British Bird List If you want to print out a list for use during your visits to allow ticking off what you see then the list is here. Or to see what we've spotted on our previous visits look here.

To help plan your own trips, or to inspire suggestions for our visits, you might want to look at the London Bird Club Wiki here. To enjoy our bird visits to the maximum you will need decent binoculars (8×25 or 8×42 or 10 x 42 or 10 x 50 are good). The first number tells you the magnification (ie 8 or 10 times bigger), the second number is the size of the 'objective' (larger) lens which determines the amount of light (sharpness) of the image. Bigger numbers also mean bigger weight. There are also two forms — porro prism (offset lenses) or roof prism (in-line lenses). Porro type are generally cheaper but larger/ heavier.
Appropriate footwear and raingear if the weather threatens. Each of our visits will have a maximum of 10 participants (but normally we are a lot less than that).

Birds on the Edge — see here for information of birds at risk. To read the quarterly magazine from WWT, click here.

Also see the following link here to the RSPB web page regarding their interesting programme with lectures and coach trips.

To follow what the London Wildlife Trust are up to have a look here.

See also the SW London U3A Networks study day at the WWT London Wetland Centre on Wednesday 4th September — more details here.

And to end, just va bit of humour, have a look at this video clip here.

Blogs
This is a new section to provide some learning material in bite-size easy format. They are in no particular order.

• Seeing Red (redwings, redstarts & redshanks) here
• Preying (identifying between birds of prey) here
• Gulling About (or more about gulls) here
  

Our Programme & Details for Visits

Friday 27 March, Woodberry Downs: cancelled
Monday 13 April: cancelled
Friday 01 May: cancelled

Monday 11 May: 
Friday 29 May:

Recent Visits
Thurrock: we'd only been to this relatively new Essex Wildlife Trust nature reserve a couple of times. Although on our last visit it rained continuously, for this visit the weather was good. We didn't see many birds during the walk in from East Tilbury, but it's a pleasant walk along the Thames Estuary Path. However, things improved at the centre. We saw quite a lot from the comfort of the centre including a sparrowhawk. The tide was in when we arrived, but by the time we left it was out and the range of birds on the shoreline was very varied. The highlights were the flocks of avocets and redshanks. We headed out, spotting a few more things on the way to Stanford-le-Hope. Overall a successfull day.

Walthamstow: this was our local monthly outing. Walthamstow Reservoirs are an important part of the system for supplying London's water. Some of them are quite 'hard-edged' and not so great for birds. Others are much softer-edged and there are islands and so forth, so that overall it a very good place for birds. It was a wet windy day so not the best for birdwatching. However, we did see a good variety of ducks, herons, cormorants, goldeyes, grebes, etc, etc. The highlight was a firecrest — up close and displaying for us. We were glad to get back to the Engine Room for a chance to dry out and have a hot drink.

Brighton, Starling Murmurations: while some felt the trip should be cancelled due to Storm Ciara, 21 of us headed for Brighton. There was some train disruption but we all got there only half an hour behind schedule. The rain stayed off but the gale-force wind on the front made it tricky for us to even stand up. Most went for the lunch at the Regency and enjoyed a very good menu and a range of fish dishes. Some made it to the Pavilion for a quick visit, some just had a ramble in the Lanes. We all gathered at dusk (4.30pm) on Palace Pier. I think there was still some doubt that the starlings would venture out but they soon started flocking, probably lower in the sky this year but still spectacular — seeming to be surfing in on the waves at times before swooping up and round again. We tried to find some shelter from the winds but it started to drive some of us back toward the train station. All agreed that, regardless of the weather, it had been an amazing sight.

Regent's Park: a biggish group of us (11) had a good stroll through the park. Normally our count for this location struggles to get into the 20s. This time we made it to 40. A very high score for us — at any location. And that's just with the native species: adding in the non-indigenous sightings at the Wildfowl pond would have made it over 60. The non-indigenous varieties do always add different species to what we normally see at our other visit locations, and are often very attractive. We struggled a bit over whether some gulls were bog standard black-headed gulls, or whether they were the rarer Mediterranean gull. There are more sightings at this time of year of 'Mediterraneans' so we included it in our count. 

Two Tree Island: our main day visit this month was back to this good location. While it wasn't quite as spectacular a visit as previous years, we still had some good sightings. There were just so many teal — over a hundred — and lots of redshanks. We had murmurations of knots (or were they sanderlings — or dunlins? — too far away to tell). The special sightings were curlews, Mediterranean gulls and brent geese. Missing this time were the avocets and godwits.

