare, 5 Redwing, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, 31 Jackdaw & 4 Stock Dove (Jon Ridge)
Richmond Park: 241 Common Gull - Upper Pen Pond (J.Wilczur)
Sewardstone Marsh: White Wagtail with Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits on reservoir bank at 10:20, 8 singing Chiffchaff in the area, Kestrel, Kingfisher, 2 Grey Wagtail territories along the relief channel, 2 Common Buzzard and 2 singing Goldcrest further south (Martin Shepherd)
Staines Reservoir: 19 Shelduck, Slavonian Grebe & 4 Black-necked Grebe still, 3 Redshank (Dominic Pia via Twitter)
Stocker's Lake: 10 Goldeneye, 2 Little Egret, 3 Cetti's Warbler causeway/pulpit/life belt (Geoff Lapworth via Herts BC)
The Ridgeway, Mill Hill: 25 White-fronted Goose E 17:00 (Samuel Levy) I personally consider that a brilliant record, surely the first for Mill Hill [Bill Rutherford] There has been at least one other record that i can find of 1,000+ NE in March 1987... (SL)
Tooting Bec Common: Firecrest still lakeside, Brimstone (I McDonald/S Woolfenden)
Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park: Male Firecrest still singing from Sanctuary Wood 1300, also 6+ Brimstone, 2 Small Tortoiseshell, Comma (Bob Watts)
Trent Park: 2 Kestrel pr displaying, 2 fem Lesser Redpoll feeding in birch Rough Lot, Red Admiral Shaws Wood (Robert Callf)
Tyttenhanger GPs: Caspian Gull 2cy stil main pit & Mediterranean Gull 1w evg, Yellowhammer over (Rupert Evershed via Herts BC)
Valentines Park: Little Egret in brook (becoming regular now early morning), Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Green Woodpecker, 30+ Redwing, Grey Wagtail, 2 calling Stock Dove (Barbara Miller)
Verulamium Park: Little Egret, Chiffchaff (Andrew Steele via Herts BC)
Victoria Park Kingfisher by the Pagoda 14:50 (Sue Barry)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: Drake Scaup on Low Maynard, 2 Goosander on Lockwood, 4 Goldeneye m f on Lockwood & m and 2f on West Warwick, 2 Peregrine m f, Sparrowhawk, Common Sandpiper on No.5, 21 Little Egret on Lockwood, 2 Kingfisher, 25 Shelduck, 15 Gadwall, 3 Great Black-backed Gull, Stock Dove, Pheasant, Meadow Pipit, 4 Cetti's Warbler, 5 Chiffchaff, 2 Reed Bunting; also Brimstone and Harlequin ladybird (Magnus Andersson, Simon Worsfold, Christian Cogley & Jan Dobbie)
Wapping (King Edward Memorial Park): 2 Goldcrest (Paul Hyland)
Woodberry Wetlands: Jack Snipe, 2 Water Rail, 4 Common Snipe, 4 Teal (Chris Farthing)
Wednesday 8th March 2017[]
Bow Creek: Oystercatcher, 2 Common Sandpiper, Cetti's Warbler (James Palmer)
Brent Reservoir: Pair of Pintail N. Marsh (Francis O'Sullivan)
Chelsea Bridge Wharf: Grey Wagtail (Neil Anderson)
Dollis Brook, Holders Hill: 3 Cormorant (2 N and 1 circled and then headed back S), also Song Thrush, Starling (Samuel Levy).
Edgware: Queensbury Jubilee Line station - Blackcap in sub-song at 8.05am In bushes between southbound platform and car park (Tony Blake)
Finchley: Garden N3 - 2 Stock Dove (Samuel Levy)
Grovelands Park: Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, 2 Mute Swan pr, 2 Egyptian Goose pr, 6 Mandarin Duck, male Pochard, 23 Tufted Duck 12m 11f, 10+ Stock Dove, Tawny Owl roosting 16:10, 2 Green Woodpecker, 2 male Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Grey Wagtail pr, 2 singing male Song Thrush, 6 Redwing, 3 Goldcrest, 2 Coal Tit, 2 Nuthatch pr, 2 Treecreeper (Robert Callf)
Hogsmill STW Nature Reserve: 6 Little Grebe, 12 Lesser Black-backed Gull E, Kingfisher, 4 Pied Wagtail (3 S and 1 W), Blackcap, 5 Linnet (Andrew Skotnicki)
Kidbrooke: 8 Tufted Duck, Little Grebe pair, 20+ Redwing in Sutcliffe Park; 30+ Redwing in Cator Park; Blackcap singing in Moorhead Way (Conrad Ellam)
London Wetland Centre: adult s Mediterranean Gull am on Main Lake, Bittern - NW corner of Reservoir Lagoon, 2 Water Pipit , f Stonechat, Redshank - all on Grazing marsh, Peregrine - CX Hosp, 9 Mandarin - Grebe pool nr Wildside Hide (Mike Wheeler); 1m Stonechat on grazing marsh, 2 Kingfisher m f displaying sheltered lagoon, 1 Common Snipe main lake, 1f Sparrowhawk flew in from Fulham, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers (Martin Honey); Jack Snipe (WWT website)
Pinner (HA5): Red Kite over at 12:26, Sparrowhawk, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Coal Tit, singing Goldcrest & 4 Goldfinch (Jon Ridge)
Priest Hill: Red Kite S 1110 (Steve Gale via Twitter)
