3rd DECEMBER 2006.

HYDE PARK / KENSINGTON GARDENS 2.

I made the journey up to HP/KG for one specific reason. I had been on a ‘Gull I.D.’ walk and talk at the London WWT yesterday and was determined to see the Yellow Legged Gull that has most of the London ‘birders’ talking about its’ markings. Having learned yesterday that the markings will soon start to disappear as the gull moves into his ‘summer’ dress, I wanted to see the marks for myself. The streaking about the head, to my untrained and inexperienced eyes did still look to be unusual and so I shall follow the continuing story about this gulls’ ancestry with interest. I looked in the most obvious place for him to start off with, which are the posts where he would normally be ‘loafing’.

THE SERPENTINE, DECEMBER 3rd 2006

Photo; Reg Norman

No luck, so I searched the whole of the Long Water and Serpentine. I found him, almost at the extreme end of the Serpentine, in company with two other large gulls feeding on what I took to be a largish fish. Once found he was unmistakeable, the streaking about his head was quite pronounced and extensive. I had about three or four minutes to watch him and then he flew off, back towards his usual haunt! At one point he had turned towards me and opened his mouth as if yawning. I didn’t realise just how big a gulls' gape was!

THE LONG WATER

Photo: Reg Norman

I had already walked the length of the waterway twice and was in no mood to do so again. I had enjoyed myself in the two hours that I was there and again promised myself an ‘all-day’ trip.
I had remembered to stay on the south side of the waterway, which was good, because it was a very bright day (after the terrible gales and storm of the night before) and the glare from the water would have been terrible on the north side.
Although I had been mainly watching the water for signs of the gull, I had still seen various other birds especially in the little waterside ‘gardens’ that were closed to the public. I especially enjoyed watching a Mistle Thrush in ‘The Dell’ jumping up from the ground to grab Yew berries from the bush. I have often seen the thrush but not for such a long time or as close.

THE ITALIAN GARDEN

Photo: Reg Norman

BIRDS SEEN: Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Feral Pigeon, Black Headed Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Coot, Moorhen, Long Tailed Tit, Mute Swan, Black Swan, Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, Great Black Backed Gull, Cormorant, Great Crested Grebe, Mallard, Common Gull, Heron, Little Grebe, Tufted Duck, Magpie, Ring Necked Parakeet, Shoveller, Wood Pigeon, Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Wren, Yellow Legged Gull, Jay, Starling, Mistle Thrush.
HYBRID: Greylag Goose / Canada Goose.

26th NOVEMBER 2006.

LEG OF MUTTON WASHOUT.

Today will certainly be one that will be remembered for a long time! Leon and I had met at about seven o’clock to go to the Leg of Mutton (Lonsdale Road) Nature Reserve and were looking forward to our visit. The sky was perfectly clear although the sun had still not put in an appearance. It was much warmer than I had anticipated and was beginning to wish hat I had not put my ‘longjohns’ on!The ‘bus soon arrived and we were quickly taken to our destination. In the short ten minutes that it had taken us to travel from Roehampton Lane to Washington Road (‘bus stop) the sky in the west had become pitch-black!

THE SKY TURNED BLACK

Photo; Leon Rusk
Leon looked a little apprehensively at the clouds and voiced his fears, using words like. “..’kinell”, “saturated” and, I thought I heard “boat”! I tested the wind, Boy Scout style, with my finger and pronounced that the wind was carrying the clouds northwards and so therefore away from us and our destination! A few minutes later it started to get much darker (“...the wind has veered a little, we will still be alright!”) and, as the sun was starting to come up, the whole scene started to take on a very eerie light.
We got to the reserve just as it started raining. “See, it’s only light rain and I can see a break in the clouds!” It was then that Leon vanished! I have never seen such torrential rain! It was so dense hat I could barely see him, although the frequent lightning flashes did help a little! The ground literally shook with the sound of thunder! We sheltered under a tree, from which the leaves that were affording us a little shelter were being steadily stripped!

