People always tell me that Hampstead Heath is one of the worst places in London for birding, due to the amount of human activity there is, and maybe they are right, however where there is a will there is a way! I got of the 143 Bus outside Highgate school listening to the sound of the Goldfinches that are always around there. This was the only thing of note until I got onto the heath itself. I haven't been to the Heath for a couple of months so I decided that I would have a look around before heading towards the Hive. First I had a scan of the Model Boating Pond. At first I only picked up 6 Coot, 3 Black Headed Gulls, and 6 Mallards. However I then noticed something moving over towards the island at the back. This produced 4 female Mandarins alongside 2 Ducklings. Whilst watching these there was a cacophony of noise and the first Ring-necked Parakeets of the day exploded from cover, scaring up the days only Stock Doves. Next 4: Mandarin Ducks, the more you look the more you see! Below: Coot Next I went to the bird sanctuary pond where the Kingfisher bank is however they have decided to nest over the other side of the heath this year which in some ways is a shame, but at least they are doing well. On the pond there were 2 Drake Tufted Ducks, 5 Coot, 4 Mallards, and a Juvenile Grey Heron which to me looked an interesting colour at first sight! A Female Mandarin also sat on the trunk of a Willow Tree over hanging the water, which if it hadn't have been moving I might have missed. I was hoping to see or hear the Reed Warblers that nest in the reed beds here, however with no such luck I left with just a singing Blackcap. Next I headed to the dog pond, because I was a bit pushed for time, with the Swift flock overhead was starting to grow and numbered at least 4 now. Above: Drake Tufted Duck Below: Mallard Above: Moorhen Next 2: Drake Tufted Ducks Above and Below: Female Mandarin Duck Next 3: Grey Heron Once at the Dog pond it was clear that the Pond was a mess from all the moulting ducks. There were a total of 14 Coot, 26 Mallards, and 5 Drake Tufted Ducks, as well as a Moorhen and its quite large youngster. Out in the middle of the pond on the Rafts there was also a Mute Swan and a Canada Goose as well as the occasional settling Herring or Black Headed Gull. Feral and Woodpigeons sat within touching distance of me and wathed my every move, however with a scan of the tree lines and only managing a Great Spotted Woodpecker, I headed off to the Hive. Above: Mallard Next 2: Mallard, and Coot with Cootling Above and Below: Drake Tufted Duck Above: Mallards, Tufted Ducks, Coots, and you can just about make out the Swan... Below: Mute Swan, Drake Mallards, Canada Goose Above: Distant Greater Spotted Woodpecker Below: Moorhen Above: Mute Swan, Drake Mallards, Canada Goose Pretty much as soon as arrived we headed out onto the heath with the Wildlife Bike. Todays activity was a draw a monster activity were both children and adults could guess what the monster was that lived on the Heath. Here is the clue: It has 27,000 Teeth, 1 foot, and 4 Noses what is it? And yes it is real! You can answer by commenting below, get guessing! Our second activity was our box of curiosity with lots of nature related objects found on the heath. The one that I like the most is the Grass Snake skin that we have in there and this is because it surprises people that there are snakes on the heath. Most people are surprised when we tell them just how much nature there actually is around them on the heath whether it is in the air or in the patch of Brambles next to them. We also found this out with Ladybirds starting to take a liking to us. An Orange Ladybird fell of the ash tree we were stood under and a 16 Spot Ladybird crawled out of the Grass onto one of our boxes. At the same time Swifts were screaming above my head and a decent movement of Gulls was taking place, with mainly Herring and Lesser Black Backed moving through, however I did pick out at least one Common Gull in and amongst them. An adult and Juvenile Green Woodpecker also flew over as did a Mistle Thrush which are good species especially because of the amount of people around. Above and Below: 16-spot Ladybird Above and Below: Orange Ladybird After speaking to over 120 people at 16:30 we decided to call it a day and head back to HQ. Once everything was unloaded I made a quick dash for the exit so that I could make it home in time for my next activity. This meant that I had little time for birding although I did have a quick scan of all the pools! On the Dog Pond the only thing new was the Grey Heron sitting out on the raft, presumably the one from earlier. Above: Drake Tufted Duck, Mallard Next 2: Grey Heron I then carried on along the path an briefly stopped to watch a group of 3 Chiffchaff moving through a line of bushes. I then decided the best way to view both the Mens Pool and the Model Boating Pond was to take the raised path in between the 2 and immediately I hit the jackpot with a Common Tern fishing on the Model Boating Pond. It flew around so quickly that unfortunately my camera wouldn't focus in on it. After it had circled the pond a few times it dived into it catching a small fish (presumably a Stickleback) and then it flew South and disappeared over the horizon. The Mens Pool had a Great Crested Grebe out in the middle of it however I didn't want people to get the wrong impression so I decided not to look at it for too long and I couldn't see if it had any young on its back. On the Model Boating pond the Mandarin were still present and so to was a Pied Wagtail on the bank. Next 3: Mandarin Ducks As I packed my kit away it was clear that the 4th flying Ant day of the year had just kicked off and right on cue a large flock of Swifts turned up to eat and drink over the ponds. A couple of House Martin were dotted around in the flock and so too was a Swallow. I then headed back up the long steep incline up to the bus stop.