Putney: 3 m House Sparrow - Clarendon Drive, 4 m House Sparrow - Dryburgh Road - two of the few colonies in Putney still surviving (J.Wilczur)
Rainham RSPB: Red Kite (David Darrell-Lambert per ELBF Facebook)
Rye Meads RSPB: Water Pipit still fr gadwall_hide (Allan Meadows via Herts BC)
The Ridgeway, Mill Hill: 34 Redwing, Stock Dove, 2 Ring-necked Parakeets, Great Spotted Woodpecker (Samuel Levy)
Staines Reservoir: S basin - Scaup, Slavonian Grebe & 3 Black-necked Grebe still (Dominic Pia via Twitter)
Stubbers Outdoor Pursuits Centre: 150 Redwings, 30 Fieldfare, 7 Great Crested Grebes, 2 Egyptian Geese, Kingfisher, 25 Coots, 9 Common Gulls, 12 Black-headed Gulls, Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dave McGough)
Trent Park: 13 Tufted Duck 7m 6f, f Pochard, 9 Mandarin 6m 3f, Green Woodpecker, 3 Song Thrush, 20 Goldfinch, 6 Siskin, Goldcrest (Pete Lowman)
Turnham Green Terrace: 2 Sparrowhawk flying overhead westerly (Sebastian Sattin)
Tyttenhanger GPs: Caspian Gull 2cy main pit still, Yellowhammer over (Rupert Evershed via Herts BC)
Walthamstow Marshes: 2 Redshank NE over South Marsh at 13:10 (Dirk Chumley)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: north side - adult drake Scaup on Low Maynard, Yellow-legged Gull 3w (Lockwood), Skylark over north, drake Goldeneye (High Maynard), Peregrine Falcon on pylon by entrance; no sign Sibe Chiff in light drizzle (David Callahan & Jamie Partridge); South Side - Dunlin on No. 4 on Mud in the rain, also 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper & 16 Teal on No 4 (Looking excellent for Waders but none seen on No 5), also 2 Cetti's Warblers calling around No 3 & 2 - 12.10-13.00 (Davey Leach).
West Hyde: 8 Yellowhammer (Dan Pinkham via Herts BC)
Woodberry Wetlands: 6 Shelduck 5m1f departed NE at 8:00, Common Snipe, 4 Teal, 6 Redwing, Reed Bunting (Chris Farthing)
Woodford: f Smew police station (Tony Brown et al per ELBF Facebook)
Alexandra Park: 3 Egyptian Geese flew from Wood Green Res and over station heading towards Boating Lake 0645 (Bob Watts).
Amwell NR: Sand Martin N then back SW evg Gt Hardmead L (William Last via Herts BC); rh Smew still Gt Hardmead L south end, Woodcock 1825, Barn Owl still over reedbed nr viewpt 1820 (William Bishop via Twitter)
Finchley: Garden N3 - Sparrowhawk thermaling and drifting SE 17:00 (Samuel Levy)
Finsbury Park, N4: 20 Redwing in Finsbury Park in fenced-off Hope play area near the cafe, 5 drake Red-crested Pochard on the lake (Ann Feltham)
Ingrebourne Valley: f Brambling still nr visitor centre am (Shaun Harvey via Twitter); Brambling, 3 Buzzards, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Stonechat, 9 Reed Buntings, 20 Teal, 5 Shoveler, 7 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Water Rail, 2 Song Thrush, 3 Wrens, 8 Dunnock, Tawny Owl (Dave McGough)
Leatherhead: 4 Common Buzzard circling distantly - viewed from Randalls Way (Neil Batten); Chiffchaff singing south of River Mole near town centre (Paul Goodman)
Lee Valley, Cornmill Meadows: male Shelduck, 2 Mandarin Duck (in adjacent Abbey Gardens), 55 Wigeon, 35 Teal, 2 Shoveler, 4 Gadwall, 3 Goosander (flying over), 5 Lapwing, 7-8 Common Buzzard, 4 Kestrel, 10+ Redwing (some singing), 10+ Siskin; also Brimstone, Fox (Simon Papps)
London Wetland Centre: 2 Bittern, 3 Common Snipe, 1 Jack Snipe, 2 Water Pipit, 3 Stonechat 2m f, 5 Reed Bunting 3m 2f, 1 Sparrowhawk high over main lake, 3 Mandarin 2m f, 2 Shelduck m f investigating nest box, 8+ singing Cetti's Warblers (Martin Honey et al.); 5 Pintail (per Surrey BC); Redshank, Kingfisher (WWT website)
Pinner (HA5): Red Kite over at 12:07, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Coal Tit & 4 Goldfinch (Jon Ridge)
Priest Hill: Jack Snipe flushed east side (Steve Gale via Twitter)
Primrose Hill: 5 Buzzard (4 fr south thermalled SW 11:20 & 1 to south of Hill 12:15), 2 Peregrine, Rook first of the year [foy] S toward Regent's Pk late-am, only 2 Redwing still, Meadow Pipit foy W 07:10 - 1st obvious passerine migrant here, Linnet foy N early-am, 5 Chaffinch & 8 Goldfinch N/NW (Twitter)
Rainham RSPB: pr Bearded Tit, Short-eared Owl, 2 Water Pipit, pr Marsh Harrier, Jack Snipe, 14 Snipe, 2 Little Egret, Chiffchaff, 4 Stonechat (RSPB per ELBF Facebook)
Rye Meads RSPB: Bittern stiil (Luke Shenton via Herts BC)
Sevenoaks NR: 2 Buzzard, Snipe, 4 Treecreeper, 8 Lesser Redpoll, 12 Siskin, 4 Bullfinch 2m 2f (Bexley Birdbrains via Kent OS News)
Staines Reservoir: m Scaup, Slavonian Grebe & 4 Black-necked Grebe still, Dunlin (per Surrey BC News)
Stanwell Moor: Cetti's Warbler h, Treecreeper (Dominic Pia via Twitter)
Stocker's Lake: 7 Goldeneye 3m 4f, Oystercatcher fr tern_hide on island, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 12 Siskin (Chris Sharp via Twitter)
The Ridgeway, Mill Hill: Linnet over heading NE 07:20 (Samuel Levy)
Tooting Commons: Little Owl, Blackcap singing in adj gdns; Comma butterfly (Alan Wilkinson via Twitter)
Tower of London: Singing Greenfinch in tall trees in NE corner of moat (Paul Whiteman)
Tyttenhanger GPs: Caspian Gull 2cy still main GP (Alan Gardiner via Herts BC)
Verulamium Lake: ad Mediterranean Gull 1145 flew fr lake toward Bluehouse Hill at noon (Rupert Evershed via Twitter)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: Siberian Chiffchaff still NE corner of Lockwood, Rook over N, 2 Jackdaw also N, pair of Goldeneye, Cetti's Warbler, 3 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper no 4 (Jamie Partridge)
West Putney: Yesterday. I am posting this for those with an open mind who haven't given in to cynicism. At 10.30, noting a light NW, for me my productive direction, I embarked on my first skywatch of the season. Within moments, a Fan-tailed Warbler circled c50 feet over the garden then bounded off N (R.Kaye) — Rupert, are you submitting a report to the Rarities Committee?
Wimbledon Common: Jack Snipe, Dartford Warbler (J.Wilczur, D.Wills)
Woodberry Wetlands: Jack Snipe, Peregrine, Water Rail, 3 Common Snipe, Shoveler, 5 Teal, Goldcrest (Chris Farthing); 2 Jack Snipe and 2 Peregrines displaying 3pm (CF)
Woodford Green: 3 Treecreepers, f Blackcap, Little Egret, Redwing and f Sparrowhawk am, m Brambling briefly at 4.10pm (Ken Murray)
Monday 6th March 2017[]
Alexandra Park: Kingfisher 1745 Wood Green Res (Bob Watts)
Banstead Woods: migrant Linnet over, 25 Lesser Redpoll Harholt plant'n (David Campbell, Ian Magness & Ian Pratley via CFBW blog)
Canons Farm: 4 Redwing, 3m Stonechat lunch banks (David Campbell, Ian Magness & Ian Pratley via CFBW blog)
Brent Reservoir: Scaup drake still at 06:35, Little Owl, 2 Nuthatch, Pintail drake, Greylag Goose, Chiffchaff, 3 Water Rail, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Kingfisher, 2 Reed Bunting, 20 Common Snipe, 17 Redwing, 6 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Stock Dove (Magnus Andersson)
Coopers Green GPs: Stanborough GP - 2 Green Sandpiper (Pete Waldron via Herts BC)
Dagnam Park: c10 Buzzard over area to north and northeast of Pk 11:45-12:20 (Colin Jupp via EBwS News)
Denham Quarry: Pit 3 TQ054867 Black Swan 3rd, 4th, 5th March per 3 angler's phone photos, flies around and gets the better of Mutes - didn't see today (Dan Pinkham)
Finsbury Park N4: c30 Waxwing [report posted 2pm] splashing in puddles in grass near park gate opposite the Post Office on Seven Sisters Road and then feeding on buds on poplar trees in main avenue TQ315869, 10 Redwing in fenced-off area near the cafe (Ann Feltham); also Sparrowhawk at 14:30 and Little Grebe, 3 Shoveler, 5 drake Red-crested Pochard on the pond, 25 Redwing and 2 Mistle Thrush. Sprawk is first ever raptor in the park for me. Must look up more (Chris Farthing)
Fulham Reach: red-ringed Common Gull 3cy 'ALJJ' by Craven Cottage ringed as pullus on Heligoland Germany in summer 2015; first sighting since (Josh Jones)
Hogsmill STW Nature Reserve: 5 Pochard, pair Teal, Little Egret NW, Sparrowhawk, 3 Great Black-backed Gull E, 13 Stock Dove, 4 Redwing NW, Raven N at 06:20, Siskin NW, 2 Linnet (Andrew Skotnicki)
Ingrebourne Valley: Brambling still nr visitor centre 0810 (Shaun Harvey via Twitter); also 2 Water Rail, Buzzard, 5 Cetti's Warbler, Chiffchaff, 3 Fieldfare, 25 Redwing, 6 Reed Bunting (Dave McGough per ELBF Facebook)
Kelsey Park, London Borough of Bromley: Single Firecrest found between 08.00-09.00hrs as per yesterday posting in holly bushes on right of entrance at southern end of park (Stone Park Avenue) (Dave Thrussell); 3 still (per BirdGuides)
Lea Valley Park: Bullfinch flew from Gunpowder Park to Enfield Island Village c15:30, Peregrine hunting over the north of the King George V Reservoir, flushed 4 Goosander 2m 2f on the River Lea (Katy McGilvray)
Lilly's Wood, Chelsfield: Ln, Orpington: 1 Bullfinch, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 5 Goldcrest, 2 Song Thrush - 11.45-12.20 (Jamie Fletcher) TQ481649
