Another glorious day on Saturday meant that I was able to go out for a pre-volunteering walk. When I got down to the Model boating pond the first thing I noticed was that all the Gulls had disappeared. This told me that spring was well and truly here. Coots were the main attraction on the pond, with Stock Dove flying over head, and a Cormorant sighting out on the platform. I then moved on to the bird sanctuary pond where a group of Tufted Ducks were feeding. A couple of Canada Geese were also present and Ring-necked parakeet fill the air with their chatter. Above: Coot Below: Cormorant Above and Below: Drake Tufted Duck I then headed up and onto the path through the middle of the new meadow habitat area above the Model Boating pond in the hope of a Wheatear or the Black Redstart reported in recent days, however I only managed Magpies, Jackdaws, and Blue Tit. I then headed back down the hill towards the Highgate Men's Bathing Pond. Above: Jackdaw There were singing Chiffchaff and Blackcap at this point from almost every section of bush on the heath, it was truly amazing to hear. A Great Crested Grebe had appeared on the Model Boating Pond once I had gotten to the bottom of the hill, as well as another 2 on the Men's Bathing pool, with ironically a group of Drake Mallards. A Great Tit appeared in the trees above just as I started to head towards Highgate Dog Pond. Above and Below: Great Crested Grebes Above: Great Tit When I got to the Dog pond, the first thing I noticed was the Mute Swan right infront of the viewing point alongside a group of Tufted Ducks. A Coot was sitting on a nest just off to the left hand side of the view point. A pair of Indian Runner ducks were also around presumably escapees. Herring Gulls sat on the rafts alongside a Cormorant, and a Mandarin Duck sat hidden in the bushes near the path. It was truly amazing to watch the Tufted Ducks diving so close to where I was standing and with the water being reasonably clear it gave me an insight into their lives. Above: Drake Tufted Duck Below: Coot on nest Above: Left, Female: Right, Male Tufted Ducks Next 2 Diving Tufted Ducks Above: Mute Swan Below: Indian Runner Duck Above: Feral Pigeon Below: Cormorant Above: Herring Gull Above and Below: Drake Mandarin I then moved on from here and headed towards where the Waxwings had been seen however unfortunately for me they weren't still there and that was another missed chance to tick them off for me. Instead got Starlings for compensation and a group of Greenfinch. I then headed up to Parliament Hill. I was going to head straight to the Volunteer hub, until I spotted 2 small birds fly catching from the tops of the trees right on top of the hill. When I got there I managed to find 2 Wheatear fly catching from the tops of the trees quite successfully it has to be said. After watching them for 20 minutes I then headed for the volunteer hub. Above and Below: Northern Wheatear Above: An Absolutely Smashing Starling When I got to the Volunteer hub I was surprised to find out that we were going to do a bird watching session. And at just after 12:30 we set off to teach the little'uns about birds and how fun bird watching can be as well as getting them to do some identifying activities. Once at the Dog Pond the first thing I noticed whilst I was setting up was that absolutely nothing had changed in the last hour, except a Grey Heron was now patrolling the back of the pond as well as a pair of Shoveler had just flown in from the West as we arrived and were now feeding on the pond too. Whilst we were by the pond the Mandarin Duck decided that he wanted to come out and have a bit of a preen and clean session in front of all the kids sending water flying in all directions. A kestrel flew across the back of the pool, before another flew into the trees above our heads. Ring-necked Parakeets and Long-tailed Tits kept us company at all times moving between the different trees above us. I was actually quite surprised at how many birders were on the heath on such a busy day and I recon we had more birders stop than children in the end, which wasn't really the point of us being there. Most of the kids that stopped really enjoyed the activities and I hope we managed to inspire the next generation of bird watchers. Above: Drake Shoveler Above and Below: Drake Mandarin Duck We then headed back to the volunteering hub and unloaded the wildlife bike of all our kit. Rather than finishing my day there I went back through the Heath to get to the Bus Stop. I checked the Trees again for Waxwings, but with no luck I moved back to the Dog Pond. From the Dog Pond I found a pair of Pied Wagtail out on the raft as well as a Grey Wagtail, which was quite a surprise. A Pair of Canada geese also flew in from the West and the Cormorant had decided he had enough and flew up circling and slowly gaining height until he headed off to the East. I also found another Scaup look-a-like Female Tufted Duck. Above: Ring-necked Parakeet Below: Male Pied Wagtail, with Female obscured Above: Drake Shoveler Below: Grey Wagtail Above: Herring Gull and Grey Wagtail Below: Female Pied Wagtail Above: Canada goose Below: Female Tufted Duck doing it's best impression of a Scaup I then headed round to the Men's bathing pond, however with people actually in it I didn't pick up anything new. Then at the Model Boating pond a pair of Egyptian Geese had appeared along with their 2 youngsters. A Great Crested Grebe was also feeding right up close to the path. Then from the Bird Sanctuary pond I picked up a pair of Gadwall as well as a Canada Goose sitting on a nest in an old tree trunk on the waters edge. Above