HighlightsJantoMar2006

March

• Bird find of the Month: Rook over Hyde Park (Des McKenzie)

• Bentley Priory: very little of note more hunting for birds that should be there but simply not around. Good numbers of Greater Spotted Woodpeckers, Jackdaws, and Carrion Crows, Boot Lake is developing a nice area for feeding passerines. (Alan Lewis)

• Brent Res: only a few additions to patchlist this month are a Meadow Pipit (11th) and Stock Dove (18th), otherwise very quiet with no turnover of birds and I missed another Med Gull! 25.3.06 - at last, a really good day at Brent - the best this year. It started off well with a Jackdaw flying over as I was walking along the approach road. Within five minutes of arrival I had located a calling Yellowhammer, the first at Brent for 6 years. After a good wander around looking for Wheatears (no luck) I returned to the hide for some skywatching. A flock of five Jackdaws flew over, later followed by another single, two groups of very distant birds flew East, about 20-30 and quite fast, I can only guess that they were Golden Plover. And after that, a large raptor appeared and I was feasting my eyes on a superb Red Kite, the 3rd one I've seen at Brent and the best bird of the year so far (Andrew Self).

• Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens: Mute Swan, 88 on the 11th ~ Greylag Goose, 61 on the 15th ~ Greylag x Canada Goose, one on three dates and two on the 22nd ~ Canada Goose, 24 on the 15th ~ Egyptian Goose, a pair on the 27th and one on the 30th ~ Mandarin, three on the 5th, a pair on five dates and a f on the 18th ~ Gadwall, 21 on the 5th ~ Mallard, 63 on the 30th ~ Shoveler, 32 on the 5th ~ Pochard, 16 on the 11th ~ Tufted Duck, 107 on the 13th including one partially leucistic m first seen on the 7th (which remained present up to the 30th) ~ Ruddy Duck, five on the 2nd and 29th ~ Little Grebe, four on three dates ~ Great Crested Grebe, 11 on the 29th ~ Grey Heron, seven on the 16th ~ Sparrowhawk, one f on the 29th ~ Kestrel, one m on the 1st and one (unsexed) on the 15th ~ Moorhen, 24 on the 15th ~ Coot, 138 on the 15th ~ Woodcock, one flew low SW over the Longwater at 09.04hrs on the 23rd ~ Black-headed Gull, 555 on the 1st ~ Common Gull, 83 on the 11th ~ Lesser Black-backed Gull, 12 on the 30th ~ Yellow-legged Gull, all sightings probably of the same two ads: two on six dates and single/s on three dates ~ Herring Gull, 24 on the 27th ~ Great Black-backed Gull, one 4th-summer type on the 27th ~ Stock Dove, 19 on the 22nd ~ Tawny Owl, two (presumably a pair) calling around 12.17hrs on the 19th ~ Ring-necked Parakeet, 12-15 on the 7th and 16th, one pair copulating on the 22nd and 23rd ~ Green Woodpecker, single/s on four dates ~ Great Spotted Woodpecker, seven on the 14th ~ Sand Martin, one NW at 13.11hrs on the 27th ~ Meadow Pipit, one over the Leafyard at 13.02hrs on the 27th ~ Grey Wagtail, one on the 30th ~Pied Wagtail, four on the 14th ~ Blackbird, 38 on the 15th ~ Fieldfare, one on Buck Hill on the 17th ~ Song Thrush, three on the 14th ~ Redwing, two on the 7th, 27 on the 14th and ten+ between the 15th and 18th, three on the 24th and 56 on the 27th ~ Mistle Thrush, five on the 14th ~ Wheatear, one f on open spaces near the police station on the 27th ~ Blackcap, one sub-singing on the 29th and one f on the 30th ~ Chiffchaff, singles calling but not singing on the 14th, 22nd and 24th, two singing on the 29th, three on the 30th included two singing ~ Goldcrest. four on three dates ~ Long-tailed Tit, c.20 on the 7th ~ Coal Tit, four singing on three dates ~ Nuthatch, up to two (a pair) on three dates ~ Treecreeper, three on the 11th ~ Jackdaw, singles south over the Round Pond at 11.40hrs on the 13th and east over the Round Pond at 09.54hrs on the 15th ~ Rook, one east over the Italian Gardens at 09.21hrs on the 23rd appears to be the first in 28 years ~ Starling, c.200 on the 1st ~ Chaffinch, five on the 15th ~ Goldfinch, three on the 15th, a singing m on the 22nd and two on the 27th ~ Siskin, seven NW over the Round Pond at 09.29hrs on the 29th ~ Linnet, one m flushed from the Parade Ground on the 14th ~ Lesser Redpoll, three north over The Dell on the 14th and two south over the Magazine on the 16th ~ Reed Bunting, one north on the 14th ~ [Escapes etc: White-fronted Goose, the ad first seen on Feb 10th was present to the 29th at least ~ Red-crested Pochard, a pair on four dates ~ New Zealand Scaup, one m on the 30th] ~ (Des McKenzie).

• PB/HB - Beverley Brook: 4th Redwing 60+ and Fieldfare 1. 15th 1 Kingfisher 17th ~ Lesser Redpoll 2. 21st ~ - Redwing 65, Mistle Thrush 1, Kingfisher 1. 23rd Redwing 38, Fieldfare 1, Song Thrush 1, Mistle Thrush 1, Green Woodpecker 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker heard drumming, Meadow Pipit 1. River Thames - 44 Gadwall, 218 Teal, 35 Tufted Duck and c10 Redwing. Bishops Park; 23rd Chiff-chaff 1 singing in the woodland.

• Ruislip Woods : Lapwing one on the 27th, first Sand Martin, Swallow and Chiffchaff back that day. 1 Great Black-backed Gull on the 22nd, Gadwall on the 28th. First Blackcap back on the 31st, also a Snipe and 2 Greylag Geese that day. Still Redwing and Siskin about at the end of the month. I missed several good birds such as Red Kite (Martin Sullivan).

• Surrey Docks : Great Black-backed Gull two on the 19th ~ Song Thrush, two on the 19th ~ Mistle Thrush, one on the 19th ~ Linnet one over on the 19th (Des McKenzie).

• Totteridge Valley: My 61st species was a female Blackcap in the garden on 4th. Still plenty of winter thrushes around on 5th, plus Siskins and 6 Redpolls, with 2 Treecreepers in song at Darlands Lake. 60+ Meadow Pipits and a singing Redwing on 12th. On 18th the 'Mipit' flock was still around and a greyish continental Song Thrush was at Belmont racetrack. On 19th three Lapwings flew over (=62) and I got great views of my second Lesser Spotted Woodpecker for the year, a female, at Darlands Lake. Three Lapwings again on 25th including a displaying pair just inside Middlesex. The 31st produced a great finish to the month, bringing 4 new species: 2 Coot, 6 Wheatears, calling Tree Sparrows and a Willow Warbler (=66), with a good supporting cast of male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Red-legged Partridges, a Redwing, 2 Kingfishers and another calling Tawny Owl. Also lots more Pheasants around recently, with 12 today doubling the previous highest count. (Ian Ellis)