Woodberry Wetlands: a clear bright cold day, rather blustery for the birds — and us. I'm not sure if it was the weather forecast or the fact that this was a local visit, but we had one of our highest turnouts at 13. However, we didn't linger but had a smart walk around the perimeter. No great sightings. The birds were hunkered down. One mystery was the photo: we couldn't work this one out. We ended up warming ourselves back in the café over coffee and cake — the cake was a 'Farewell' to one of our regular members, Alison T, who's returning to her homelands of Northern Ireland — soon. We wish her well! We also discussed future dates and visits, so this prompted me to commit and fix dates for January and February — as above.

Rainham Marshes: the weather forecast was not promising but when we arrived at the reserve it was a great day, cool but clear skies (not that this lasted the whole time we were there). But with the rain staying off the birds were out. The benefit of visiting Rainham is that there is always much to see — in quantity and variety. There were only five of us but we managed to spot 38 species. The highlights were probably seeing a stonechat and a curlew, but also seeing the large flock of avocets swimming along was a rare sight.

With the rain breaking out we then had a quick march back to the centre for some food and warmth.

Walthamstow Wetlands: we welcomed two new members to the group and our monthly local outing. It was a chilly day, so we headed briskly along Ferry Lane to the reserve. Walthamstow Reservoirs are an important part of the system for supplying London's water. Some of them are quite 'hard-edged' and not so great for birds; others are much softer-edged and there are islands and so forth, so that overall it a very good place for birds, particularly waterfowl. We saw the usual variety of ducks, herons, cormorants, and loads of gulls (black headed and herring). We witnessed some 'gull dancing' — for further info on this habit see here. The resident peregrine was on its perch — high up on the pylon. We enjoyed the new hide (about time too!) as a chance to get out of the biting wind, and there was a great display of little egrets (up to six), cormorants (up to seven), and gulls — all diving for fish at a water outlet. We'd got our timings a bit off as we realised we had to get going or be locked in the reserve overnight, but more importantly it meant we were too late for tea and cake in the Engine Room. So we had to head for the Costa at Tottenham Hale — with a chance to thaw out there.

Rye Meads: this time we had good bird watching weather — clear blue skies but cold. On arrival the welcome board showed a good varied spot list so our visit held promise. And we weren't disappointed. We spotted a good range of birds and the highlights included green sandpipers (only confirmed by a local expert), snipe, and my favourite, teal — such bright shimmering colours with sharp outlines. Our count at 31 was quite reasonable. No kingfishers on this visit but their hide is being expanded so I'm sure we'll return in the Spring to try our luck.

The Middlesex Filter Beds and the WaterWorks Reserve: we last visited here in 2017 and it wasn't that great then. And it proved to be not that great again now. We did see, possibly the same, grey wagtail at the Middlesex Filter beds at the sluice gates. It dipped around there for quite a time to allow us all to have a good sighting. The bottom gate was open, allowing us to cut through toward the WaterWorks. But bird activity was all very sparse. It was a glorious day with heat still in the sun, so we all enjoyed the quiet open space, but it was disappointing regarding bird count — only 13 in total.

Woodberry Downs: our regular local vist proved particularly good this time. In addition to the usual spread of ducks and seagulls we did see warblers — willow and reed. So that was a bonus. The woodland walk bit was closed due to trees down from storm damage so that limited the breadth of our sightings this time.

Brent Reservoir: on a warm summer's day we returned to this site for our fourth visit. We've only been lucky once before, when the normally locked hides were open. Our luck was back this time. Even better, there was a local expert in residence with a telescope. This led to our spotting greenleg sandpipers, in addition to your common(?) sandpiper, a few lapwings, teal (in moult), reed warbler, great crested and little grebe, etc. We also learnt much about the green sandpiper's 'jizz' and hence how to tell the difference from a common sandpiper. Probably we could have stayed just here but we thought we'd venture around the Welsh Harp, not seeing much more, but what we did see was worth it: a great spotted woodpecker, a willow warbler and a chiffchaff. So a successful outing.

Thurrock, Thameside: while this turned out to be a VERY wet day, it was balanced by some great sightings, in terms not of rarities but of quantities. We saw large flocks (greater than 50) of avocets, godwits, redshanks, Canada geese, greylags, tufted ducks. So it was well worth it for the few who braved the weather.

Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park and Thames Barrier Park: this visit to a new destination for the group turned out to be quite acceptable. Good for warblers here.

Regent's Park: a return to Regent's Park for a stroll through its pleasant gardens, which at this time of year (July) had plenty of greenery, making spotting harder. This time we had the added bonus of a sculpture exhibition in the gardens. Again, while not expecting to see much, we actually did quite well: no great surprises but still a healthy count. And the foreign ducks gave us variety.

Walthamstow Marshes: for this visit we didn't proceed immediately to the south reservoirs but instead had a wander through Paradise Gardens — quite an overgrown yet quiet spot, a bit neglected but the birds probably don't mind that. We didn't really see much here, due to the level of growth and cover. After this we walked along Ferry Road but turned into the north reservoirs for a change. There was more open water here, with the usual collection of ducks and several grebes.

The route made a nice change but was probably not as good as the south side ones. After this bit of exploration it was time to cross over to the Engine Room for a coffee/lunch. We didn't then really explore the south reservoirs but did stand looking up at the tower for some time listening to the swift calls, until a warden passed and told us we wouldn't see any actual swifts as it was a recording — they were trying to attract swifts and get them to start nesting there. For those on the recent Islington Swifts walk around Highbury — Islington is the borough with the most swift nesting sites in London. Well done us!

Rainham Marshes: while the forecast showed heavy rain all day five intrepid birders were still keen to head out from Fenchurch Street to Rainham. And we were rewarded by this determination. A pretty high count and some favourites spotted including avocet, redshanks, marsh harrier, etc. etc. We were going to dodge between hides but the scale of Rainham meant we didn't venture that far away from the Centre and were glad to get back there to the café to warm up and dry out. Is it really June?

Barnes WTF: we returned to this reserve. Good to see so many young children out enjoying nature. We lingered over the non-native species before concentrating on our own native birds. Spotting a little ringed plover was probably the sighting of the day.

Cheshunt: the rail services tried to thwart us — so we had to make a change from the original plan of a trip to Rainham Marshes, and instead we headed up the Lea Valley to Cheshunt. This was a new venture for us but proved quite an interesting area. With spring growth now well under way there was quite a lot of greenery, so it's getting harder to spot the birds despite plenty of bird calls. The highlight of the day was spotting an albino wood duck. We didn't quite believe it when we were told that's what it was, but there was confirmation at the Bittern Information Hide. These originate from Carolina, North America and are sometimes called Carolina Ducks. We'd actually seen a clipped Carolina Duck on our recent visit to Regent's Park. Maybe this one today had originally escaped from there.

Regent's Park: it's amazing what you can spot even in an inner London location when you have 12 pairs of eyes looking. We achieved a count of 28. And that was by ignoring the collection of colourful non-native ducks.

Stoker's Lake: a select few gathered to revisit this reserve. Even with only a few pairs of eyes present a reasonable count was acheived. The early rain soon died away.




Brent Reservoir (Welsh Harp): we returned to Brent Reservoir (last visited July 2018) on a warm March day. From Hendon we walked down Cool Oak Lane and then wove our way past back gardens to find the first hides. Unfortunately this time they were locked. However, we could still get a reasonable view of the south side of the reservoir. From there we retraced our steps and struck out along the north side. Then we struck gold — we sighted a kestrel, then a woodpecker — well spotted Janet! After refuelling at the garden centre we made our way back but then turned to the other hide on the River Brent, which was occupied by a homeless person the last time we visited. It had been rebuilt in metal and this time it was empty. From here we had a good view, through the dumped rubbish in the river, of a good range of ducks. So, in summary, a reasonable visit.

Rye Meads: there was a high turnout for this visit. After the station we meandered past Rye House and even before we reached the reserve we had spotted a Kestrel. It lingered on a tree for us to view then swooped off. The office showed a list of 'recent sightings' and their wall artwork proved a bit of a quiz to guess the species before we even set off. The hides gave us time to sit and pick out quite a few waders and ducks. But some were keen to press on to the kingfisher hide. This hide was full of the professionals with an impressive range of photographic equipment. They had sighted the kingfishers earlier (they were on their first brood of the season already). However, we were not to be lucky. Our patience ran out and the pub was calling. However the ritual completing of the high species list gave a high count nevertheless.