London Fields, Hackney: 24 Waxwing feeding on buds of tallest tree between pub and children's playground - flew off c14.20 (Bob Husband & Jennifer Woodward)
London Wetlands Centre: Water Pipit, Bullfinch, Stonechat, Redshank (Twitter); 2 Kingfisher courtship display, Bittern, Bearded Tit, Skylark NW, 2 Stonechat (WWT website); 8+ singing Cetti's Warbler, 3 Pintail m 2f, 1 Common Snipe, 1 Jack Snipe (showed late in the afternoon), 2 Bittern (Headley hide and N shore reservoir lagoon), 2 Water Pipit (Martin Honey)
Pinner (HA5): 2 Red Kite over at 13:16, 4 Jackdaw, Coal Tit & 2 Goldfinch (Jon Ridge)
Rainham RSPB: 2 Water Pipit, pr Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, f Peregrine, Jack Snipe, 29 Snipe, 12 Redshank, 2 Curlew, 3 Little Egret, pr Great Crested Grebe, 80 House Sparrow, 4 Greenfinch, 2 Redwing (RSPB per ELBF Facebook)
Regent's Canal: c70 House Sparrow. Large colony in derelict buildings at Vyner Street/Lark Row (Niall Keogh) TQ350836
Richmond Park: 4 Woodcock (Paula Redmond)
Rye Meads RSPB: Kingfisher vole_corner, Green Sandpiper on meadow (Allan Meadows via Herts BC)
Staines Moor: pair Little Grebe, Redshank, Stonechat, 4 Reed Bunting, 8 Meadow Pipit, 12+ Skylark, Water Pipit, 8 Linnet, 4 Goldcrest, 2 Cetti's Warbler, Grey Wagtail, 2 Redwing, Little Owl h, 2 Red Kite, 2 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, Sparrowhawk (Nick Baker); 2 Red Kite, 3 Buzzard, 3 Jackdaw & Rook over (Robert Martin via Twitter)
Staines Reservoir: S basin - m Scaup west edge, Slavonian Grebe & 3 Black-necked Grebe southwest cnr 0740 (Paul Watts via Twitter)
Stanwell Moor: Treecreeper still willows by boardwalk (Dominic Pia via Twitter)
The Ridgeway, Mill Hill: Kestrel SE 09:20 being mobbed by a Crow (Samuel Levy)
Thorndon SP: N section - Skylark singing, 2 Nuthatch, 2 Treecreeper, S section - 2m Teal, 3 Buzzard, Kestrel, Skylark singing, 2 Nuthatch ((Andrew Cox via EBwS News)
Tottenham Marshes: 1 Sand Martin seen flying N over Lockwood, 3 Stonechat m 2f N of mowed area N of allotments, 2 Goldcrest in woodland area - 12.30 - 1 pm (Davey Leach).
Trent Park: 2 Long-tailed Tit pair nest building in bramble near Water Grdn (Robert Callf)
Turnham Green Tube W4: 2 Waxwing from east end of eastbound platform. Watched for 15 minutes then they flew S at 17.00. Plenty of berries left (Simon Fogg) TQ213788
Tyttenhanger GPs and Willows Farm: Green Sandpiper main GP, singing Chiffchaff, 5 Tree Sparrow (T Wood via Herts BC); Caspian Gull 2cy still Fishing Lake (TyttGP twitter)
West Dulwich train station: Bullfinch male (never seen one in Dulwich before), Great Spotted Woodpecker 7.50am (Paul Collins)
Woodberry Wetlands: Jack Snipe, Water Rail, 3 Common Snipe, Shelduck, 4 Teal, Sparrowhawk (Chris Farthing)
Woodford Green: Displaying Sparrowhawk and Buzzard, Grey Wagtail, Little Egret, Treecreeper, male Brambling and 2 Firecrest (Ken Murray)
Sunday 5th March 2017[]
Alexandra Park: Male Peregrine south over Golf Course 1053, Chiffchaff singing near Tunnel Res, 5+ Redwing (Bob Watts); Chiffchaff Tunnel Res old viewing platform site 11.00. I must have just missed you Bob (Greg Smith)
Amwell NR: 6 Goldeneye 3m 3f, rh Smew, Water Rail still fr gladwin hide (Chris Ruis via Herts BC)
Bricket Wood: c10 Wigeon, 6 Gadwall & Teal in flooded field by School Ln, 1+ Brambling in Chaffinch flock by School Ln in coppiced area, c15 Lesser Redpoll Bricket Wd Common by bridleway in wet woodland area (Alan Gardiner via Twitter)
Brookmill Park: 4 Redwing (Conrad Ellam)
Chiswick Eyot: Yellow-legged Gull 2cy still showing well (Josh Jones)
Crouch End: 3 Blackcap (2 singing males) in gardens. One singing on territory since the 27th Feb. (Sam Jones)
Feltham (TW13): Red Kite 13:20 flying low over gardens then mobbed by Jackdaws (Naomi Landy)
Hammersmith: Yellow-legged Gull 2cy (with aberrant bill) on River Thames mid pm, 167+ Herring Gulls between Hammersmith Bridge & Craven Cottage (Josh Jones)
Hayes Town UB3: 2 Red Kite low over town at 1615 (Wendy Marks)
Highfield Farm: 9+ Yellowhammer in fields along Nightingale Ln (Rupert Evershed via Herts BC)
Hilfield Park Reservoir: Iceland Gull 1st winter in roost. Picked up by Steve Murray at 17.40 in rain and poor light as large gull numbers built up. Watched it until too dark at 18.00, earlier Stonechat south end of dam at 09.05 v briefly, Chiffchaff at 11.30, female Goldeneye, and 2 Teal (Tony Blake).