STRANGE PRE-STORM LIGHT

Photo: Leon Rusk

Leon seemed to be having a little trouble with his coat and I asked him what was up? “I’ve only stuck the bloody hood on backwards!” he said. He then removed the coat and reattached the hood. He still seemed to be having problems and so I asked what was up now? “I’ve stuck it on backwards again!” came the reply. “Walk backwards,” I said, “That should keep your head dry!” His reply was lost in the hurricane that had now arrived! I fixed his hood for him and asked if he would like me to tie some string on his gloves. The rain stopped. Birds started to sing and it seemed to brighten up a bit. “See, I told you! It is getting brighter on the horizon …. should be a good day now!” I ventured. We had about ten minutes of ‘birding’ in which time we saw a good few birds. There was still a very eerie light all around us and we tried to take some ‘photos to capture the ‘feel’ of the place.
Most of the leaves had fallen from the trees since we were here a few weeks ago. This opened up our lines of sight and enabled us to see just how big a site this really is. The people who run and manage this site have done a great job of creating different habitats and we are both looking forward to visiting many time s throughout the changing seasons.

EERIE LIGHT BETWEEN DOWNPOURS

Photo: Reg Norman

It rained again. Rain is probably not the right word; I was almost like there was a solid lump of water coming down continuously! It got everywhere, even between layers of waterproofs! What made it worse was that, once the rain had come down, it bounced and came back up again!
Brave soldiers that we were, we continued our journey around the site. There was, after all, nowhere to shelter apart from under a few Holly trees. Whilst standing under one, a jogger came by. We eyed each other, both thinking the same thing. “What a ‘dick head!”.
We finished our circuit of the site and made our (soggy) way towards WWT. Of course, we now had access to shelter and so it stopped raining! This site really is lovely and we shall be back again soon. Next time we shall take more notice of the weather forecast.

SOUTH WEST ALONG 'LEG O' MUTTON'

Photo: Leon Rusk

BIRDS SEEN: Egyptian Goose, Canada Goose, Magpie, Great Tit, Blackbird, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Wood Pigeon, Shoveller, Pochard, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Cormorant, Chaffinch, Black Headed Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Sparrowhawk, Feral Pigeon, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Greenfinch, Carrion Crow, Ring Necked Parakeet, Starling, Little Grebe.

THE SUN CAME UP ......THE TREE TURNED GOLD!!!

Photo; Reg Norman

19th NOVEMBER 2006.

FIRST BUSHEY PARK TRIP

At a half past six in the morning, under a lightening clear blue sky, Leon and I walked up Roehampton Lane towards the number 85 ‘bus stop. It was bitterly cold but we had been promised a lovely sunny day. Leon could not remember the last time that he had been in the park and I had not been there since 1977! I can remember the date, the 3rd November, as I used to work at the National Physical Laboratory and left on that day to start my present employment! We arrived at Roehampton Village and Leon said that he was just popping in to the shop for a minute. Of course, while he was in the shop, a ‘bus came. And went. We waited for the next ‘bus, which fortunately was not too long in coming, to take us to Kingston. From Kingston bus station to the park itself is only a short walk, probably no more than about ten minutes.

RISING SUN THROUGH TREES

Photo: Reg Norman

We entered the park via the Hampton Wick gate.
It was soon clear that the sun had not risen high enough to burn off the fog that seemed much heavier in the park itself. This enabled us to take some quite ‘atmospheric’ photographs. We had not walked far when I realised that I had misplaced Sues’ camera case and so we had to retrace our steps somewhat in order to find it. Fortunately, one of the park employees had found it and returned it to us without having to go too far!

EARLY MORNING FOG AND FROST

Photo: Reg Norman

We made our way towards the ‘Leg of Mutton’ pond and we were quite surprised to see that there were several fishermen dotted around the lake with their shelters erected. Here, we got some photos of a Heron perched in a tree. We had just put our cameras away (to protect them from the cold) when a flight of geese came winging in from the fog. They must have been just above the level of the fog because they were beautifully lit with a wan yellowish sun. We missed the picture of course, all the more annoying because they were Egyptian Geese.