• Walthamstow Reservoirs: Black Swan - 1 throughout ~ Swan Goose - 3 throughout ~ Shelduck - present throughout with 12 on 01/03, 15 rep. 19/03 ~ Goldeneye - max 24 inc 4 drakes ~ Shoveler - 23 on 15/03 ~ Gadwall - up to 40 birds throughout ~ Teal - 124 on 23/03 ~ Pochard - 102 on 22/03 ~ Scaup - drake present 28/02 to 02/03 ~ Goosander - pair rep. 06/03 & 19/03 ~ Red-breasted Merganser - the regular female on Banbury Res 12/03 - no access, view from Banbury Road ~ Ruddy Duck - up to 110 throughout ~ Black-necked Grebe - 1 on 12/03 ~ White Pelican - flyover rep. 19/03 ~ Grey Heron - 52+ at heronry 15/03 ~ Sparrowhawk - female throughout ~ Red-legged Partridge - 1 rep 26/03 ~ Water Rail - 2 on 22/03 ~ Lapwing - 3 over 02/03, 1 over 22/03 ~ Ringed Plover - ad win flushed from Lockwood 09/03 ~ Green Sandpiper - up to 3 throughout ~ Common Sandpiper - up to 3 throughout ~ Dunlin - 1 rep. 19/03 ~ Redshank - 1 rep 09/03 ~ Snipe - 1 rep. 06/03 ~ Mediterranean Gull - wintering bird rep on and off throughout ~ Great Black-backed Gull - up to 3 throughout ~ Common Gull - 119+ on 10/03 ~ Stock Dove - 7 on 12/03 & 22/03 ~ Collared Dove - 2 on 12/03 ~ Rock Pipit - 1 littoralis on 27/03, Lockwood ~ Meadow Pipit - 2 on 12/03, 1 on 29/03 ~ Grey Wagtail - up to 3 throughout ~ Pied Wagtail 11 on 12/03 ~ White Wagtail - 1 on 10/03, 1 rep on 27/03 ~ Sand Martin - c30 on 27/03 ~ Stonechat - fem rep on 26/03 ~ Wheatear - 4 on 27/03 at Lockwood, (2 rep south side = 6), 5 on 29/03 ~ Song Thrush - max 4 singers 12/03 ~ Redwing - 3 on 10/03 ~ Fieldfare - 49 rep 06/03, 5 rep 19/03 ~ Ring Ouzel - 1 reported on 25/03 at Lockwood ~ Mistle Thrush 1 on 12/03 ~ Willow Warbler - 2 on 29/03 ~ Chiffchaff - 2 0n 22/03 ~ Jackdaw 1 rep. 06/03 ~ Jay - 4 on 12/03 ~ Goldfinch - 8 on 12/03 ~ Lesser Redpoll - 4 rep 12/03, 2 on 22/03 ~ Reed Bunting - first singing male 09/03, 9 on 29/03 ~ (David Callahan).

February

• Bird Find of Month: Jack Snipe, Regent's Park - Tony Duckett

• Bentley Priory: Identified the parakeets as 3 Ringed necked Parakeets certainly a pair possible looking for a nesting site. Small number of Siskins. Large numbers of Corvids in the deer enclosure. Work at the lake now finished and looking very good, so much so that Goosanders have decided to hang around. (Alan Lewis)

• Brent Res: almost 3 weeks into Feb and no species added although I have only made one visit due to being on holiday in Uganda and a birding weekend in Norfolk. I missed a Med Gull while away, only the second species this year I've missed. (Andrew Self)

• Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens : Mute Swan, 97 on the 19th ~ Greylag Goose, 154 on the 13th ~ Canada Goose, 109 on the 13th ~ Mandarin, one m on the 1st, 23rd and 28th ~ Gadwall, 20 on the 1st ~ Shoveler, 37 on the 23rd ~ Pochard, 16 on the 28th ~ Tufted Duck, 155 on the 28th ~ Ruddy Duck, one male on the 28th ~ Kestrel, one f on the 13th and 15th ~ Little Grebe, three on four dates ~ Grey Heron, five on the 2nd ~ Moorhen, 33 on the 2nd ~ Coot, 175 on the 2nd ~ Black-headed Gull, c.300 on the 15th ~ Common Gull, 72 on the 1st ~ Yellow-legged Gull, one ad on the 2nd ~ Herring Gull, 17 on the 19th ~ Stock Dove, ten on the 28th ~ Song Thrush, five singing on the 6th ~ Mistle Thrush, five singing on the 6th ~ Great Tit, at least 25 on the 23rd ~ Greenfinch, at least ten on the 12th ~ Siskin, one west over The Dell at 08.30hrs on the 20th ~ Linnet, two flew west at 08.17hrs on the 28th ~ [Escapes etc: one ad White-fronted Goose (unringed/unknown origin but not the free-flying St. James's Park bird) on six dates between the 10th and 28th ~ one 'small race' Canada Goose (thought to be an intergrade) from the 12th and into March ~ Pintail, one female flew high west at 08.22hrs on the 23rd but was considered uncountable due to the feral population at the Wetland Centre and elsewhere ~ a pair (m/f) of Red-crested Pochard on the 12th] ~ (Des McKenzie).