Wanstead Park: 32 Shoveler, m Wigeon, 2 Gadwall (Bob Vaughan); Peregrine Falcon over stables, Kingfisher, singing Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Meadow Pipit north, 9 Teal, 6 Gadwall, 4 Little Grebe (Nick Croft)
Weald CP: 5 Goosander ('SBa' [Sue Barry?] per ELBF Facebook)
Saturday 4th March 2017[]
Alexandra Park: Water Rail showing very well in NE corner or Conservation Pond and near football, 3 Mute Swan new subadult Wood Green Res & adult pair Tunnel Res then New River, 8 Tufted Duck Wood Green Res (Gareth Richards, Bob Watts)
Amwell NR: Barn Owl (flew within 10m of watchpoint), 6 Goldeneye, c50 Wigeon (Charlie Farrell)
Beddington Farmlands: 68 Barnacle Goose NW, Iceland Gull 1w, 2 Glaucous Gull 1w (Jim Fell et al); 4 Caspian Gull 2w & three 1w, 1 Mediterranean Gull ad, 1 Yellow-legged Gull ad - 10 species of gull today (Peter Alfrey) pics [4])
Brent Reservoir: drake Scaup, pair of Pintail, 3 Greylag Geese, Redshank, Little Owl, Stonechat, Cetti's Warbler & 3 Meadow Pipits over (Andrew Self); plus 4 Snipe (Roy Beddard)
Brook Farm, Upminster: 2 Sand Martin over private lake [reported 11:23 to BirdGuides], also Little Egret, Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler, Skylark, Sparrowhawk, 2 Buzzard, Kestrel, 9 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Yellowhammer (R Barnes per ELBF Facebook)
Bury Lake, Rickmansworth: 1st Sand Martin for London reported 08:49 (Chris Sharp via Twitter)
Holland Park: Nuthatch, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Pair of Stock Doves (Francis O'Sullivan on Nature Walk)
Holmethorpe SPs: pr Stonechat Moors, Siskin (Richard Perry via HSP blog)
Ilford Valentines Park: 4 Grey Heron 1 on nest plus 3 in adjacent tree plus 1 dead (caught in nest tree branches), 4 Stock Doves, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 50+ Redwings (Barbara Miller)
Ingrebourne Valley: 2 Red-crested Pochard, Red-legged Partridge, 3 Peregrine up high, 7 Cetti's Warbler, Lesser Redpoll, 3 Siskin (David Morrison via Twitter); 2 Stonechat rear of viewing area pm (Shaun Harvey via Twitter)
King George V Reservoir: m Smew, 2 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Little Egret, 13+ Goosander, 21+ Goldeneye, 25+ Shoveler, 2 Shelduck, 4 Lapwing, Peregrine, 14 Common Buzzard, Kingfisher, Stonechat, 40+ Pied Wagtail, 20+ Meadow Pipit, 2 Skylark over, 9 Redwing, 4 singing Chiffchaff, 34 Linnet, Reed Bunting (Neville Smith).