Walthamstow Marshes: a return to another of our favourites on a glorious spring-like day. Surprisingly we saw fewer ducks than previously. However, we saw quite a variety including the usual suspects. The great debates this time were regarding a strange-looking goose. Most bets were on a Greenland White-fronted goose but it could have been one of the many other migrants possible at this time of year. There was also something flitting about the trees — was it a bunting, a warbler or just a finch? Who knows — we didn't! But still a good count at 35. The stars were probably the long tailed tits — just as there were so many of them around. Even the half term holidaying kids didn't spoil our stroll around or our coffee/lunch in the Engine House.

Brighton, Starling Murmurations: this year we tried our luck to see starling murmurations by going to Brighton (in previous years we had gone to Otmoor, with mixed results). Traditionally Brighton has been a good location to see these spectacular sights. Bad weather was forecast until about 14.00, but six hardy souls set out for Brighton wrapped up well. We travelled down on a train late morning with the rain still falling and we arrived at a misty wet Brighton. So it was a quick scurry from the station down to the front to find a Fish & Chip restaurant to dry out and linger in the warmth. Then most opted to visit the Pavilion to kill some time there and keep indoors, still hoping the rain would stop in time for the main action. Dusk was scheduled for 16.57 and as the time approached (16.30), and based on advice from the local Big Issue seller advising us that 'oh yes you can see "murmurs" all the time' we got ourselves ready. Published advice was that the West Pier was the best sight, rather than the Palace Pier, so we headed down to somewhere in the middle — and there they were, gathering over the Palace Pier. Were they going to stay there long enough for us to get out on it or would they switch to the West Pier? We decided to commit and headed out along Palace Pier. Their numbers were still growing. The drizzle hadn't deterred them. The sights were amazing. It was obvious by then that they were going to roost on the Palace Pier so we were definitely in the right place and got some great close-ups. By 16.57 they had all settled in for the night and we felt it was time for us to set off for our homes after a truly fascinating sighting. See a video here.

Woodberry Downs — our stalwart for local visits, we had a good wander around the reservior on a cold day. Nothing too spectacular but our count was a healthy 28. Siskin and chaffinches were the best sightings, with a good range of ducks and tits.






Two Tree Island — we returned to this Essex reserve. Our visit here in January 2018 proved a stunning visit with a high count both in variety of species and in volume of each as well, so expectations were high for this return visit. Again it was a cold January day. While by the end of our visit our count was 34, we didn't quite match the joys of last year. But it was close with some particular stunning sights: the murmurations of knots — hundreds if not thousands of them — curlews, avocets, sanderlings, to name a few.



Walthamstow — this was to be our monthly local outing. Walthamstow reservoirs are an important part of the system for supplying London's water.  Some of them are quite 'hard-edged' and not so great for birds. Others are much softer-edged and there are islands and so forth, so overall they are very good places for birds. It was a cold day so we kept moving, but we still saw a wide range of bird life. Bramblings were probably the highlight but teal, great spotted woodpecker and chaffinch also provided excitement. Overall a very good range of species were spotted (31 in total) but there was no peregrine in residence this time.

Thurrock Thameside — a new destination for us. The Longer Walks group had seen this new Essex Wildlife Trust centre being built over the last couple of years and the reclaimed land being opened up, and it was time for a visit. It's been billed as car-friendly but unfortunately it's not public transport-friendly. So it's a bit of a hike in from East Tilbury station along the Thames Estuary Path. But actually this section proved rewarding with many a sighting along the way. However, it being a cold day, reaching the centre was a welcome relief. It's a great centre at a prime viewing postion of the estuary and mudflats. Curlews and kestrels were probably the highspots. But we also saw the first of the season's fieldfayre and redwings. Was the sighting of a cetti's warbler more remarkable? A count of 36 in total. Eventually the cold got to us, so it was a brisk shorter walk out to Standford-le-Hope. More information here.

October: Woodberry Downs — for our 'local' visit this month we returned to our nearest reserve. Woodberry never startles but we do see some good sightings here. This time is was a water rail. Much debate over if it really could be a water rail but the collective conclusion was that it was one indeed. A count of 25 overall.

Stocker's Lake — on another glorious autumn day we headed to Rickmansworth. After cutting through the town we pickedup the Grand Union canal and followed it for a bit. This gave us our first sightings of the usual array of ducks and geese. We then left the canal to circum-navigate Stoker's Lake (we couldn't decide on the correct pronounciation). We've been to Stockers about 4 times before but this probably gave us our widest range of duck sightings, including pochard, gadwell, mallard, tufted, grebe. However the world was a gog when we spooted an eclipsied wigeon!!!! It was just like the picture in the book. Then followed debate about what was an 'eclipised' species. The possibly of it being a hybrid or a transgender was dashed when Geoff (or Google) announced that it was a bird with plummage in transition! so now you know.