• Putney Bridge to Hammersmith Bridge:28th 20+ Redwing on bowling green.

• Ruislip Woods : 2 Smew still present on the 8th. A Tawny Owl, 1 Gadwall and several Siskins on the 1st. 6 Linnet on the 3rd and a Water Rail on the 8th. Shoveler reapearing towards the end of the month. 1 Great Black-backed Gull on the 27th (Martin Sullivan).

• Totteridge Valley : Explored the northern end of the valley for the first time on 4th, finding lots of Chaffinches (80+) and Stock Doves (22), plus 2 new species for the year: Nuthatch and Canada Goose [=58]. A female Shoveler [=59] was an unexpected find at Darlands Lake on 11th. On 19th the valley was teeming with thrushes, with circa 260 Redwings and 220 Fieldfares; two Ring-necked Parakeets provided another year-tick [=60]. (Ian Ellis)

January

• Bird find of month: Knot, Dagenham Chase NR - Vince Halley-Frame

• Bentley Priory provided the standards for the start of the year. Major building work around Summerhouse Lake has meant disturbance for waterfowl, this will be to summer 2006. Mystery parakeets seen flying around the deer enclosure were heard and seen briefly but where above the tree line. Birch and alders laden with seed but no sign of expected Siskins. Farm held good numbers of thrushes but no flocks of finches (Alan Lewis).

• Beech Farm. 3 visits in January left me with a total of 50 species.A single Common Buzzard seen on each visit,100 Golden Plover flew over on the 4th and 5 Grey Partridge gave excellent views on the 23rd.Barn Owl,Little Owl and Short-eared Owl have all be seen.Up to 4 Stonechat have been present and 2 Treecreeper on the 4th were the first ones i have seen at the site. (Mark McManus)

• Brent Res: A fairly quiet start on Jan 1st with a Robin singing in the early hours being the first tick. Finished the month on 64 species having only missed one species seen by other birders - Mealy Redpoll (Andrew Self).

• Canon's Farm and Banstead Woods. No real suprises were forthcoming, but some of the feeding flocks out on the fields made for an interesting time, with Stock Dove (30), Skylark (19), Fieldfare (410), Redwing (160), House Sparrow (50), Chaffinch (110) and most notably Yellowhammer (50) all being peak counts. A pair of Stonechats re-appeared in the same field that they haunted last November and Little Owls could be at least heard. But where have the Pheasants and Lapwings from Nov/Dec gone? Burgh Heath pond was generally a sad sight (and site!) with a motley collection of Moorhens, Mallards and Canada Geese. The wood was, at times, deathly quiet, the three figure counts of tits that I expect here in winter sadly lacking. Only one Marsh Tit gave itself up and quite a few hours of wood-slogging was put in before Treecreeper and Redpoll finally surrendered. Having said all that, it has been a most enjoyable month. January total: 52 species. (Steve Gale)

• Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens : Mute Swan, 92 on the 25th ~ Mandarin, one m on the 12th and 31st ~ Gadwall, month maxima of 15 on the 12th and 31st ~ Mallard, 96 on the 19th ~ Shoveler, month maxima of 31 on the 31st ~ Pochard, 15 on the 16th ~ Tufted Duck, 147 on the 19th ~ Ruddy Duck, one f on the 14th and three (1m, 2f) on the 17th ~ Little Grebe, month maxima of six on the 16th ~ Great Crested Grebe, 11 on the 19th ~ Kestrel, seen on three dates ~ Moorhen, 29 on the 19th ~ Coot, 162 on the 19th ~ Black-headed Gull, 488 on the 19th and a leucistic adwint on both the 23rd and 26th with a heavily oiled adwint also on the 26th ~ Common Gull, 58 on the 19th and a bird in full juvenile plumage on the 31st ~ Yellow-legged Gull, a 4thw type on the 9th ~ Great Black-backed Gull, one ad type NE on the 9th ~ Stock Dove, 18-20 on the 24th ~ Pied Wagtail, ten on the 19th ~ Robin, 30 on the 19th ~ Blackbird, at least 43 on the 11th ~ Fieldfare, two on the 12th ~ Song Thrush, five singing on the 17th ~ Redwing, 36 on Palace Field on the 12th ~ Mistle Thrush, at least ten on the 9th, 16th and 19th ~ Goldcrest, five on the 11th ~ Long-tailed Tit, 36 on the 19th ~ Blue Tit, 52 on the 19th ~ Coal Tit, five on the 31st ~ Nuthatch, single/s on the 19th, 23rd and 25th ~ Treecreeper, one-two on seven dates ~ Magpie, 42 on the 19th ~ Carrion Crow, 76 on the 19th ~ Starling, c.285 on the 19th ~ Chaffinch, 25+ on the 9th ~ Brambling, one m at Peter Pan feeders on the 17th ~ Greenfinch, ten+ on the 16th and 24th ~ Siskin, seven NW on the 6th ~ Bullfinch, one calling from Hudson Memorial Enclosure on the 23rd - [Escapes: Emperor Goose, one on the 19th] ~ (Des McKenzie).

