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Regent's Park and Primrose Hill, separated only by Prince Albert Road, together form one of London's eight Royal Parks.

Primrose Hill lies to the north and as its name suggests, is a hill. Its main claim to ornithological interest is that it provides an excellent spot to watch visible migration. The nearest tube station is Chalk Farm, which is 5 minutes walk away.

Immediately to the south of this and stretching towards central London almost to Marylebone Road and Baker Street, is Regent's Park. This is a very large area, mostly of grassland, including football pitches, small groups/belts of trees and one reasonably-sized lake towards the southern portion of the park. Regent's Park benefits from having two Royal Parks employees who are also pretty good birders (Tony or Dave -- if you could add to this page, you would do a better job than I!).

Also for those with an interest in wildfowl identification, the lake holds a fairly extensive collection of wildfowl to practise with. These include Ross's Goose, Black Brant, Pink-footed Goose, Smew, Red-crested Pochard and Ring-necked Duck. The park really comes into its own during periods of migration. Maybe because the Park is one of the few sizable areas of green in inner London, or maybe because the site gets so much regular coverage, it does turn up some pretty good birds for London every year. Wheatears are one of the obvious birds that are fairly easy to see, however a more detailed look can turn more interesting spp. such as Firecrest, Pied Flycatcher, Common Redstart and Wood Warbler. A couple of years ago London's second Lesser Scaup was found on the lake (after it had gone missing from Brent Reservoir to the north).

Being an open space in London, the Park does get a lot of joggers/dogwalkers/office workers having lunch. To maximise your chances of seeing decent birds, it is advisable to visit as early as possible before anything unusual has been spooked by the dogwalkers etc. There is a noticeboard near the toilet block at the north-west corner of the lake which will give you details of what birds have been seen recently and exactly where. This will give you an idea of the best areas in which to concentrate your observations. Remember though that birds can and often do turn up anywhere, so I find it a good exercise to keep my eyes and ears open as soon as I enter the Park. In the winter especially, it is not uncommon for records to be of birds flying over, so a basic ability to identify birds by call can be indispensable at this time.

Finally, in the breeding season for the last couple of years a pair of Peregrines have nested at the top of a tower block to the south. Not only does this make it possible to see this species over the Park, but the RSPB may set up a viewing site so that you know exactly where to look (this year there was even a 'webcam' so you could keep up with events from the safety of your armchair!). If all else fails and after a few hours you still haven't seen anything interesting, fill your time by carefully going through the Gulls. They don't roost here, but probably in one of the Lea Valley Reservoirs, so every day there is the potential for something out of the ordinary to be among them. The park is closed at night, but in order to visit, the nearest tubes are: Baker Street to the south-west; Great Portland Street to the south-east; Camden Town and Chalk Farm are both towards the north-east and require a short walk. If I've missed anything important, can someone please add to this page?! Paul White

Park Sightings on http://www.regentsparkbirds.co.uk

Regent's Park Patchlist 2008 (122 species)

Little Grebe, Great crested Grebe, Cormorant, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Egyptian Goose, Common Shelduck, Mandarin Duck, Mallard, Gadwall, Eurasian Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Common Teal, Red-crested Pochard, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Greater Scaup, Ruddy Duck, Red Kite, Honey Buzzard, Common Buzzard, Osprey, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine Falcon, Hobby, Merlin, Common Kestrel, Moorhen, Coot, Water Rail, Common Snipe, Woodcock, Whimbrel, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Mediterranean Gull, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Caspian Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Common Tern, Feral Pigeon, Turtle Dove, Collared Dove, Stock Dove, Wood Pigeon, Eurasian Cuckoo, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Tawny Owl, Little Owl, Common Swift, Kingfisher, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Skylark, Woodlark, House Martin, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Water Pipit, Rock Pipit, Tree Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Wren, Hedge Sparrow, Blackbird, Ring Ouzel, Fieldfare, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Song Thrush, Nothern Wheatear, Stonechat, Whinchat, Spotted Flycatcher, Pied Flycatcher, Common Redstart, Robin, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Greater Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Wood Warbler, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Firecrest, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Jay, Magpie, Jackdaw, Crow, Rook, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Brambling, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Common Crossbill, Siskin, Mealy Redpoll, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer.