19/3/11: Pining for Coal Tits as Starlings vanish

Another roundabout sortie to the local shops on a sunny spring afternoon.

I have been hoping to find Coal Tits and/or Goldcrest in the large pines on the east side of Erith Cemetery for some time and, after exercising a fair bit of patience, I was rewarded with long-lasting views of a pair of Coal Tits foraging and, at one point sat still preening in close proximity to one another.

Other birds seen were Great Tit, Blue Tit, 2 Long-tailed Tits, Blackbirds, Robin, Carrion Crows and 3 Magpie. House Sparrows were heard by the gatehouse. The absence of the Starlings from the nearby Poplars was evident, but I did eventually stumble upon a rather bemused-looking lone individual which was very tolerant of my approach. Overall, species numbers were down on visits earlier in the year.

Grape Hyacinths were coming up in the gravelly tops of several memorials and I could only assume that they hadn't got wider traction on account of frequent mowing. A few moments of intensive searching found a couple of leaves of Birds-foot, mirroring its occurence on Hollyhill Open Space on the other side of the same valley.

The 'laughing' call of a Green Woodpecker and drumming of a Great Spotted Woodpecker were heard emanating from the nearby Erith Quarry site, and the stand of Gorse towards the north-west corner could be seen in flower through my binoculars.

The Council has lately made some improvements to the 'front' part of Northumberland Heath Recreation Ground with patches of Crocus and Daffodils in the grass, and several newly planted trees. But there is still much scope for improvement in terms of wildlife-friendly features - a strip of unmown grass round the margins would help. There were 2 Long-tailed Tits in the evergreens near the car park - where the native Gorse in the shrub bed - was flowering nicely and a Pied Wagtail and a couple of Starlings flying over, plus the usual House Sparrows and Carrion Crows. Starling numbers have suddenly declined markedly in this area too. Presumably most were winter immigrants.

I had been thinking earlier in the day that, after a long period of largely overcast weather (albeit with little rain) it felt like the sort of conditions in which one might get to see a butterfly and, lo and behold, there was a Peacock on the wing in the 'rear' section of the site - though nothing for it to feed on across the swathes of closely mown turf.

27/1/11: North Heath birds shun cold north wind

Not much showing itself in a grey afternoon, characterised by a cold northerly wind.

Northumberland Heath:

There were 2 Redwings at the school on Brook St, the closest ones I've seen to where I live so far this winter. At North Heath Recreation Ground 10 Wood Pigeons were feeding on the grass. c60 Starlings were intermittently wheeling over the western ('rear') section, and 15 House Sparrows were congregating around a feeder in adjoining garden. 50+ House Sparrows and 2 Blue Tits were in Erith School hedges, along Avenue Rd.

Erith Cemetery (east side):

Very little about. 2 male Chaffinch were seen, around 50 Wood Pigeon which were behaving rather restlessly and frequently taking flight - perhaps scaring off smaller birds in the process - a couple of Blackbirds, 2 Carrion Crows and some Magpies.

19/1/11: North Heath Rec and Erith Cemetery birds include Redwing and Greenfinch

There were 15 Wood Pigeon on North Heath recreation ground, around 60 Starlings - mainly in a large tree, but also on house chimneys and TV aerials - where the gardens of houses on Brook Street form part of the park's boundary, and also at least 8 House Sparrows here.

Further along Brook Street, in the eastern part of Erith Cemetery, there were 6 (and possibly one or two more) Redwing - of which I've seen none so far this winter, except on or by Crayford Marshes and, very pleasingly a group of 12 Greenfinch. The latter most probably make use of the nearby Erith Quarry site, which is now mainly secondary scrub. 14 House Sparrows were utilising a feeder in adjoining garden. There were also 20+ Wood Pigeon, 4 Ring-necked Parakeet, 3 Magpie, 2 Carrion Crow, several Starlings, Blue Tit and a Robin.

25/11/10: Fine stand of Annual Nettle in North Heath alley

Here's part of the largest and most luxurious stand of Annual Nettle (Urtica urens) I've yet found, growing in an alleyway in Northumberland Heath, London Borough of Bexley.


The leaves of the plants in this colony are particularly sharply and attractively 'cut'.

22/12/09: North Heath's 'heath' and Barnehurst's Wood in the snow

Glorious Gorse!

I was delighted to see this Gorse (Ulex europaeus) bush in full flower at the end of the shrub bed by the Sussex Rd car park in the Brook Street recreation ground. I suspect a lot of Park Keepers /contractors would have long since hacked this out. Well done for leaving (or maybe even planting) this reminder of the area's heathland history.

More Gorse can be seen along the fence line on the wooded slope on the east side of Erith Rd as it climbs to Northumberland Heath.

The most compact and strongly-growing specimens are at the south end (at the right side of the previous picture) where they get more sun and are less shaded by trees.

Bursted Wood is on the west side at the bottom of the hill. Here are 'specimen' trees on the former pitch and putt course.

Bursted Wood's northern margin from the former pitch and putt course.