Walthamstow — this was our local outing to Walthamstow reservoirs. Walthamstow reservoirs (now supported by WWT) and appart from still being an important part of the system for supplying London's water, are now beem made bird-friendly. Some of the reservoirs have had their edges softened with reed beds and other vegatation. There are now islands and inlets making it a very good place for birds. We started to spot birds even as we walked along from Tottenham Hale. Overall we had a high success rate with 30 species being spotted and highlights of the day including a cirl bunting, peregrine and a kingfisher!

Rainham Marshes — on a glorious autumn day we enjoyed a sunny walk round the reserve. We weren't enough to get a guide so we were, as usual, dependent on our own knowledge, but we managed OK. The reeds were quite high at this time of year and the warblers had all left, so it was the water birds that we were looking at. It was also a good time for dragonflies and damselflies, the ruddy darter being prominent in particular. We had been told to look out for black tailed godwits, avocets & kestrels, but we weren't doing so well until nearly the end of the circular tour, when a kestrel decided to put on a hovering display for us and dropped on to a nearby post, so we could confirm our identification. We then turned out of the reserve to the Thames estuary to find on the mudflats the so far missing godwits & avocets. Success at last! Not the highest count for this favourite reserve but still a good count and a lovely day out. 

Woodberry Downs — nothing too exciting this visit. The great debate was if we could see a yellow-legged gull. These had been sighted here so we were keen to spot a rarer yellow-legged one amongst all the gulls we could see. We think we did!

Barnes, WWT London Wetlands — postponed until August because it was too hot in July for this visit. We've not been here since January 2017 so it was well overdue for a visit. Our species count (35) matched that of our visit here. But the particular types were different. We had two 'specials' this time — a green sandpiper and a hobby. Both were highly obliging and each paraded in front of our hide for some time to give us a very good viewing.




July's local visit was to Victoria Park — a new destination for us. It's a glorious park with ponds and wood surrounds. Nothing remarkable but our count of 21 shows it was reasonable — for a mid-day, mid-summer visit.

Two Tree Island — On a glorious day we set off for Leigh-on-Sea. Last time we had visited here in January 2018 it had been a very successful visit — judged one of our best — but it had been bitterly cold. This time the variety and quantities were not as great. But we still saw some wonderful birds. The swifts were plentiful despite their general decline in numbers and we saw the delightful avocets amongst other species.
 

Rye Meads — this was a very successful visit. I suspect that it was the potential to see kingfishers that got the high number of members to turn out. And they were rewarded! Not only by an extensive performance at the Kingfisher hide (even the kestrel's actions were a sideshow), but with a number of other 'firsts' — at least for some of our members. These included sighting of a little ringed plover and a grey plover. At the Warbler Hide, while all seemed quiet at first, sightings of Reed Warblers & Reed Buntings made it worth the extra trek to this hide. Our total sighting list for the visit came to a very healthy 34 — certainly making it near our top 'best visits'. What more could you ask for — other than then a pub right at the end offering remarkably good 'Senior' meal deals.....



Trent Park — a bit of a cold wet day meant most of the birds stayed away not to mention the bird watchers! However for the four brave souls who ventured out we certainly heard a lot — but didn't see too much. If you add in what we think we heard then the species count would have nearly doubled! But within what we actually saw the highlight of the day was the kestrel. We came out at the Oakwoods end for a change with a chance to see the ongoing progress of the restoration of Hertford House.



Regent's Park — our local visit this month was a return to Regent's Park. We were initially thrown as the first part of the lake we approached was full of non-indigenous birds. Our books or apps on British and European birds failed to help us identify any of the species we spotted. At last we managed to figure out one — as a red crested pochard — not to be confused with the more normal pochard.




Rainham Marshes — a clear spring-like day, but still coolish. A reasonable count by our own efforts — 33. The highlight was probably the four marsh harriers in the air at the same time.







Woodberry Downs — we returned to our most local reserve. A small group of us managed on this sunny day to spot & identify 28 species and failed to name one 'LBJ'. A pleasant outing. Thanks to Janet Drake for leading this one!