All in all not a bad day trying to inspire the next generation of budding naturalists and hopefully one or two will blossom in to birders...!
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We arrived at Rainham Marshes early on Sunday morning when the day was still cool. Howard let us into Purfleet hide to allow me, my Dad, and Dante to set up my Photographic exhibition. On the way to the hide we all heard a strange call which Howard believed to be a Black-tailed Godwit calling in flight. Once in the hide it wasn't just the putting up of photo's that was to be done with binoculars and telescopes on hand to use when necessary. Sand Martins and Swifts whizzed around in front of the hide and so too did the Starlings and Goldfinches. Eventually on I quick scan of Purfleet scrape I found a Dunlin mixed in with the Lapwing flock and also 2 LRPs (Little Ringed Plovers), however it turns out that Howard had spotted the Dunlin at least 2 minutes before us from the visitor centre. Once we were pleased with how everything looked we headed back to visitor centre via a Med Gull and also with 4 Curlew on the opposite bank of the river which I think is quite an unseasonable amount. We then set off round the trails to the sounds of chirping House Sparrows, singing Whitethroats and Reed Warblers, and the occasional outburst from a Cetti's Warbler. We went up to Dents drop where all was quiet. There wasn't much in the way of bird life, just the cows laying on the ground lazily chewing grass. To be honest the cow's pretty much summed up the day. When we got round to the Barn owl box he was sitting lazily on the edge of the box as per usual soaking up the suns rays. Moving on further to the sound of Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, and Reed Warblers, a flock of Linnets flew over calling loudly and my guess is that there must have been some young in the flock. Next into the Ken Barret Hide for some much needed heat relief. Here we had our first Cormorant of the day, young Coot, a Little Egret, and a Grey Heron, in perfect light. Above: Hazy Linnet Above: Cormorant Below: Little Egret Above: A Well positioned Grey Heron We then moved on to the next section of our walk. Stopping at both the viewing platforms to watch diving ducks dive and also Coots lots of Coots were around as to was a flock of 33 Canada Geese which I presume might have been moulting and therefore most likely flightless. Me and Dante also decided to do some Dragonfly spotting and this ended up bring up a Black Tailed Skimmer which landed beside us for a split second. A couple of Cormorant sat out on the poles in the middle of the water and also lot's of Herons and Egrets could be seen sitting as still as possible waiting for a fish to make a false move! Above and Below: Cormorant Above: Black Tailed Skimmer As we moved away from Aveley pools and also the viewing platforms we lived in hope that there might be some 'pinging' Bearded Tits in the reeds of the Northern Board walk however all was quiet, bar the songs of Reed Warblers bursting from the reeds. Next we entered the Butts hide where we set up base for the next 30 minutes and proceeded to find a Green Sandpiper right at the back of Target Pools and also a pair of Little Ringed Plover at the far Left Hand side of Target Pools. The rest of target pools was empty with no sign of the Garganey brood of recent days and therefor no sign of another lifer for me. From the other side of the hide there was again a mass of family parties of moulting Canada Geese with 39 sitting around. Herons and Egrets again were plentiful and so too were Pochard. The Egyptian Goose was also sitting in front of the hide, however I am not entirely sure how well he/she was, although having said that we did see it fly in when we were in the Purfleet hide earlier. Above: Egyptian Goose Below: Family Group Of Canada Geese Above: Little Egret Next 2: Grey Heron We then decided to leave the hide however as we were leaving we looked up to have a fantastic five minutes of raptors flying above us with Marsh Harriers and also Hobby's giving us displays! Unfortunately Dante accidently deleted all of his decent pictures, so for now you are going to have to make do with my average quality photos. Next 3: Marsh Harrier Next 2: Hobby We then carried on to the Dragonfly pools where again we had a scan for bearded Tits and sure enough this time we were lucky enough to have a female come to the tops of the reeds collecting nesting material for a presumed second brood, and therefore this provided hope for the rest of my week at Rainham with the objective find Juv Bearded Tits...! We then headed up to the Sea Wall where we had at least 2 Common Tern fishing off shore in the middle of the Thames. At least 4 Curlew where on various banks of the river and 3 Oystercatchers were about. Then finally Dante stopped and took a long hard stare at a Gull in Aveley Bay and sure enough his suspicion was correct it was a monstrous 3cy Yellow Legged Gull and my first one ever. We then headed to Serin Mound where nothing much was happening bar some Marsh Harrier acrobatics. Then all of a sudden a Hobby