THE HERON POND

Photo: Reg Norman

We moved along to the Heron Pond, keeping the sun to our backs, where we could see lots of waterfowl including some Red Crested Pochards.
Moving on to the Model Boating pond, we were surprised at the number of people that were out and about. It was still very early but there were all sorts of dog-walkers and joggers about. There was a good number of Jackdaws about, apart from the Ring Necked Parakeets they were certainly the most numerous species of birds to be seen. They, and the ducks that were awake, were making the most of the scraps that people were throwing down for them.
The waterway which we had followed was nicely looked after and there was a good selection of different pond and water plants to be seen, it must look lovely in the summer.

HERON IN TREE, LEG of MUTTON POND

Photo; Reg Norman

Passing the car park we moved to the Diana Fountain where we could see even more types of waterfowl and quite a large flock of Canada Geese. From here we could get our bearings to cross the open ground towards the Taxodium Walk and the entrance to the Pheasantry Woodland Gardens. These gardens were in the process of being developed but were still a thriving haven for birdlife. On the way there we saw Redpoll, Fieldfares and Meadow Pipits, the latter in good numbers.
There were many birds to see (and hear) in the woodland garden. Once again, a more experienced ‘birder’ would have got a longer list of birds, being new to ‘birding’ we still miss quite a lot!
Having walked all round the garden we made our way out and on to Teddington Station to get the train to Barnes and thence to WWT London.

BUMPER MISTLETOE CROP

Photo: Reg Norman

BIRDS SEEN: Redwing, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Ring Necked Parakeet, Jay, Common Redpoll, Mute Swan, Heron, Coot, Black Headed Gull, Green Woodpecker, Wood Pigeon, Mallard, Magpie, Egyptian Goose, Moorhen, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Blue Tit, Red Crested Pochard, Jackdaw, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Common Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Fieldfare, Meadow Pipit, Great Tit, Wren, Long Tailed Tit, Blackbird, Goldfinch, Mistle Thrush, Coal Tit, Kingfisher.

WATERFALL, ISABELLA PLANTATION,

Photo: Leon Rusk

12th NOVEMBER 2006.

LEG O’MUTTON NATURE RESERVE, BARNES.

Not so cold as it has been but still pretty nippy, the day had started a lot brighter than we thought that it might. We waited for the bus outside our flats thoroughly looking forward to the visit. I could not remember the last time I had been to the Leg O’Mutton, probably a good forty years and Leon had not been there for twenty at least. I had asked for information about the site on ‘LondonBirders’ and had received a reply from somebody that uses the site on a regular basis. He was complimentary about the site but, as it turned out, he sold the place short.
The site, in Lonsdale Road, Barnes, is not far from Hammersmith Bridge on the south side of the river. We travelled by bus , it being only two stops further for us than when travelling to the WWT London, and then a short walk. We had wrapped up warm and the mild exertion of walking with all the extra layers of clothes and the rucsac soon had me starting to perspire!
The site does not look much from Lonsdale Road but when you enter the gate that early perception is soon knocked to one side. The Reserve is based on an old reservoir. There are good wooded areas all around the ‘lake’ as well as small open areas and managed reedbeds. Upon the lake surface are several rafts and floating bird loafing spots. The whole area is well laid out, apart from some managed viewing points you can never see very far in front of you. This means that you can never be sure of what you might come across as you round each bend! When we arrived it was not very busy but as the morning went on more birds kept arriving.
A bonus to this site is that it adjoins the Thames towpath at several points. The chap that had sent us advice on the site had mentioned this fact and that, depending on the tide, it might be better to look across the river at low tide for waterfowl and gulls! Between the reserve and the towpath is a wooded area, in effect increasing the size of the reserve dramatically.
Both Leon and I kept popping out of the various gates to look at either the river (tide too high) or to have a quick look at the woodland area. By the time that we were about two thirds of the way round the site we needed a rest and a cup of coffee from our flasks. We sat and watched the different waterfowl and gulls whose numbers had swelled greatly since we had first arrived. It was then that we saw an unusual sight. There were two Pigeons/Doves circling high above the lake in what can only be described synchronized flying! The birds twisted and turned, very slowly, never more than about two feet from each other in perfect time and flight pattern. Sometimes they appeared to brush gently against one another, first one leading, then the other! It was both extraordinary and beautiful to watch! We made plans to come back to this patch again as we had had both enjoyed ourselves immensely.
As we made our way to leave the site and head off towards the WWT centre up the road, we noticed that the stream of joggers and dog-walkers was beginning to increase dramatically. Not really a problem but having to keep sidestepping into the undergrowth became a bit of a bind!
All in all we thought this was a good site and would recommend it to anybody, we will certainly be visiting here more often. Our informant from ‘LondonBirders’ mentioned that the best times for this site are in the spring and the autumn.
BIRDS SEEN: Pied wagtail, Robin, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Mute Swan, Carrion Crow, Great Tit, Coots, Mallard, Long Tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Heron, Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Wren, Canada Goose, Ring Necked Parakeet, Little Grebe, Magpie, Wood Pigeon, Feral Pigeon, Egyptian Goose, Cormorant, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch.

N.B: A ‘birder’ of more experience would have seen a lot more! We saw and heard several birds that were unfamiliar to us, and were thus not recorded! Most of these were woodland ‘LBJ’ type birds although we saw some flashes of colour!

BEEFSTEAK (?) FUNGHI Photo:Leon Rusk

5th NOVEMBER 2006.

FIRST VISIT TO RICHMOND PARK.

This was to be my first visit to Richmond Park for about seven years. The last time that I was here I was with my, then, girlfriend and her two children for a picnic! It was blistering hot then – how different it was today!
Leon and I arrived at the park just before seven o’clock having left home at about a quarter to. It was about zero degrees as we met and was still quite misty. During the walk to the Park, we were able to hear many birds around us, especially in the college grounds, although it was almost impossible to see them! We were planning on reaching the ‘Pen Ponds’ a short time after the mist had dispersed.
We entered the Park via Roehampton Gate and made our way to the bridge across Beverley Brook. Once across the bridge we turned left and headed across the Polo lawns and the small stream then moving uphill towards the White Lodge. I think that this area is called ‘Bone Copse’. All around us we could hear the odd Red Deer stag bellowing, the rut in its’ final stages. As we moved uphill the mist was thinning and we started to get glimpses of groups of deer around us. One of the larger stags sent a much younger (pricket?) running when he approached too closely, a timely warning to us! Whilst watching the deer we were aware of a flock of Canada Geese approaching, their calls giving their position away. Looking in the direction of the calls we found that we could see for quite some distance along the side of the hill and could clearly see the approaching flock. About twenty of them, in chevron formation, flew directly over us at the height of about fifteen feet! We were both pig-sick that we had not had our cameras ready because that sort of picture opportunity does not come along every day!
We continued on up the hill through rapidly thinning mist, the sun starting to peep through in places and creating some fantastic lighting effects in the sky. Leon was quick to use his camera as moved along. As we reached the top of the hill, just by the Lodge, we came across a couple of Fallow Deer bucks amongst the bracken. They took very little notice of us and moved on about their business. Again, Leon was very busy with his camera.
The mist was very ‘patchy’ now and as we walked past the Lodge on our way down to the ‘Pen Ponds’ we were allowed some lovely views. All around us we could now see many different birds including some Redwings ‘mobbing a Carrion Crow!
Suddenly, all hell broke loose in the bracken off to our left. The two Fallow bucks that we had seen shortly before had come across several others of their kind and one of them was now fighting with one of the new group. Leon took some ‘photos as the animals fought amongst the patchy mist in the bracken. I do hope that his pictures are as good as I believe that they might be – if so I will post some here.
Turning back towards the ‘Pen Ponds’ Leon pointed out a sign asking people to keep out of an area as it was the breeding site for Skylarks. How he knew that the sign was there beats me. He had to pull back lots of bracken to see it! I remember that when I was much younger, we would not take any notice of Skylarks whilst in the Park as they were all over the place, most common! I was, however, pleased to get a glimpse of one today.
Leon had been busy taking pictures of the sun coming through the tree canopy and as we stood there a loud honking, that could only be geese, came to us through the trees. Neither of us could recognise the sound though and we strained to see the birds. They flew past some distance away, right in front of the pale sun and so we could not get a good view of them. As thy moved away, I noticed a shape among the trees. It was a fallow buck, some distance away, perfectly framed by the trunks and ‘browse-line’ of some trees. It was another picture opportunity that would hardly be likely to present itself again. Which was unfortunate because neither of our cameras was powerful enough to take the shot the shot anyway! We moved on down to the ponds.
The views across the ponds were stunning. The mist had nearly cleared away entirely, just a few wisps here and there. We could also see many waterfowl were already hard at work feeding and squabbling. We had arrived at the lower pond and as we stood there taking in the beauty of the place the unknown geese from earlier on flew over us and landed on the upper pond. We would be able to see them a little later on.
There were also a few more people about, either jogging or walking their dogs. We also saw a Parks Warden (for they have got rid of the old Parks Police) whom we would see on several occasions as we moved about the Park. I was quite surprised by the sheer number of birds on show, I could not remember there being this many or as much variety from my younger days! We kept to the south of the ponds as the sun was so low in the sky that we would have only been able to see a glare from the water on the northern side.
We moved on to the upper pond to be surprised, yet again, by the numbers of birds in residence! Apart from the multitude of Coots the very first bird that we saw was a Red Crested Pochard, a first for us both. The two geese that we had seen and heard earlier turned out to be Egyptian Geese; they had lost no time in getting stuck in to the food that was being proffered to a host of Canada Geese and a large supporting cast of ducks Coots and the odd dog!
We met up with the Warden who was most helpful with his knowledge of the best times and places to see different birds. He seemed only too pleased to help out a couple of novices; mind you we do find this nearly everywhere that we go! We stopped and had some coffee which went a little way in warming us up, the temperature was still very low. We watched the birds and some deer that were among the rhododendrons bordering the wildlife sanctuary at the western end of the pond. We also took some pictures, some of which you will see on this blog.
Having had such a good time at the ponds we were a little reluctant to move on, but we realised that to get everything done that we wanted to get done we would have to force ourselves to move!
We moved to the Isabella Plantation, taking quite a few pictures on the way. The autumn colours were very vivid, if a little late, and we were able to get some good shots. There were even some Rhododendron ‘ponticum’ in flower at the edge of the Pen Ponds wildlife sanctuary! We could see and hear many birds around us and at one time about sixty Wood Pigeons flew above us heading towards the west.
Entering the plantation, memories of a spring day many year ago came flooding back. I had not been here since 1965! I was shocked to see just how beautiful the place was, everywhere we looked there were stunning vistas and Leons’ camera must have been getting hot! A great deal of care and hard work must have gone in to producing such a beautiful place, I was sorry that Sue was not with me as she would have been able o take so many wonderful pictures. There were many birds too; it wasn’t long before we were surrounded by a myriad of Tits and Finches of several sorts. There seemed to be very few people about, which surprised us, even though it was still very early. The air was filled with the sound of small birds and water cascading over hidden obstacles amongst the ornate and colourful shrubs and trees around us. Here was one problem though and that was the Ring Necked Parakeets. They kept up their incessant screeching for long periods at a time and were he only blight on an otherwise perfectly idyllic scene.
We were joined again, briefly, by the Warden that we had met earlier at the pen Ponds. Again he was a mine of information concerning the birds, habitat and other general information concerning the plantation. He expressed some concern that the Parakeets were displacing some of the hole-nesting birds that used to b a little more common than is he case now. He also told us where to look for Woodcock at the right time of day!
Moving around the plantation we came across a bird feeder which was being attended by numerous members of the Tit family. We saw our first Willow Tit here.
People were starting to arrive (some with their dogs, which I thought were not allowed into the plantation) and the place was getting quite busy very quickly. We decided to leave and to start making our way towards Robin Hood gate.
From the exit of the plantation we made our way southwards towards the perimeter wall that backed on to the house at the bottom of Kingston Hill. Instead of walking down the main footpath we kept close to the wall itself. It was quieter here and we were rewarded with the sight of many small birds. There was a great gathering of Tits, many of the Long Tailed variety among them, which we stopped and watched for a short time. They always seem to be having such a whale of a time! A little further down the hill we saw the first Nuthatch that either of us had seen for a long time. Once again a large flock of Parakeets flew amongst the trees banishing all thoughts of peacefulness.
Just before we were about to leave the Park we came across a tree that seemed to have a spotlight shining on it as the sun came through the tree canopy. The shaft of sunlight was shining directly on to a huge fungus which we both thought to be a ‘Beefsteak’ (?) type.
We left the Park and made our way to the bus stop. From here we would go to the WWT at Barnes.
BIRDS SEEN: Carrion Crow, jay, Wood Pigeon, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Jackdaw, Black Headed Gull, Meadow Pipit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, grey Wagtail, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Wigeon, Canada Goose, Red Crested Pochard, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Ring Necked Parakeet, Starling, Mistle Thrush, Shoveller, Pochard, Egyptian Goose, Cormorant, Green Woodpecker, Magpie, Robin, Coal Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Blackbird, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Wren, Nuthatch, Willow Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch.

SUNRISE, RICHMOND PARK, 5th NOV 2006 Photo; Leon Rusk

29th OCTOBER 2006.

STAINES RESERVOIRS 2

Leon and I met at about twenty to seven and walked down Roehampton Lane to Barnes station to catch the first train towards Windsor and Eton. Luckily, we had both remembered to put our clocks and watches back by one hour and so managed to avoid any delays. Or so we thought! The train was late due to signal failures and it was only about ten minutes. Whilst we were waiting we were entertained by some very vocal and acrobatic Long Tailed Tits and their friends in the trees that grow alongside the station. Over the last month or so I have seen countless of these beautiful little birds on many occasions ad I never seem to tire of them. To think that only a few months ago I hadn’t seen one before!
The weather was absolutely lovely, perfect sunshine with just a little chill in the air. I had hoped that it might be slightly overcast early on as you cannot look back over the ‘South’ reservoir as the early morning sun glares off of the water! Still, we were not complaining. I had told Leon about the ‘huge’ flocks of Ring Necked Parakeets that we were likely to see. Three. Just three. The last time I was here, a few weeks back, there were so many that I thought it had got dark early! We were treated to views of several different birds on the walk up to the reservoir.
Once up on the causeway across the reservoirs, it got very windy and the temperature dropped considerably. We were rapped warmly enough though and the only real sign of the wind was that our eyes kept running with tears!
Leon was keen to see the Black Necked Grebes and soon found out how similar they are to the adolescent Great Crested variety, making the same mistake that I had previously! He soon spotted this and picked out the correct bird in future.
The wind seemed to be picking up and getting stronger by the minute although the sun stayed out and we could feel the warmth of it on our ‘leeward’ sides! Along the length of the causeway there are, very occasionally, some small bushes which, although very sparse, do offer a minimum of respite from the wind. Behind one of these bushes we came across a young man with a telescope. He kindly pointed out some Pintail and let the both of us have a quick look. We find this quite often, people who know a fair bit about the hobby who are only too pleased to help out with ‘newbies’. We moved along a bit to let the chap have some privacy and to have a cup of coffee from the new flasks that I had got for the two of us. Sue had spotted them in ‘Wilkinsons’ and they were perfect for a ‘one-cup’ flask being compact and efficient in what they were designed for.
It was while we were having our coffee that we noticed a small bird struggling with the wind, being forced to land on the fence. Neither Leon nor I had the faintest idea as to what it might be other than we both thought it to be a bunting of some kind. We had not seen one of these before and looked at it for as long as we could to keep as many details in our mind as possible. We would look it up in ‘Collins’ at the ‘office’ later. When the bird finally flew away it went over the chap that we had seen earlier and another bloke who had joined him. I went over to ask if they had seen the bird as it flew over them but neither of them had. We spent about another half hour or so mooching about, seeing some Meadow Pipits and a single Rock Pipit amongst several other species.
We decided to make a move back to WWT Barnes to continue our ‘birding’ there. We had obviously misread the train timetable as we had to wait ages for a train! (Note to self: take more notice next time!).
BIRDS SEEN: Long Tailed Tit, Carrion Crow, Ring Necked Parakeet, Robin, Wren, Magpie, Goldfinch, Mute Swan, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Cormorant, Lapwing, Coot, Gadwall, teal, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Black Necked Grebe, Pied Wagtail, Blackbird, Pintail, Heron, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Shoveller, Wood Pigeon, Lapland Bunting, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Green Woodpecker, Feral Pigeon, Black Headed Gull,

Postscript: Later that evening I looked at ‘BirdGuide’ and noted that a Lapland Bunting had been seen at Staines Moor. Both Leon and I recognised the bird we had seen earlier as this bird in ‘Collins’.

RICHMOND PARK.....EARLY FROST! Photo: Leon Rusk

22nd OCTOBER 2006.

BEDDINGTON S.F.

We left Arton Wilson House at 07:40 and walked to Barnes station. The train arrived quite quickly and we were soon at Clapham Junction where we caught the train to Hackbridge. We arrived about an hour early for the guided tour of the farm, hoping to be able to get something to eat. We were unlucky as there was nowhere open apart from some Asian supermarkets and neither of us fancied cold pies and Coke! We went for a walk around Hackbridge; it seemed like quite a nice place but closed! It also appeared to be a great place to live if you were a birdwatcher, having lots of green, open spaces and wooded areas.
Arriving back at the meeting place, the station forecourt, we met up with Terry and Liz who we knew from ‘BirdForum’ and WWT Barnes. They too had hoped to get something to eat but had been disappointed.
The first group of people who had gathered tuned out not to be our group at all but rather a separate RSPB outing. They soon moved off and for a short time we thought that Leon had joined them as he had gone to the shop and took his time coming back! Our group was, by now, assembling. One of the regulars informed us that this was the largest group that he had seen for one of the walks. Our guide soon appeared and we set off for the farm.
We were quite surprised at the size of the place; it was MUCH bigger than we had anticipated! Our guide slowly walked us around the site, pointing out the various different habitats and highlights as well as filling us in with odd facts about many different aspects of the farm. He worked very hard to try to show us everything that he could, including venturing into the undergrowth trying to flush some of the birds! This was successful in the case of the Jack Snipe that managed to set into flight although I missed it properly because I was scanning some Oak trees for Little Owls!
We had a good three hours of constant birdwatching interspersed with short walks between each area and most of us were getting pretty worn out as the terrain was more suited to tanks and four-wheel drive vehicles! Our guide probably covered about twice the distance that we did in his exertions to show us as much as he could in the ‘short’ time allotted to us. Such is the size of the place and the number of different habitats that you would need many days and sessions to see everything properly.
After thanking our guide and saying ‘goodbye’ to Terry and Liz, we stalked off to have a few ‘relaxers’ in the local pub. It turned out not to be a pub but a motel and they were expecting a wedding party. No beer there! This was a shame as we needed to take off our wet things; we soaked through from the very bad weather at the tail end of the walk even though we were wearing waterproofs!
We went back to the station and caught the train back to Barnes and then caught a bus to the ‘Red Lion’ or ‘office’ as it is affectionately known. We had a few ‘relaxers’, warmed up and then made our way home.
We’d had a lovely day and had been surprised that the farm hardly smelled at all!
Birds seen: Mallard, Carrion Crow, Tree Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Great Tit, Starling, Coot, Moorhen, Shoveller, Heron, Black Headed Gull, Lapwing, Herring Gull, Pochard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Mute Swan, Teal, Little Grebe, Stonechat, Pintail, Robin, Wood Pigeon, Goldfinch, Green Sandpiper, Song Thrush, Reed Bunting, Dunnock, Blackbird, Greenfinch, Ring Necked Parakeet, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blue Tit, Green Woodpecker, Common Snipe, Jay, Jack Snipe, Chaffinch, Wren, Jackdaw, Jack Snipe, Kestrel, Feral Pigeon, Long Tailed Tit, Meadow Pipit.

REG AND LEON Photo: Sue Blair

19th OCTOBER 2006.