London Fields: 50 Waxwings in trees next to Pub On The Park E8 3PE (Steve Mason)
London Wetland Centre: 1 Coal Tit, 1f Kingfisher, 4 singing Cetti's Warblers (East side of reserve), 1 Water Pipit, 4+ Stonechat (incl 3m 1f seen by others), 3 Pied Wagtail, 2 Shelduck m f, 3m Reed Bunting, Peregrine on Ch X, 1 Redshank seen earlier in the morning (Martin Honey); 5 Pintail (WWT website); Yellow-legged Gull 2cy w/ aberrant bill (Josh Jones blog)
Northolt & Greenford Countryside Park: 6 Shoveler 4m 2f and 7 Snipe (Smith's Farm scrape), 2 Little Grebe & Greylag Goose (canal), 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 5 Herring Gull, 20 Magpie, singing Song Thrush, Dunnock and Greenfinch (Martin Smith)
Pinner (HA5): Red Kite over at 10:52, Common Buzzard north-east at 10:42, Grey Wagtail over, singing Goldcrest, Coal Tit & 2 Goldfinch (Jon Ridge)
Pinner (Marsh Road): Common Buzzard high over the railway track (Jon Ridge)
Pinner Park Farm: Red Kite, Common Buzzard, Little Egret, drake Shoveler, drake Teal, 47 Redwing, 29 Fieldfare, 2 Mistle Thrush, Meadow Pipit, 52 Jackdaw, Green Woodpecker & 4 Pied Wagtail (Jon Ridge)
Priest Hill: 15 Meadow Pipit, 17 Skylark, 12 Redwing, 3 Stonechat, 4 Reed Bunting (Steve Gale via Twitter)
Purfleet: Blackcap m near station (Simon Worsfold)
Rainham Marshes RSPB: 2 Jack Snipe, 4 Marsh Harrier, Barn Owl, Buzzard, Kestrel, 4 Water Pipit, Stonechat f, 4 Oystercatcher, c15 Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Common Snipe, Kingfisher, Cetti's Warbler, Water Rail calling (Mike Wheeler, John Cass, Martin Parker & Simon Worsfold); Mediterranean Gull ad downriver fr landfill 1030 (Jonathan Was via Twitter); 5 Cetti's Warbler (RSPB online sightings board), Thames Purfleet - 2 ad m Marsh Harrier, 427 Dunlin, 12+ Yellow-legged Gull evg roost, 37 Fieldfare (Fraser Simpson via Twitter)
Uxbridge: Red Kite very low over Rockingham Recreation Ground (Frank Nugent).
Walthamstow Reservoirs: m Scaup still on Lower Maynard, m Kingfisher and Water Rail on No.3, also Common Chiffchaff, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Meadow Pipits and Cetti's Warbler (Mark Wardman); Siberian Chiffchaff Lockwood still north end late-pm (Jamie Partridge via Twitter)
Wanstead Flats: 9 Stonechat (something of a record for these parts), 10 Meadow Pipit (Tony Brown); 21 Meadow Pipit including the first songster of the year, 7 Skylark (3 singing), Reed Bunting, 23 Tufted Duck, 3 Pochard, 5 Gadwall, f Teal, 9 Shoveler (no sign Red-crested Pochard), 13+ Herring Gull, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk (Nick Croft)
Wanstead Park: Firecrest (Reservoir Wood), 2 singing Goldcrest, Coal Tit, 9 Teal, m Wigeon, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe (James Heal)
Westbourne Park GU Canal: 2 Peregrine, Grey Wagtail (Francis O'Sullivan)
Wildwoods, Enfield: 2 Raven flew over calling 15:20 (Robert Callf)
Wimbledon Common: Red Kite over Inner Park Rd/Parkside 1410 (Paula Redmond via Twitter)
Woodberry Wetlands: Jack Snipe, 5 Common Snipe, Shelduck, 4 Teal, 2 Shoveler, Goldcrest, Redwing, Reed Bunting (Chris Farthing)
Friday 3rd March 2017[]
Amwell NR: 5 Goldeneye, rh Smew & 3 Oystercatcher Gt Hardmead L gladwin hide area (Jenny Sherwen via Herts BC & Twitter)
Banstead Woods: Pheasant, Peregrine, Tawny Owl, 7 Redwing (Duncan Jennings & Ian Pratley via CFBW blog)
Pymmes Park, Edmonton: 2 Little Grebe trilling, 2 Mute Swan, 2 Greylag Goose, 31 Canada Goose, male Egyptian Goose with metal ring No1459597, 2 Shoveler, 2 male Pochard, 25 Tufted Duck 16m 9f, 11 Common Gull 10 adults 1 first-winter, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Pied Wagtail, singing male Song Thrush, 25 Redwing, 2 Mistle Thrush, 3 singing male Goldcrest, 3 Nuthatch 1m 2f, 7+ Greenfinch went to roost 16:35 (Robert Callf)
Regent's Park: Water Rail showing well in usual place near cafe (Jim Fell)
Rye Meads RSPB: 178 Shoveler, 2 Oystercatcher, Green Sandpiper, 30 Snipe (Graham White via Twitter)
Sevenoaks NR: 5 Gadwall, 4 Lapwing, 7 Siskin (Jack Headley via Kent OS News)
Southwark Bridge: Caspian Gull 2cy lingered then flew east at 1.45 (Nick Senior)
Staines Reservoir: 2m Scaup, Slavonian Grebe & 5 Black-necked Grebe (Dominic Pia via Twitter)
The Ridgeway, Mill Hill: 4 Mistle Thrush, Green Woodpecker; also Firecrest 15:25 on opposite side of road from previous sightings in holly bush near an entrance to Mill Hill School - gave a few very brief calls (Samuel Levy)
Tooting Bec Common: Firecrest still in trees on NE side of lake 13.00 (Peter Carlill); also in Bedford Woods but elusive 15.00-15.45 (Nick Moll)
Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park: Firecrest male still singing from Sanctuary Wood 1245 (Bob Watts).