appeared out of no where and chased a Linnet across the sky in front of us. The Linnet was trying everything it could to get away from this truly amazing agile predator. It seemed like the Linnet was destined to have its life end, until from absolutely nowhere a second Hobby came into view and stared chasing the first Hobby giving the Linnet time to dive into cover. Wow, what a fast 30 seconds that was. We all couldn't believe our luck and with now happy Linnets calling from all around us we decided to head back towards the centre via Aveley Bay again, with only 2 new species for the day found. A fly over Grey Wagtail and also a Male and female Stonechat. Above: One of the Hobby's pulling out of the heated duel Next 2: Juv Goldfinch Above and Below: Curlew Above: Male Stonechat Below: Oystercatcher Unfortunately the heat and also the Haze had started to get the better of us so we decided to retreat to the visitor centre for some lunch before heading off home, but not before a strange boat had gone past the visitor centre. On the way home me and Dante decided to have a Motorway raptor watch along the M25 and our tally came to 1m Kestrel, 1 Peregrine, 1 Sparrowhawk with prey, and 9 Common Buzzard including some really close up individuals. We also past Totteridge Valley Long Pond and saw a pair of Tufted Ducks which are hard to come by in the valley. Perhaps this is the year that they could finally breed in the valley, we will have to wait and see.... Later that evening I decided to try and photograph the ever growing amount of Swifts screaming overhead at the moment, with around 40 individuals over my house at the moment. The Stand Out moment would have to be when a Hobby came hurtling through at 21:13 and was actually being mobbed by a swarm of Swifts. This signalled the end of the excitement for the day so I headed inside to gear up for another action packed day. As you can see it was actually quite hard to photograph little wizzy things in the sky, but at least you can tell that they are Swifts. Apparently Swifts are in a sharp decline however my local population has had the best breeding success rates in recent years with 20 turning up this year and with a second brood in the air there are now nearly 60 Swifts flying around at dawn and dusk screaming near the nesting sites. I have noticed one interesting thing and that is at the beginning of the breeding season in May the local Hobby's tend to fly up and down the eves of the house looking for nesting activity, and if they find it, bam, the nest and its inhabitants are gone! Perhaps a source of this decline elsewhere? Monday 03/07/17On Monday I arrived bright and early and as planned I had a little time to spare. This meant that I sat on the sea wall doing a bit of a River Watch. Above my head at all times were Sand Martins, House Martins, and Swifts, with the occasional Swallow passing through. Scanning the river produced 2 Oystercatchers, 12 Fishing Common Terns, 4 Curlew, and a Teal. Above: Cormorant Below: House Sparrows on the path ahead I then headed toward the visitor centre where I waited till opening. Reed Warblers, Blackcaps, and Chiffchaffs could be heard singing and some young robins appeared on the railings from time to time. The bird feeders also contained the usual chirping of House Sparrows and the squabbling of Starlings, which is something that many people don't get to experience any more with both species suffering sharp declines in recent years. At 09:20 3 small dots caught my attention as they flew towards me very high up over the visitor centre. They turned out to be Black-tailed Godwits and although one started to lower its self when it saw the Thames, however peer pressure kept it from landing and so they kept heading purposefully South. This summed up the rest of the week in short with returning Waders becoming a theme. Above: Robin Below: Dunnock Above: Goldfinch My first day of work experience on the reserve started off with a tour with Ryan the new assistant Warden and he was very informative about how the reserve manages the habitat for Redshank and Lapwings. It was also interesting being able to go on to areas of the reserve that a 'normal' visitor isn't allowed on and actually made me realise just how lucky I was to be given this opportunity. When we were up near the dragonfly pools we immediately had 2 juvenile Bearded Tits up on the tops of the reeds pinging away. When we rounded the Targets to head up the path towards Wennington 2 female Cuckoo's shot past us chasing each other and left another RSPB volunteer wondering what it was that we were looking at, before thankfully they did another lap round us so that we could point them out. Next we had to do a task in the Ouzel field which was easy once we had figured out how to do it. On our way out of the field I noticed a small wader bobbing up and down on the edge of one of the pools and it turned out to be a Common Sandpiper. Next into the Butt's hide we went again to fill out our duties looking for young Lapwings and Redshank on Target Pools, but with little luck. We did however get shown by Dante a Little Ringed Plover and