1/03/10: Sparrows, Redwings abound on Gravel Hill

Had to go foraging for vegan fodder in Bexleyheath, so went down to the parkland on the east side of Gravel Hill to see what was about before heading home.


Gravel Hill parkland looking east in the evening sun - young Broom plants at the edge of one of the brambly copses, with scattered large trees in the background

Since I got my first proper view of Stock Doves in east London the other week, I've scanned gaggles of Wood Pigeons locally to see if they harbour any. No such luck. The flock of 17 Wood Pigeons feeding in the grass were clearly all just that.

A Green Woodpecker was on the on ground at the margin of the narrow long grass strip at the north west corner of the site at the top of the hill, and two were later seen feeding together on the grass at the bottom of the hill.

A number of thrushes were hopping about down here, and I eventually managed to get reasonably close, though the widely-spaced trees and shortish turf provided little cover. I counted 44 birds and all of those I could get a positive ID on (the light wasn't great by now, and my binoculars aren't very powerful) were Redwings. They'll soon be heading north again, so this may be the last big flock I see before next winter.

As the light faded a Great-spotted Woodpecker swooped into a tall tree, shortly flying off after two other passing birds, but I could only see these in distant silhouette, so don't know what they were.

Other species in evidence were Carrion Crow, Magpie, Blue Tit, Robin and Ring-necked Parakeet.

As dusk fell the House Sparrows in the dense deciduous hedge along Gravel Hill road, bounding St. Columba's School, had settled down enough to allow a reasonably accurate count. I made it 126 individuals.

1/3/10: Honeybees and Snowdrops

A sunny day, and two Honeybees, my first of the year, were seen feeding on Snowdrops in my front garden in Barnehurst. They were utilising the recently-opened Galanthus nivalis and apparently ignoring the earlier-flowering G.'Atkinsii' variety behind. The latter had first opened back on February 5th so were, perhaps, past their prime.

There was also a large, unidentified Hoverfly active in the back garden.



On my light, sandy soil, I grow Snowdrops in pots of garden compost sunk in the ground. This makes lifting them to split up while still 'in the green' (before the leaves die down after flowering, the best method), or otherwise moving them around, that much easier. It will also mean that I am not going to lose track of where my recent, fairly expensive acquisitions of a couple of choice double-flowered cultivars are! In my experience it also appears to be the case that Snowdrops flower better when slightly congested.

24+26/2/10: Few 'spots' - apart from Ladybird

24/2/2010

- Fox crossed north end of Barnehurst Avenue in daylight.

- 6 House Sparrows in street tree opposite the 'Royal Oak', Northumberland Heath. Chirruping from scrubby gardens both sides of Northumberland Close.

- 2 Collared Doves in Barnehurst Av. as I made my way home.

- 22-spot Ladybird found amongst Geranium macrorrhizum as I was weeding Couch Grass out of it.

26/2/10

- Fox in the back garden in broad daylight, with a hen's egg in its mouth, looking for somewhere to bury it. Foxes have been leaving eggs round the garden for years now.

21/2/2010: Ducks to water on marshes' flooded fields

The following birds were observed on flooded fields (above - looking towards Littlebrook Power Station and the QE2 bridge) in the 'triangle' between the converging Cray and Darent, north of the A206 (aka Bob Dunn Way - though why anyone would want another example of road-building folly named after themselves or a family member beats me):

- 5 Canada Geese
- Quite a few Wigeon (probably more than 12)
- Some Mallard
- A rather long-necked duck with a rather 'upright' resting posture, with a dark browny-black head and rear of neck, and a long whitish front of neck with a couple of dark spots, plus a dark duck with smaller white breast (both of these eventually took off with a male Mallard and were presumably 'hybrids' with domestic ducks)
- 5 (+?) Shoveler
- 2 Shelduck

- and (slightly) exciting, simply because it's new to me for the area, a male Pintail (Anas acuta).

21/2/10: Cray and Thames Rd wetland birds include 'white heron'

Out with the Thames21 Cray Riverkeepers today. Got wetter walking there in the rain than while clearing litter from the banks and the water by Maxim Rd, Crayford, since it stopped once we'd arrived. The usual lamentable array of plastic bags, bits of polystyrene and drinks cans, plus a chair and some dumped doors.

There were half a dozen or more House Sparrows in a bramble and rose thicket by disused factory premises on the south side of the river. Two Goldfinches landed briefly on shrubs outside the flats.

I noted the following birds along the Cray between Maiden Lane and Thames Rd:

4 Redwing
2 Ring-necked Parakeets
1 Moorhen
2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers chasing each other through a large Willow tree
2 Blue Tits
1 Magpie nest building
3 Mute Swan
3 Mallard

1 Rabbit was also seen.

I wanted to see what was using the Thames Rd wetland (a field deliberately flooded as part of a mitigation scheme for development elsewhere).

Thames Rd wetland looking south to sewer embankment and beyond

Thames Rd wetland looking east towards railway bridge

Walking along the sewer embankment the first birds spotted were 2 Chaffinches flocking with 6 Goldfinch.

There were 2 Coot on the water, a 'normal' pair of Mallard and a normal male and dark companion with a white breast. On the open water at the east end of the site, a male Shoveler floated into view. At one point there were 28 Black-headed Gulls, flown in from the Council dump site over the road, here. A lone Little Egret was spotted foraging for food, with apparent success. It took flight, but came back a short while later, a clear view being afforded for some time.

18/2/10: Finchley fernery

Up in north London again, this time for Green Party conference.

Walls with one, two or sometimes three small Asplenium/Ceterach species were a common sight back in Bristol, but not here in drier London, so it was pleasing to come across this one-off Asplenium trichomanes-studded wall on Lodge Lane, Woodside Park, Finchley.

14/2/10: Birds along the DLR - Devons Rd and All Saints

To get home from the Waterworks Nature Reserve I decided to go to Stratford, take the DLR to Lewisham, and the train from there back to Barnehurst.

I got off at a couple of stations in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in order to see if there was any interesting 'lineside' vegatation (which there wasn't).

However, 13 Linnets settled in a small tree by a scrappy car park behind the Lewisham-bound platform at Devons Rd, and stayed put for quite a while.

At All Saints some small birds were high in some trees a little way away, but remained obscured by lots of branches and unfavourable light. Fancying from glimpses that at least one of them was a Goldfinch, I decided to exit the station and try and get a better look. Persistence was rewarded with 6 Redwings and a slightly larger 'thrush', which I took to be a Song Thrush, feeding on the grass in All Saints (East India Dock Rd.) churchyard on the Montague Place side. There were at least 7 Goldfinches high up in some large London Planes, hanging on and apparently feeding from the globular fruits - something I've not seen before.

Shortly thereafter a good view was had of 11 Goldfinches feeding on the ground in the churchyard, by the base of a tree, whilst there were still at least a few others up in the aforementioned Planes.

Spotted Medick and a Barbarea sp.('Winter Cress') were noted on a mounded 'raised bed' at the junction of East India Dock Rd and Cotton St.

There was a Mute Swan on the water just past Greenwich DLR station.