Trent Park: 2 Song Thrush, 2 Goldcrest, 7 Mandarin 4m 3f, pair of Teal, 2 Common Buzzard, 4 Reed Bunting, 4 Goldfinch, 3 Pochard 2m f, 4 Tufted Duck 2m 2f, Stock Doves, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker (Pete Lowman)
Tyttenhanger GPs: Caspian Gull still, Great Black-backed Gull & 8 Snipe main pit, Siskin waterworks (Rupert Evershed & Richard Coombes via Herts BC)
Victoria Embankment: Bizarre sighting of 2 Greylag walking along the pavement this am (Neil Anderson)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: M Scaup still on Lower Maynard, pr Goldeneye & adult Yellow-legged Gull & 2 Fieldfare flew over Upper Maynard, fem Goldeneye on Lockwood - 12-1pm (Davey Leach); Oystercatcher first of year No. 5 in the afternoon (Paul Whiteman)
Woodford Green: 4-5 Redwings (first for a while), 4+ Song Thrush, 2 Mistle Thrush, 2 Treecreeper, 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker, Little Egret, 2 Grey Wagtail, male Sparrowhawk, also a pair of flyover Mandarin Ducks, 3 Brambling at 11:55 am (Ken Murray)
Thursday 2nd March 2017[]
Amwell NR: Caspian Gull 2cy evg pre-roost then S (BirdGuides); Barn Owl viewpt still - flyby at dusk (Jason Ward via Twitter)
Greenwich Ecology Park: Little Grebe, Kingfisher, Chiffchaff (John Bushell)
Hampstead Heath: Coal Tit, Mistle Thrush, Nuthatch, Little Owl 14.05 showing well in sunshine; scared back into its hole by passing dog walkers; see yesterday for location. (Bruce Carson)
Hogsmill STW Nature Reserve: pair Shelduck, Pochard, 2 Water Rail, 5 Little Grebe, 12800 Black-headed Gull (11500 E), 1530 Herring Gull E (Andrew Skotnicki)
Holmethorpe SPs: Little Egret, Dartford Warbler still but elusive, 4 Stonechat, 3 Siskin (Ray Baker via HSP blog)
Ingrebourne Valley: Red Kite, Buzzard, Kestrel, f Brambling, Stock Dove, 5 Reed Buntings, 7 Cetti's Warbler, 2 f Stonechat, 5 Common Snipe, 7 Lapwing (Dave McGough)
Leyton Flats: Woodcock outside back of Court at 13.30 (Stuart Fisher)
Little Britain, Cowley, Uxbridge: 1 Little Egret in River Colne. (Roger Dewey)
Maylands GC: Pheasant, Buzzard, 7 Song Thrush, 2f Stonechat (Colin Jupp per ELBF Facebook)
Oxhey: 2 Red Kite displaying over Paddock Rd allotments (Geoff Young via Herts BC)
Oxleas Wood: Common Buzzard [pair], Firecrest, Goldcrests, Stock Dove, Coal Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jackdaw, Chaffinch, Kestrel [m] (Ron Turner)
Pinner (Coronation Parade): Grey Wagtail over (Jon Ridge)
Pinner Park Farm: 2 Red Kite (one of which briefly landed on fields), Common Buzzard, 2 Little Owl, Water Rail, drake Shoveler, drake Teal, 7 Redwing, 2 Green Woodpecker, 7 Stock Dove & 121 Jackdaw (Jon Ridge)
Pinner Village Gardens: 41 Redwing, Nuthatch & 2 Stock Dove (Jon Ridge)
Priest Hill: 20 Fieldfare, 8 Stonechat (Steve Gale via Twitter)
Regent's Park: Presumed small variant Herring Gull (2w) present again at lake (see my report on 22nd February) (Joe Taylor) new photos on flickr for a few days [removed on 11/03/17]
Richmond Park: 2 Stonechat (m), 4 Skylark (2 singing), 2 Song Thrush, 3 Little Owl, 2 Tawny Owl, 3 Woodcock, 6 Redwing (P. Redmond) Is there a reliable spot/area for seeing Woodcock and Tawny Owl in Richmond Park? Thanks, Mat Hare
St James's Park: 2 Common Buzzard arrived together drifting low NW over the Park, one then lingering particularly over Horse Guards Parade for a while from 14:05 (Frank Nugent)
Scotsbridge Mill Watercress Beds nr Rickmansworth: Water Rail, Green Sandpiper, Snipe (Geoff Lapworth via Herts BC)
Southgate College: 26 Waxwing 5pm on Top of Tree by Back Exit Gate N14 6BS then flew N to tall tree in nearby Garden (Davey Leach).
The Ridgeway, Mill Hill: 2 Pied Wagtail 6+ by Blackbird, also Kestrel over 13:45 heading South being mobbed by Jackdaws, also 2 Stock Dove (Samuel Levy)
Theobalds Park Farm: 109 Golden Plover (Adam Wilson via Herts BC)
Tooting Bec Common: Firecrest (5th day) by lake still in thickets am (per Peter White via Twitter)
Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park: Firecrest male still singing Sanctuary Wood 0745 and at 1300 singing incessantly from same area opposite Memorial Glade near 3rd gate along fence line if entering main entrance to site (Bob Watts).