Walthamstow Reservoirs — on this bitterly cold day some brave souls still ventured out to this month's local outing. Not our first visit since this was 'opened' with increased visitor facilities but this time we nearly had the place to ourselves. I think the birds were feeling the cold as well — so not too much out and about. But we still managed to see 27 species. We joined in with the locals in search of a scaup (!!) — well we didn't know what it was either until we looked it up. Much like a tufted duck. We saw many of them but not the elusive scaup. A good selection of herons and cormorants on view and time to improve our spotting skills between black-headed and black-backed gulls.

Otmoor — in a very cold February day we set off hoping to see Starling murmurations at this RSPB reserve. Last time we visited Otmoor two years ago we were rewarded with amazing sights of this phenomenon. This time there were 10 of us and again we could only reach the reserve with the help of three members who, with their cars, could pick us up from Islip station. After a good pub lunch at the Talkhouse we reached the reserve in bright, but cold, sunshine. Right from the beginning at the feeders just along from the car park, we started to see many species — including a Bullfinch close up. Half way out over the moor toward the best site for the promised murmurations there was a good hide. This gave us a chance to warm up a bit and have a rest. It's a popular spot and well placed to spot many tits and finches in the hedgerows and ducks on the ponds. We approached the viewing site as dusk descended — as did our body heat — but with no murmurations. We did enjoy watching a marsh harrier hunting along the reeds. It was then a choice of sticking to base plan, quitting, and heading for our planned train, or hanging on a bit longer hoping for a murmuration. We seemed to want to wait but then with no sighting & cold mounting we all headed back to the cars, but not in time to reach the originally planned train time.

So a day of mixed fortunes. While we didn't see any real starling murmuration we did achieve a species count of 37 — so pretty good and most people seemed satisfied with that. A special thanks to Jane, Sue & Robert for making this trip possible.

Two Tree Island — we cancelled this visit in December because of poor weather but we were rewarded by a cold sunny clear day in January. The visit was truly remarkable and may rank as our best ever visit — despite the cold. We last visited this reserve in Essex back in July 2016. We were lucky last time and saw a great variety of wading birds. Again we saw a great range — and quantity — of birds. As soon as we reached the bridge onto the island we could see many teal on the mudflats. We must have seen nearly a hundred of these by the end of the day. Then as we walked along the north side of the island we spotted the first curlew. While again by the end of the visit we'd seen so many curlew it started to lose some of the wow factor, for some this was the highlight of the day. To see them wading, in flight, and calling was great.

The next inspiring sight was an avocet — so evocative. Lapwings were the next sighting with one in particular parading with its green plumage sparkling in the low sun.
By the time we got to the lagoon on the west end we'd already felt the visit had been a great success but then we came to the lagoon — a mass of curlews, lapwings, teal, shelduck, sanderlings, godwits, etc, etc. We could have stayed there forever watching the sight but the cold drove us on — then we discovered the hide overlooking the lagoon. We nipped in there, more to get some respite out of the wind, than seeing more of the lagoon, but lucky we did — we were rewarded by the sight of hundreds of knots flying in and tentatively landing on islands in the lagoon. Easily spooked they would then take flight, flashing white then black as they banked in the wind and landed again. Another amazing sight. We had to give up and drag our way back — and head for some warmth at the café on the way back to the station. Not finished yet — from there we then saw a green woodpecker — then a kestrel hovering just above the garden. This took us to a count of 30 species for the day, our highest day's score for self-spotting. Overall probably one of our best day visits ever.


Woodberry Wetlands — we returned to our local reserve for this local visit. The posted sightings lists showed promise — a long list including "6 types of visiting gulls", several warbler types and a peregrine falcon. Alas we didn't see nearly as many varieties as on the list but it did give us a good challenge of trying to identify between the types of gulls we could spot. Black Headed and Lesser Black Backed were fairly easy but the Greater Black Backed and the Yellow Legged were argued over without a conclusive conclusion. Of course this is the joy — shared learning and a growing appreciation. The sun came out briefly but the coffee stop at the end was appreciated.
 
Bird Quiz — not a 'visit' but an event. The Birdwatching group hosted an, open to all iU3A members, evening quiz to enhance their birding knowledge. While most found it challenging — particularly the audio round — all had a fun evening. Hopefully it did improve their bird identification skills as well.
 