also 4 Green Sandpipers that were busy feeding along the back edge of the pool. We then skipped the Aveley pool area since we had taken longer than expected and only briefly stopped of to look at the Barn Owl sitting on the edge of his box. In the afternoon we did briefly head out to Wennington to cut some Goat's Rue, however we didn't add any interesting species since we were too busy with our work. By the time I had finished in the afternoon I decided to have a quick scan of Aveley bay which produced a total of 26 Black-tailed Godwits. And so this ended an exhausting first day of Work experience at RSPB Rainham Marhses Tuesday 04/07/17On Tuesday I decided to do a similar thing and soon I was joined by Dante in my usual River Watching spot. There wasn't much about, however the sun was and provided some truly magnificent scenes. 8 Common Tern fished out in the middle of the Thames, as 4 Oystercatchers could be heard calling from the far side of the river. A Curlew was in Aveley bay aswell. When I got onto the sea wall I decided to stay around there for a bit as yesterday it had proved to be a good idea. At first nothing so Dante decided to head down to Aveley Bay. As soon as he had gone a Peregrine came into view flying along the pylons and eventually came to a stop and sat on the Pylon that overlooks the Woodland. Above: Cormorant in flight When I got to the centre Ryan told me that we were going to head out and replace some of the rotting board walk planks near to the Ken Barret Hide. We did this to the sound of Common Whitethroat, Sedge and Reed Warblers all around us, and even a Wren decided to come and sing for us. As soon as we lifted up the first plank a Wolf spider made a dash for cover. Above: At first I thought this Grey Heron Was sitting on the cow... Below: Little Egret Above and Below: Some of the many Canada Geese families around the reserve A phone call was received telling me that Jerry Hoare had arrived and was waiting for me up near the Butt's hide to do a Damselfly Survey. When I was walking past Aveley Pools a Black-tailed Godwit came in from absolutely no where and caused a bit of a kerfuffle among the restless Lapwing flock at the back of the pools. I also made a quick pit stop at the Butt's hide to see a Wood Sandpiper, 4 Green Sandpipers and also 3 Little Ringed Plovers all out on Target Pools with its ever receding water levels. Above: Wood Sandpiper with Lapwings (Phone-scoped by Dante Shepherd) When I got to Jerry I was briefed on what we were looking for, The Scare Emerald Damselfly and Common Emerald Damselfly's. At first the only species we could pick up were both Rudy and Common Darters, Black tailed Skimmers, Blue tailed Damselflies and also a Common Blue Damselfly. Whilst checking a small area of reasonably good habitat Jerry shouted that he had one. It was a female Common Emerald Damselfly and it would be the only one that we would find. One would assume that this is probably due to the fact that most of the pools were bone dry and also, because the best fields we weren't allowed in due to there still being nesting birds. Whilst we were out on Wennington the Marsh Harriers and Hobby's gave us a very nice show over head. In the afternoon Ryan and I headed out to do some clearing of Brambles and nettley things so that we could access a little out building on the access road. Once in side the building it was spider mayhem. There was also a nice moth which we later identified as an Old Lady. After we had completed this task I was free to head for home. One of my usual tasks when I get home is to fill up the bird feeders in my garden and for a change I decided to have a quick scan of the trees at the back of my garden. At the top of a large Oak tree I could see a small Nuthatch sized bird, that I was going to pass off as a Nuthatch. But curiosity won and therefore I got my binoculars on it. The bird that I got in binoculars was not quite what I was expecting. A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a female (and a lifer). Judging by its behaviour it had actually just come from the bird bath in my garden after having a quick drink. It then preceded to feed happily at the tops of the bordering trees, which hampered my photography efforts, and it was then flushed by the Ring-necked Parakeets. This sighting comes after a string of recent sightings from the Totteridge Valley, however with water levels running very low in the valley with both Darlands Lake and the Folly Brook bone dry, it seems as though the bird life may have dispersed in search of water...!!! Above: A Male Greenfinch as some sort of compensation... Thursday 06/07/17When I arrived at Purfleet station I found out that both Dante and his brother had been on the same train as me, but in a different carriage. We all headed up to my usual River watch place, but with only 8 Common Tern we found ourselves moving quickly on. We hadn't gone very far when Dante spotted something coming towards us alongside a large cargo ship. It took us a couple of minutes to get a firm ID on the bird, but as it came closer it gave away the fact that it was a Female Common Scoter with