First up, Martens Grove:
1 Green Woodpecker - my first record of this species here, feeding in a grassy glade with Pigeons, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker - later heard drumming, 3 Goldfinch, 1 male Chaffinch, 1 Wren, 22+ Woodpigeon, several Ring-necked Parakeet, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Magpie, Carrion Crow and Robin.
Then round the corner to Shenstone Park and the 'pinched off' north-east 'enclave' of Hall Place North just over the main road:
Here the birds included 2 Mistle Thrush, 1 Wren and Ring-necked Parakeets.
Across a short section of footpath and I was into Hall Place North 'proper':
Of note were 1 Green Woodpecker, and four separate groups Ring-necked Parakeets heading west over Gravel Hill approaching dusk - totalling circa 43 birds.
There appeared to be no House Sparrows in the school playing field hedge on Gravel Hill, but there was a lot of chirruping from evergreen shrubs by the Council multi-storey car-park on Albion Rd - perhaps they decamp here in the winter for more protection?
Showing posts with label Hall Place North. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hall Place North. Show all posts
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Saturday, 27 November 2010
27/11/10: Seeing the wood and the trees
A selection of tree photos taken today ....
Tree with a skirt of leaves - on the lower branches, and on the ground. Former Pitch and Putt golf course, north side of Bursted Wood, Barnehurst
The yellowed leaves of Sweet Chestnut continue to light up Bursted Wood, Barnehurst, in late November
Yellowed Sweet Chestnut leaves stand out against the dark green of an ivy-clad tree, Bursted Wood, Barnehurst
Tree silhouettes, Hall Place North, south of Bexleyheath
A row of trees stretching down the hill at Hall Place North, silhouetted at dusk
A deliberately blurred shot of a 'naked' tree at Hall Place North
Dead tree, Martens Grove
Trees in the dark, Martens Grove
27/11/10: Parakeet parade over Gravel Hill
I was heading for Hall Place North at about 4 p.m. Four groups of Ring-necked Parakeets flew over Gravel Hill in quick succession, heading roughly north-west or west - 14, circa 15, 25-ish and then another group of about 15.
No sign of any Redwings here yet.
No sign of any Redwings here yet.
Thursday, 29 July 2010
29/7/10: Broadway, Hall Place North, Shenstone Park and Martens Grove
Late decision to go into Bexleyheath, so left home in a rush forgetting to take mobile phone (aka digital camera) with me, hence the lack of pictures in this posting.
There were about 50 Starlings on the roof of The Mall on the Broadway.
At Hall Place North a (probable Hawker) Dragonfly circled round several times, but was against the light and would not settle for identification.
There were groups of juvenile Blue Tits and a couple of definite Greenfinches (which flew off in a flock of 12 birds which may have been con-specifics).
A Red-tailed Bee and a Carder Bee were feeding on one of the Bird's-foot Trefoil patches in the close-mown turf. There were quite a number of Red Tails on the good stand of Black Knapweed that was flowering in one of the unmown areas.
Butterflies were few in number, with only a white, a Meadow Brown or two and a Gatekeeper seen.
Clematis vitalba was in the Old Road/London Rd triangle where the Gas Holders are, and Ash was becoming prevalent here.
Moving into Shenstone Park, which I haven't been through since my running days back in the 80's, I suspect, were a lot of the usual plants of mown and unmown grass for this neck of the woods. The large number of Limes and Ash were notable features, and I was interested to see a couple of Walnut trees and some nice 'specimen' Hornbeams.
Green Woodpeckers were heard and seen - there may have been 2 or 3 different individuals.
Heading into Martens Grove a number of Elm were noted and a good view of a Wren was had. Field Maple, Hornbeam and a Beech were noted. There was a run of Swine Cress (Coronopus squamatus) by the path near the St Stephen's Rd entrance.
13 Starlings were over the south end of Barnehurst Rd, and 35(+) over the junction of Bexley Rd and Brook St.
A result of this peregrination is that I have identified 3 more areas that look promising for White-letter Hairstreak butterflies, though it's getting a bit late in the season now to have the best chance of checking for presence.
There were about 50 Starlings on the roof of The Mall on the Broadway.
At Hall Place North a (probable Hawker) Dragonfly circled round several times, but was against the light and would not settle for identification.
There were groups of juvenile Blue Tits and a couple of definite Greenfinches (which flew off in a flock of 12 birds which may have been con-specifics).
A Red-tailed Bee and a Carder Bee were feeding on one of the Bird's-foot Trefoil patches in the close-mown turf. There were quite a number of Red Tails on the good stand of Black Knapweed that was flowering in one of the unmown areas.
Butterflies were few in number, with only a white, a Meadow Brown or two and a Gatekeeper seen.
Clematis vitalba was in the Old Road/London Rd triangle where the Gas Holders are, and Ash was becoming prevalent here.
Moving into Shenstone Park, which I haven't been through since my running days back in the 80's, I suspect, were a lot of the usual plants of mown and unmown grass for this neck of the woods. The large number of Limes and Ash were notable features, and I was interested to see a couple of Walnut trees and some nice 'specimen' Hornbeams.
Green Woodpeckers were heard and seen - there may have been 2 or 3 different individuals.