Tyttenhanger GPs: Caspian Gull 2cy still at sandspit fr top watchpt am (Lee Evans via Twitter)
Victoria Park: Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, 2 Pochard, 4 Red-crested Pochard, 6 Shoveler (Eduardo López-Salas)
Walthamstow Reservoirs: 2 Goosander m & f on no 5, 7 Common Snipe flew over East Lockwood, 4 Linnet, 3 Meadow Pipit, 17 Shelduck (Simon Worsfold); also Peregrine, drake Scaup Lower Maynard, 11 Goldeneye, Common Sandpiper, Stonechat pm (David Morrison via Twitter); Caspian Gull 3cy photographed over (Jamie Partridge via Twitter)
Brookmill Park: Little Egret, Redwing, Goldcrest (Conrad Ellam)
Chiswick Eyot: Yellow-legged Gull 2cy still (Josh Jones blog)
Colney Heath: 6 Siskin (David Booth via Herts BC)
Dagnam Park: Buzzard, m Kestrel, 5 Green Woodpecker, 5 Great Spotted Woodpecker, f Lesser Spotted Woodpecker seen & h nr perch pond, Treecreeper singing, 20+ Redwing, 2 Bullfinch (Colin Jupp via EBwS News)
Dollis Brook, Holders Hill: Sparrowhawk over drifting into near by garden being mobbed by Jackdaws, Pigeons, and Starling (Samuel Levy)
Epping Forest (Highams Park/Woodford Green): 5 Brambling (3m 2f possibly 7 total - I had a slightly restricted view into a small clearing where they were feeding in the leaf litter with a few chaffinch), 15+ Chaffinch, 2 Goldcrest, 4 Long-tailed Tit, 3 Redwing (Mike Smith)
Gustard Wood nr Wheathampstead: f Brambling & f Siskin on gdn feeder (Kate Aylett via Herts BC)
Hampstead Heath: Stonechat on fencing round new planting Tumulus field (Dave Porritt); Little Owl showing very well in (I assume) same oak tree to W of fenced off area close to the tumulus at 1400 (Francis Tusa).
Headstone Moat: Little Egret - probable site tick, singing Goldcrest, 2 Jackdaw & drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker (Jon Ridge)
Ingrebourne Valley: 25 Fieldfare, 35 Common Snipe, f Brambling, 2 f Stonechat, Buzzard, 6 Dunnock, 5 Reed Bunting, 3 Song Thrush (Dave McGough)
London Wetland Centre: 1 Bittern, 1 Caspian Gull, 4 Stonechat, 1 Peregrine, 5 Pintail, 4 singing Reed Bunting (WWT Website); 2 Bittern, 2 Peregrine - one of which took a Lapwing in mid-air over the main lake before flying off with it NNE, 2 Common Snipe, 4+ singing Reed Bunting and 1f, 2 Water Pipit, 6 Pintail m 5f, 4 Stonechat 3m f, 2 Shelduck, 1f Kingfisher, pr nesting Egyptian Geese (Martin Honey)
Marrion Wilson Park: 3 Siskin, Nuthatch, Song Thrush, 4+ Stock Dove (Conrad Ellam)
Mill Hill East Station: Goldcrest 16:00 station side of bridge in the bushes opposite the station (Samuel Levy)
North Harrow (Woodlands Open Space): Green Woodpecker, 3 Redwing & 2 Long-tailed Tit (Jon Ridge)
Pinner Park Farm: 17 Redwing, 2 Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Goldcrest, Coal Tit - session then aborted due to the mud & rain (Jon Ridge)
Rainham RSPB: 160 Black-tailed Godwit (per ELBF Facebook); Jack Snipe (BirdGuides); 2 Water Pipit (RSPB online sightings board)
Rotherhithe: Stave Hill/Russia Dock - Great Spotted Woodpecker, Kingfisher, 4 Tufted Duck 2m 2f, Long-tailed Tit, Goldcrest, 2 Greenfinch singing, Chaffinch, Song Thrush singing, Mistle Thrush (John Cadera)
Rye Meads RSPB: Bittern (in channel between Warbler hide and turnstile), 2 Bullfinch, 3 Oystercatcher, 3 Snipe, 2 Buzzard, Green Sandpiper, Shelduck (Chris Farthing & Tony Butler)
Staines Reservoir: Slavonian Grebe S basin & 5 Black-necked Grebe still 1200 (BirdGuides)
Teddington: Sparrowhawk over Broom Road 10am (Mike Foster)
Trent Park: 13 Mandarin Duck 8m 5f lower lake, 3 Pochard 1m 2f lower lake, 8 Tufted Duck 4m 4f upper lake, Tawny Owl hooting 17:38, 3 Green Woodpecker, 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 5 Song Thrush including four singing males, 5 Redwing, 5 Coal Tit, 3 Treecreeper, male Bullfinch (Robert Callf)
Tooting Bec Common: Firecrest by lake again - on the right-hand side of lake as viewed fr Bedford Hill in ivy nr slip path c9am (Will Rose via Twitter); again in trees on N side of lake at 11:30, also Jackdaw, Green Woodpecker, Stock Dove (Alan Wilkinson)
Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park: Male Firecrest again singing 1250 in Sanctuary Wood loosely affiliating with mixed tit flock and replete with ring so presumably same individual ringed in February (Bob Watts).
Twickenham: 6 Mandarins 5 males surrounding 1 female who seemed unimpressed - downstream end of Eel Pie Island 9:30am (Mike Foster)
Tyttenhanger Gravel Pits: Pair of Raven ten feet from Willows Farm drive, Peregrine, Red Kite, 15 Tree Sparrow, Oystercatcher, 1w Caspian Gull (Jo Edwards)
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