and Below: Egyptian Geese Next 4: Great Crested Grebe Above and Below: Long-tailed Tit Above: Pair of Gadwall Below: Male Left, Female Right: Gadwall Above: Canada Goose on odd nest Below: Moorhen I then headed to the exit and unfortunately just after I packed my camera away 2 Goldcrests came and landed on the tree beside me giving insanely good views, typical. And so that was the end of my day on the Heath. Totteridge Valley Today was the first official meet up of the Totteridge valley birders. We showed each other new routes and also shared local knowledge with each other, and of course as with all good birders we went birding on what feels like an under watched valley. First of all we took a public footpath off Frith Lane in the hope of some summer migrants and a Swallow wasn't a bad start. Stock Dove are all over the place at the moment and so to are the Ring-necked Parakeets. A pair of Lapwing and a Red-legged Partridge were in the first field that we checked which was a very good start. House Sparrows can now officially be added to the patch list with one near the farm building we walked past. A pair of Pied Wagtails were also around with the male sitting watch from the top of the Barn and the Female feeding in the fields. Above: Jackdaw and Lapwing Above: Female Pied Wagtail We then lost a member of our group to other commitments, however 3 of us kept going. We ended up on the path coming down from Partingdale lane to the sound of Calling Nuthatches, and finally a patch year tick for all of us a Singing Willow Warbler at the top of one of the large Oak trees that wasn't fully leafed up yet. Then all of a sudden we disturbed something from one of the near by trees and when I got it in my binoculars it was a Little Owl. What a beauty he was too. Above: Little Owl We then carried on our journey to the sound of singing Blackcap and Chiffchaff occasionally getting a viewing of one of them. Butterflies were the main attraction on the path towards Burtonhole Lane with Orange Tip, Peacock, and Speckled Wood all making an appearance. Above and Below: Speckled Wood We then headed down past the Nursaries to cow field with no sign of any Wheatears, however our first Buzzard of the day was seen alongside a Sparrowhawk. We then headed North of the Cow field and took a look in the bordering field to find 3 Lapwings alongside the usual Jackdaw and Carrion Crow. This brought us up to 5 for the day and is a record for this year, bar Simons flock flying over earlier in the year. Above: Jackdaw with Lapwing We then headed into the Owl field, and this brought about 2 calling Reed Buntings, as well as more Buzzard, Stock Dove, and Chiffchaff. Butterflies were also good here with a Common Blue among others. Above: Common Buzzard We then headed to Darlands Lake, where there was a Moorhen, a sleepy Grey Heron and also still 4 Teal (3f 1m) out on the Lake. A couple of Wrens also sang from round the edge, Green Woodpeckers Yaffled, and Great Spotted Woodpeckers drummed. Above and Below: Drake Teal We then followed the Folly Brook along and found the Snakes Head Fertilary that originally got this site it's SSSI status, until they decided that it had been planted here rather than a naturally occurring plant species for here. Next we headed on towards Woodside park and the Dollis Brook. Along the way we picked up 3 Jays, another 4 Buzzard, a Herring Gull, a Collared Dove and Best of all 2 Pairs of Bullfinch eating the buds of one of the trees, what a treat it was to watch these little beauties for a few minutes. This was the second time I had seen this species in a Week after failing to do so for almost a year since my first at Garston Wood on the Wiltshire, Dorset border last May. We then headed back along the Dollis Brook until we parted ways and marked the end of what is going to become The Totteridge Valley Birders. Above and Below: Snakeheads Fritillary. And so the Totteridge Valley Birders have met and now we are setting about getting more people on patch. This is partially due to the large area of the patch and also because we all can't bird the valley all the time. We aim to improve this by running guided walks and helping/ enticing people into falling in love with this area just as the 4 of us have done. There is a walk led by John for the local RSPB group coming up on May 20th (2pm meet outside St Pauls church), for those that are interested majority of the Totteridge Valley Birders will be present on the day. Our first official Totteridge Valley Birders guided walk will be sometime in June and the date and timing is still TBC. For all those that are interest here is a link to the website for recommended walks as well as a regularly updated Totteridge Valley Bird List.
This marks the end of a busy spell of birding for me and with further blog posts to add I should probably get a good nights sleep. Unfortunatlely my life list hasn't got any bigger today, however my Totteridge Valley list has, with House Sparrow, Little Owl, Bullfinch, and Lapwing all added today, and with a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker possibly being heard the other day by Ian (potentially the first since 2009) there is still the potential for more species to be added to my Totteridge Valley list, and life list...
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AuthorI have been a birder since i was 8 however only really started to be able to go out to places by myself in Summer 2016 (Blame the parents) My blogs will be from all over the place, but mainly from RSPB Rainham Marshes and Totteridge Valley! Photography done by Samuel Levy aged 16. ArchivesCategories |