Tuesday 9 February 2016

London Calling

Quick update from last week in London. Regent's Park added 8 species to the 2016 list but not the hoped for firecrest which was beautifully photographed on the Saturday and the Wednesday. I was there on Monday!! Egyptian geese have hatched young and black swans are displaying

Goose and goslings

Black swans

Family with a pink-footed goose

The problem in Regent's Park is sorting out the collection from the wild, the Egyptian are introduced feral but free flying. The pinkfoot is  native but captive.

Rainham Marshes added another 4 birds to the 2016 list and Barnes Elms added 5 more. Both were pretty wet with high water levels.
Barnes Elms WWT
Somebody found a snipe in this lot!!

Locally I added jay to the NDCP patch with a cracker in the garden and Lesser black back and pied wagtail to WOW. The water levels here were also high and the Konik ponies have muddied up all the grass areas which are totally waterlogged.


A walk on the Newtownabbey Way on a cold and snowy January 30th produced little in the way of birds except for a robin inside Hillside Garden Centre. Apparenntly it overwinters here, there are at least two and they can go out of the automatic doors to feed.


Yes folks, it is real not stuffed. It was even singing its territorial song just in case there was a rival. Also perched near the bird food section as people have been buying suet balls and opening them for it. No dozer as we say in Norn Iron.


Hoping to be in Northumberland over the weekend and Bolton next weekend so should get a few more ticks. Saturday is the planned dawn to dusk with David "Dusty" Miller to see how many birds we can see in a day so there should be something to write about when we return.

2016 totals:  
85 Lessr black-backed gull
86 Egyptian goose
87 Canada goose
88 Pochard
89 Red-crested pochard
90 Mandarin duck
91 Ring-necked parakeet
92 Green woodpecker
93 Great-crested grebe
94 Kestrel
95 Marsh harrier
96 Pheasant
97 Skylark
98 Stonechat
99 Peregrine falcon
100 Bittern
101 Great spotted woodpecker
102 Stock dove 
103 Razorbill

NDCP patch :
50 Jay

WOW patch:
49 Lesser black-backed gull
50 Pied wagtail





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