Stoker's Lake — There were two of us only on this cold but lovely sunny day. We walked anticlockwise round the lake to avoid having the sun shine directly into our eyes. We saw 25 different birds including Siskin, Red Kite, Long-tailed, great & blue tits, Gadwell, Shoveller, Pochard, Wigeon, Tufted, Crested Grebe, Tern (and no doubt other small birds we couldn't see well enough to identify). We were pleased about the Siskin (hope I’m correct), long-tailed tits and Pochards in particular — they looked great in the sunshine.

Walthamstow Reservoirs — we thought a return to this reserve would be good since it was now officially open. However, the opening publicity, half term and glorious weather meant the place was rather busy. Nevertheless the five of us managed to dodge the cyclists and the toddlers and spot 24 species, not including the ones heard but not seen. The peregrine falcon was on his perch on the pylon and gave us a good aerial display chasing away some magpies. It was collectively decided that the possible common terns were just juvenile black-headed gulls. The restored and open Engine Room was mobbed, so after a quick look round the northside reservoirs, we retired to the Ferry Inn — which was also mobbed!

Surrey Docks — we hadn't been here before as a birdwatching group so it was a new experience. Our first stretch of water was Canada Water straight outside the station. Even this small stretch gave us tufted ducks, great crested grebes and many gulls. We carried on south to the nearly-connected Greenland docks. Many more great crested grebes kept us entertained here with their constant diving and the highlight was a pair of egyptian geese. We then moved to the River Thames which was at low tide. But sadly there was nothing interesting on the mud flats. After an aborted trip to Surrey Farm for a coffee (they don't open on Mondays!) we were on the Slave Hill Ecological Park walk, ie the filled-in Russia Dock. A pleasant stroll but mainly magpies and pigeons. Good views of London from top of the Hill. Then passing Surrey Water we were back to Rotherhithe.

Stocker's Lake, Rickmansworth — the dull wet weather didn't put us off and we managed to dodge the showers. Stocker's Lake is one of the oldest gravel pits in the Colne Valley and a Wildlife Trust reserve. Our count at the end of the day was in the twenties. This included the usual few (considering the time of year) song birds but a good selection of ducks, a couple of which we weren't 100% sure of (possibly gadwell and goldeneye). However, the highlight of the day was spotting a green woodpecker. As the rain started to come on again we headed for the café — to end another pleasant day out.
 
Walthamstow Reservoirs — Seven of us returned to this relatively local reserve on a lovely August day. It's still under conversion from Thames Water reservoir to LWT reserve and is due to open fully in October. It's a good location — quite a vast area. Needs some more cultivation of mixed habitat but we still managed to see many ducks (particularly tufted) and grebes. Highlights were a peregrine falcon, kingfisher and 4 grey wagtails.  Count was 26 bird, 3 butterfly, 3 dragonfly (as photo).

(Photo: thanks to Annie Woodhouse)


Four of us visited Trent Country Park on Tuesday 8th August. The weather forecast was ominous but in the end we escaped any serious rain. We had a very pleasant walk through woods, heath and in the Japanese Water Garden (which is being restored) and we heard a lot of birds (including a blackcap) but sightings were few — largely due to thick foliage. The highlight of the visit was a great spotted woodpecker; we also saw one robin and a disappearing female chaffinch, together with a few speeding and therefore unidentifiable small brown birds. On the lake there were mallards, moorhen and Canada geese. Also sighted were butterflies — red admiral, small heath and gatekeeper; and a few dragonflies — possibly common hawkers.



Brent Reservoir — we last visited this location in September last year and it proved to be a reasonable site again. We were lucky this time in that the locked hide was occupied by a Member when we got there so he allowed us access — and confirmed our sighting of Sandpipers. The public hide on the north side was not so good — occupied by a squatter! But overall we had a good visit on a pleasant summer's day.



Rye Meads (Lea Valley) — this is a large RSPB reserve with a good variety of habitat. We had a good wander around visiting most of the hides and saw many young fledglings. Whatever the species they seemed to have many young with them. However we were not successful in sighting the kingfishers — their young had fledged a week or so before this visit. Apart from a good range of bird life there were many butterfly species around and also a good variety of dragonflies. Hits of the day — coots chasing a grass snake in the water; kestrel perched on a post only 15' away; banded demoiselle dragonfly (thanks to Annie for that one!).