Heading into Martens Grove a number of Elm were noted and a good view of a Wren was had. Field Maple, Hornbeam and a Beech were noted. There was a run of Swine Cress (Coronopus squamatus) by the path near the St Stephen's Rd entrance.
13 Starlings were over the south end of Barnehurst Rd, and 35(+) over the junction of Bexley Rd and Brook St.
A result of this peregrination is that I have identified 3 more areas that look promising for White-letter Hairstreak butterflies, though it's getting a bit late in the season now to have the best chance of checking for presence.
Monday, 26 April 2010
26/4/10 Gravel Hill, Hall Place and south of the Dartford Loop Line
A male Chaffinch was seen at the Erith Rd edge of Bursted Wood.
Some Brooms were in flower on the south-facing railway embankment just west of the Erith Rd bridge over the railway line.
A Red-tailed Bumblebee was the only insect around a strip of flowering Berberis darwinii at the junction of Highland Rd and Albion Rd, Bexleyheath.
A rather wayward pair of Mallard came down on a grass verge in Rossland Close, at the junction with Gravel Hill.
A Green Woodpecker was feeding along the shrub line at the top of the hill at Hall Place North (the parkland on the east side of Gravel Hill). At the bottom of the hill, near Bourne Rd, Thyme-leaved Speedwell - just coming into flower - was intermingled with Germander Speedwell. There was also some Slender Speedwell nearby.
In the newish shrub beds at the south east corner of the extended Hall Place car park parallel to Bourne Rd, there were 12 Common Fumitory growing up through the bark mulch, and not quite in flower yet. As far as I have been able to determine so far, this is a very infrequent plant, in the east of the Borough at any rate. No way were they going to overwhelm or inhibit the shrub planting, but it wasn't long before someone weeded them all out anyway...... A typicallly unintelligent, unimaginative and inflexible approach to vegetation management.
An attempt has been made to 'soften' the appalling car park recently built by the east side of the walled garden, and running right down to the river, with a couple of bits of ditch and an over-densely planted jumble of shrubs, full of natives, but some of them not indigenous to the local area. Is the assumption that half of them will die off?
Apart from the litter that had inevitably been blown - or thrown - into the ditches, and left there, there was a Grey Wagtail in one of them (and a Pied Wagtail on the roof of a building in the walled garden). Also several Celery-leaved Crowfoot just above the rather low water line. Here also, presumably brought in on the tyres of digging machinery, was a single plant of Shining Cranesbill (Geranium lucidum), my first record of it in Bexley, indeed in London south of the Thames.
Finds in the scrubby area (called The Old Orchard on one map I have) that is immediatly south of the railway opposite Hall Place, and on the east side of the A2, included the following (I haven't been here since I was a teenager in the 70s. My recollection - I have photos somewhere - is that is was then much more open, and people used to dig a Victorian (?) rubbish tip there for old bottles):
Rabbits
Dunnock
Long-tailed Tit
Pink-flowered, purplish-leaved Cherry (derived from garden cultivar)
Gorse
Broom
Marjoram
Hemlock
Ground Ivy
Hop
Some Brooms were in flower on the south-facing railway embankment just west of the Erith Rd bridge over the railway line.
A Red-tailed Bumblebee was the only insect around a strip of flowering Berberis darwinii at the junction of Highland Rd and Albion Rd, Bexleyheath.
A rather wayward pair of Mallard came down on a grass verge in Rossland Close, at the junction with Gravel Hill.
A Green Woodpecker was feeding along the shrub line at the top of the hill at Hall Place North (the parkland on the east side of Gravel Hill). At the bottom of the hill, near Bourne Rd, Thyme-leaved Speedwell - just coming into flower - was intermingled with Germander Speedwell. There was also some Slender Speedwell nearby.
In the newish shrub beds at the south east corner of the extended Hall Place car park parallel to Bourne Rd, there were 12 Common Fumitory growing up through the bark mulch, and not quite in flower yet. As far as I have been able to determine so far, this is a very infrequent plant, in the east of the Borough at any rate. No way were they going to overwhelm or inhibit the shrub planting, but it wasn't long before someone weeded them all out anyway...... A typicallly unintelligent, unimaginative and inflexible approach to vegetation management.
An attempt has been made to 'soften' the appalling car park recently built by the east side of the walled garden, and running right down to the river, with a couple of bits of ditch and an over-densely planted jumble of shrubs, full of natives, but some of them not indigenous to the local area. Is the assumption that half of them will die off?
Apart from the litter that had inevitably been blown - or thrown - into the ditches, and left there, there was a Grey Wagtail in one of them (and a Pied Wagtail on the roof of a building in the walled garden). Also several Celery-leaved Crowfoot just above the rather low water line. Here also, presumably brought in on the tyres of digging machinery, was a single plant of Shining Cranesbill (Geranium lucidum), my first record of it in Bexley, indeed in London south of the Thames.
Finds in the scrubby area (called The Old Orchard on one map I have) that is immediatly south of the railway opposite Hall Place, and on the east side of the A2, included the following (I haven't been here since I was a teenager in the 70s. My recollection - I have photos somewhere - is that is was then much more open, and people used to dig a Victorian (?) rubbish tip there for old bottles):
Rabbits
Dunnock
Long-tailed Tit
Pink-flowered, purplish-leaved Cherry (derived from garden cultivar)
Gorse
Broom
Marjoram
Hemlock
Ground Ivy
Hop
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