HYDE PARK / KENSINGTON GARDENS

Before meeting Leon for our day at WWT Barnes, I made a short trip to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. The sole purpose of this trip was to ‘recce’ the place for a future day-visit by Leon and myself. I had been reading some reports about the place on the ‘London Birders’ website and thought that it might be a good place for the two of us. A chap called Des McKenzie had posted several reports so I emailed him and received a smashing reply suggesting places to go and what I might expect to see. Just what we novices need! Anyway, I had a lovely time thanks mostly to the help I had been sent. I arrived at 06:30 ……..it was still dark! I entered the park by the ‘Albert’ gate and was resting my bag on a mounting block when two youngish coppers said “Alright sir?” they had been standing just feet from me and I had not seen them! “Er… yes” I said, “I am just doing a bit of birdwatching!” whilst taking my binoculars from my bag. ”What you looking for, Owls?” said one of them! I couldn’t stop laughing and carried on my way. By the time I reached the Serpentine, about ten minutes, it was getting lighter and I could see the birds on the lake well enough.
After about two and a half hours and not covering half of what I had intended I made my way towards Barnes. The best memory of the day was a flock of Tits, mostly Long Tailed, that were busy in the trees around me near the Peter Pan. We see these birds quite regularly Barnes but never quite so close, they seemed totally absorbed in what they were doing.
BIRDS SEEN: Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Coot, Mallard, Mute Swan, Shoveller, Tufted Duck, Greylag Goose, Great Crested Grebe, Canada Goose, Robin, Magpie, Wood Pigeon, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Great tit, Little Grebe, Cormorant, Wren, Long Tailed Tit, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Black Headed Gull, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Mandarin Duck, heron, Starling,

SIR PETER SCOTT Photo: Sue Blair

8th OCTOBER 2006.

STAINES RESERVOIR.

I was to be on my own today as Leon had gone to Cornwall with his brother, Terry, to do some site seeing and to visit the Eden Project. Later I would go to WWT Barnes but first I was going to ’recce’ Staines Reservoir.
I travelled to the site from Barnes railway station to Ashford. From the station I walked up to the A30 and followed it until I could turn right onto the A3044 and thence to the causeway between the Reservoirs. It was not too cold but I would guess that this place could be bitterly cold if there was a wind whipping across the water in the winter. It would probably be true to say that in the summer you would have to be careful about covering up from the sun and to make sure that you had plenty to drink with you!
Another reason that I had come to this site was that there were some Black Necked Grebes in residence. I saw them but not until I had learned that, to a beginner like myself, juvenile Great Crested Grebes have a strong resemblance to the Black Necked at this time of the year! I thought that there seemed to be something wrong so (luckily) I checked my ‘Collins’.
Although only staying for a short while it was evident that one could see quite a variety of different birds at this site and looked forwards to coming here later in the month with Leon.
I asked a couple of chaps who were walking along the causeway if there was a way out at the other end as it appeared to be much nearer to Ashford station. Of course there was, I could have save at least a miles’ walk! Never mind, that was the reason for the visit, to ‘recce’ the place!
Getting back to Ashford station I JUST missed a train which meant that I had to wait for another hour before he next one! Lesson number two: check the timetable next time!
Leon ‘phoned me while I was waiting. We had not seen Pied Wagtails at WWT Barnes for some time and he was ‘phoning to say that he had just seen one on Bodmin Moor. I told him where I was (he didn’t know that I was going) and that I had seen ‘hundreds’! I spent the rest of the hour waiting for the train reading up on grebes in my ‘Collins’.
BIRDS SEEN: Coot, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Black Necked Grebe, Herring Gull, Cormorant, Pied wagtail, Greenfinch, Mute Swan, Sparrowhawk, Ruddy Duck, Ring Necked Parakeet, Carrion Crow, Teal, Wigeon, Common Golden Eye, Black Headed Gull, Little Grebe, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Great Crested Grebe, Starling, Gadwall, Tree Sparrow, Dunnock, Robin, Moorhen.

MY MATE LEON

This is my mate Leon. We work together and started going to the WWT London to see the Voles that they had released in a bid to reintroduce them. We started to get more interested in the birds that we saw whilst we were there and eventually we took out memberships and now go to the centre about twice a week, sometimes more. There are many events at the centre including walks and talks. One of our favourites is the batwalks, a talk followed by an hour or so walking around the site armed with a bat detector! We also enjoy the many nature walks, particularly the 'Recognising birds by ther songs' events. After attending one of these walks the number of birds that we saw on each of our visits rose dramatically!

Leon has a good pair of eyes, he usually spots raptors long before I or anybody else sees them. I can think of many times when I would have missed something had he not already seen something along way off.

He also has a brilliant sense of humour,seeing something humourous in most situations. I fact not many days pass when he doesn't have me in fits of laughter!