the typical short fat body and white facial markings. Just shortly after this we all heard a call which sent us all looking out into the middle of the Thames to pick up 2 large Terns calling loudly as they headed past us. They were Sandwich Terns and they are lifers for me. We watched them as they carried on going as they headed downstream towards the Dartford Crossing and then they disappeared out of sight! Next 3: My dismal shots of the Common Scoter Above: Noah Shepherds better shot of the Common Scoter Next 3: Reasonably poor shots of the Sandwich Tern flyby... A Common gull also came past, as well as 4 Oystercatchers. When I arrived at the visitor centre I was quickly equipped for the day and sent out to the truck. Whilst waiting on the edge of the truck 2 Greenshank flew over head calling loudly whilst doing so. When we got up to the Welfare hut we met up with the Thursday work party. A group of 3 Black-tailed Godwits flew in and landed at the back of Aveley Pools just before we set off to our various activities. I was on Goat's Rue pulling all day, which was actually great fun and quite rewarding. We then met up with Jamie and he handed us another helping hand (and by that I mean someone on work experience rather than himself). Also at the same time the Female Common Scoter could be seen flying over the sea wall and heading over to Aveley pools, taking one look, and heading straight back out to the Thames were it would be seen on and off all day. At the end of the day I had one last scan of the river and picked up a Whimbrel and a Curlew on the far side of the river. What a spectacular day! Friday 07/07/17Yet another sweltering day out on the reserve began with my wonder along the sea wall, this time alone and with nothing too exciting to report. A Curlew was sitting on the far bank, and 9 Common Tern were fishing out in the middle of the Thames. Only 2 Oystercatchers could be seen this time, though more could be heard calling from way of in the distance. Below: Little Egret Once on the reserve it was back to the section of Goats-rue we were pulling up yesterday so that we could make more of an impact and sure enough we did make an impact and by lunch it looked like we had actually done something, but with the heat starting to take it's toll we retreated to an afternoon of polishing boots. Monday 11/07/17When I arrived at Rainham on Monday all was calm. It was a lot colder than recent days and also a lot cloudier. Not much was happening out on the Thames with an Oystercatcher, 2 Fishing Common Terns, a Curlew, and also a Whimbrel for me to see. 2 Common Gulls flew past as I started to walk towards the visitor centre. Another Gull caught my attention as it landed on the mud in front of the visitor centre. My suspicion was that it was a 3cy Yellow-legged Gull, and Dante Later confirmed my suspicion. Above: 3cy Yellow-legged Gull Above: In flight Oystercatcher Below: Despite the poor quality I decided to keep this, Grey Heron with plane The task for today was to clear some of the ever spreading Black thorn to make way for some flower meadows. I was working along side Samuel, and also Brandon. As Howard said it was a Brandon Samwich, as we were working either side of him. Whilst working we came across numerous ant nests and Labyrinth Spiders, and also Gatekeepers were quite numerous despite the poor weather. The rain didn't dampen our spirits at all and by 3pm we had finished clearing the Black Thorn. Thank you to Howard for the above images. We then decided to bird watch from the visitor centre and this brought up a Whimbrel on Purfleet scrape alongside the ever growing Lapwing flock. A Sparrowhawk had a go at the birds on the bird feeders, but with little luck. We then headed down to the Purfleet hide to check out what the small waders were that we could just about make out from reception. Once in the hide it took us a while to find them, however eventually 3 Green Sandpipers showed. Just before we left a 4th Green Sandpiper came into view however the white patches on the back were where it was moulting rather than it being a different species. Above and Below: Juv Redshank Above: Green Sandpiper Next 3: Mallards Next 2: Green Sandpiper When we got back to the visitor centre a spectacular Hobby gave us all a wonderful acrobatic performance, and then Brandon and I ran for the train which we made, however I did drop my pen along the way!
And so this finishes a wonderful Work experience week with 3 Lifers taking me up to 177 species on my British list 3 away from my target for the year. I would also like to say thank you to both Jamie and Ryan for overseeing my work experience and teaching me a lot of new things, that I won't forget for a long time. I would also like to thank Julie for helping to organise my work experience, and also Howard for stepping in on Monday to take charge of the work experience 'kids' and being in 4 places at once. With out all the 4 mentioned this week couldn't have gone as well as it did and I thank them for this experience that I won't forget in a hurry. |
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 17. ArchivesCategories |