Woodberry Wetlands (LWT) — a small group of us had a wander round our local reserve on this windy June day. Our last visit was blighted by being too hot and this one was blighted by being too windy. That's our excuse anyway for not seeing too much (in total and in variety). However the highlight was seeing a chiffchaff. This bird is often heard but rarely seen. A first probably for our group. We're 90% certain — if it wasn't a chiffchaff then it would have to be a willow warbler, but the habitat probably makes it more likely to have been a chiffchaff. With a spatter of rain coming on the café was a welcome destination at the end.

Rainham Marshes — this time we did get enough support to hire a guide at this extensive RSPB reserve. Unfortunately it was a very hot May day — for us and the birds. So our sightings score was a lot lower than we've had on previous visits to here. However 37 was still a reasonable range. I'm not sure what we'd class as the highlight for this visit. Possibly the reed bunting? It was also good to see a few swifts soaring overhead. A redshank was another beauty. While the bird life might have been hiding there were plenty of butterflies, damselflies, dragonflies and marsh frogs (making a terrible racket). At the end of the circuit the eight of us were ready for our lunch and some refreshment to cool down. We'll be back again — but on a cooler day.

Walthamstow Reservoirs — another easy-to-reach outing. We last visited here last July and work is still ongoing converting it from just a Thames Water reservoir site to a WWT reserve. It certainly is an extensive site and a bargain for just the £1.00 entrance fee (hopefully WWT won't change this!). The site is still predominately water, ie good for ducks, gulls, geese. But there are some wooded areas attracting garden birds and song birds. 24 was our count (including four heard but not seen). The benefit of this size of reserve was we weren't just seeing one of this & one of that, but tens of this & tens of that. The ducks ranged from pochards, tufted, shelducks, teal, grebe (great & small). Many grey herons (including juveniles), cormorants (their nests taking over three trees completely). Tree life carried blackcaps, chetti's warbler, starlings, swallow(s), chaffinch (male & female) apart from all the more common garden birds. The hit of the day being probably the egyptian geese. Quite black & white in flight but more distinguishable on the ground. I think we'll be returning here again.

Abney Cemetery, Stoke Newington — easy to reach this fascinating place is worth a visit at any time regardless of the bird life. As much time was spent on this lovely afternoon looking at the selection of old trees not to mention the jumble of gravestones. But what about the bird life? Well we saw the usual garden birds, plenty of great & blue tits, robins, a dunnock and plenty of jays.




Middlesex Filter Beds and Waterworks Centre — not the best location due to some paths being closed. However it was a good day and we had a few good sightings. Built by the East London Waterworks Company in the mid 1800s it demonstrates how previously industrial areas can become valuable habitats for wildlife. The Middlesex Filter Beds were easily reached by bus to the Lea Bridge road then a short walk down the Lee Canal towpath. The highlight here was spotting a grey wagtail. We watched it for some time as it danced around the weir gates between the Lee Canal and the river. After this we eventually managed to trek our way into the Waterworks Centre nature reserve — which was rather disappointing — despite being the largest bird hide in London. However there was some open water allowing viewings of pochard, teal, wigeon, mallard and tufted ducks.

Trent Park — an easy tube journey took six of us to this large open space. A mixture of woodland, grassland and two lakes gave the promise of a variety of sightings. It turned our an experience more of quality rather than of quantity. The tally was in the teens but the stars were nuthatches, female mandarins and a green woodpecker. The nuthatches, outlined by the sun, were enthralling and we happily watched them feeding on bugs in a couple of trees. Only when the sun disappeared did we realise it was time to move on. The park reports offered sightings of woodpeckers and there was plenty of tree damage to prove they were there, but we thought we were going to be unlucky. However a couple of brief flashes meant we ended the visit satisfied. Or maybe that was due to the tea and cake!

Regents Park — for our first visit in February we went to this easy accessible park. It was a bright cold day and there was lots of activity. There were about 14 herons — some of whom were sitting on nests. We saw 33 species in total (at least four were true ornamentals). These included: pigeons, black headed gulls, herring gulls, black backed gulls, mute swans, Canada geese, Egyptian geese, brent geese, greylag geese, wigeon, pochard, red crested pochard, crow, magpie, smew, great crested grebe, bufflehead duck, ring necked parakeet, pintail, teal, blue winged teal, herons, cormorants, robin, song thrush, great tit, blue tit, moorhen, coot, shoveler, gadwall, mallard, tufted duck and shelduck.


Previous Visits
For a record of our other recent visits (from November 2016 until February 2017) click here.
You can see a record of our earlier visits in 2015/16 here.