• Lonsdale Road Reservoir: 10th: 1 Meadow Pipit was a first for the site and 1 Sparrowhawk patroling the woodland. 18th: 6 species of duck; c80 Mallard, 45 Tufted Duck, 112 Teal, 18 Shoveler, 6 Gadwall and 3 Pochard (Lee Walther).

• Putney Bridge to Hammersmith Bridge: 4th: 280 Teal strung out along the shoreline at low tide. 18th: on rough grass next to Beverley Brook, 400m away from the River Thames was a large mixed flock. The birds were either feeding on churned up grass or in the trees and shrubs surrounding the open space; 50+ Redwing, 5 Fieldfare, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Song Thrush, 2 Chaffinch, 3 Greenfinch, 7 Goldfinch, 7 Blue Tit, 7 Great Tit, 2 Long-tailed Tit, 3 Siskin, 2 Robin, 3 Starling 24th: Treecreeper, 2 Egyptian Goose (Lee Walther).

• Ruislip Woods: 7 Egyptian Geese on the 1st, 450 Fieldfare on the 2nd, Water Rail and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker on the 24th, 5 Siskins throughout the month and 2 Smew from the 28th (Martin Sullivan).

• Surrey Docks January highlights : Teal, one f on a pool in Russia Dock Woodland on the 14th ~ Tufted Duck, 105 on the 30th ~ Great Crested Grebe, five on the 30th ~ Great Black-backed Gull, six ad types on the Thames on the 30th ~ Stock Dove, one flew north across the Thames on the 30th ~ Great Spotted Woodpecker, two (m/f) on the 30th ~ Grey Wagtail, two on the 30th ~ Pied Wagtail, three on the 30th ~ Chiffchaff, one on the 30th ~ Redwing, c.15 on the 14th ~ House Sparrow, c.170 on the 30th (significant sector count) ~ Greenfinch, c.20 on the 14th ~ Goldfinch, c.35 on the 30th ~ Siskin, c.25 at Russia Dock Woodland on the 30th ~ Lesser Redpoll one at Stave Hill Eco Park on the 14th (Des McKenzie).

• Totteridge Valley : Too tired to do much on 1st! On 2nd 15 Siskins landed whilst I was having breakfast (a garden tick), then 5 Redwing. Best sightings up the Totteridge Valley were a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker with a tit flock, and a flyover Great Black-backed Gull. Treecreeper was also a useful find here [total=44]. A Tawny Owl woke me up at 01:00 on 5th and a Kingfisher zipped along the Dollis Brook (at the foot of the garden) on 7th [=46]. On 15th my second full walk up the valley added 7 species including Mandarin, Chiffchaff and Lesser Redpoll, with a flock of 51 Siskin being present at Darlands Lake [=53]. Three further species were added on 21st: Skylark, Meadow Pipit and, a surprise find, 2 Red-legged Partridges [=56]. (Ian Ellis).

• Walthamstow Res: as of Jan 1st Paul White is on 39 species.

• Whitewebbs Park: on the 16th there were a pair of Shoveler on an old fish pond. This is a first at this site. Makes it all worthwhile! (Andy Holmes).