Dull, Dull, and Duller - Totteridge Valley, Walthamstow Wetlands, and Dollis Valley - 5th July 20185/7/2018 To be honest the title kind of sums up the birding at the moment. This is really due to the intense heat which is really stopping any kind of meaning full birding during the day, however other things it is proving quite interesting. The Totteridge Valley has seen a significant decrease in activity from everything except raptors. Warblers during the day are mainly keeping low and therefore out of sight and to be honest who could blame them. Darlands Lake has turned into a muddy mess with a very thin layer of water left. If there is no meaningful rainfall soon it will be the 2nd year in a row that the lake and the surrounding rivers have dried up completely which is balmy when for much of the winter this area was completely flooded out. On Tuesday i had the usual with 3 Juv Grey Heron making the most of the shallow water to easily catch Stickleback. Speckled Woods were out in full force and so too were the Marbled Whites in Owl field. A Teal at Darlands Lake was a very odd find for this time of year and marks the first ever July record for the valley. In fact it is the earliest returning Teal by almost 2 months. The Buzzards performed well as per usual and so too did a whole host of Butterflies including Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Ringlet, Purple Hairstreak, and Large Whites. Otherwise there was a new family of 4 Mallard at Long Pond and that was it...! Above: Speckled Wood Below: Teal Above: Juv Grey Heron Below: Marbled White Above: Common Buzzard Below: Ringlet Above: Ringlet Below: Mallard Ducklings So today Dante and i decided to head to Walthamstow Wetlands to see what was about on what turned out to be an absolutely sweltering day with temperatures nudging 30 degrees. When we arrived i spotted several Banded Demoiselle and these would be the first of over 50 individuals that we saw on site. These are my first in the UK which i guess turned these dull couple of days into a slightly rewarding one. It was amazing to see them with their propeller like wings beating and somehow allowing them to lift off the ground. Above: Banded Demoiselle We then headed around the reservoirs, however if by now you still haven't read the title of the blog post then read it to find out how it went! Honestly though it actually wasn't as bad as i make it sound and to be fair we did have some decent birds. Tufted Ducks for instance were everywhere with probably 150-200 per reservoir and therefore probably a site total of between 500-1000 individuals or possibly more. The tame Canada Geese numbered 500+ and Greylags were slightly lower at around 100+. Egyptian Geese were few and far between however some did have young. Pochard number 68 in total and coot just about nudged 100 birds. 2 Gadwall were an interesting find for the time of year on Low Maynard. A Redshank was lurking on East Warkwick Res near a Great Crested Grebe nest and several Herring Gulls lay dead on the island which was an odd sight along side a washed up dead trout! I wonder whether something has leaked into the water again? Otherwise it looked like another successful year for breeding Little Egret, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls. Sand Martins and Swifts whizzed through over head along with a few Common Tern commuting in between the reservoirs. A Shelduck on East Warwick was another good bird for the site and also 2 Common Sandpiper on Lockwood was a sign that summer might just at last be turning into Autumn. Just before we left the site to head for Totteridge a pair of Peregrine were seen on the Pylons, one with a Pigeon as prey. Above: Mute Swan and Redshank Below: Egyptian Geese Goslings Above: Juv Great Crested Grebe Below: presumed Broad Bodied chaser Above: Drake Pochard Below: Common Tern Above: Peregrine with Prey Dante and i then headed up to the Totteridge Valley. Our first stop at Totteridge Common produced the hoped for Purple Emperor Butterflies at the tops of the trees duelling with each other. We then headed down through a deserted Owl field to Darlands Lake. The heat of the day was felt more here and it was obviously effecting the birds, as well as us. Darlands Lake held 3 Moorhen and a Juv Grey Heron however that is partially because there is almost too literally no water down here now its all just mud. We then headed out into owl field where at first it seemed as though there was nothing about. That was until Dante picked up a Red Kite in the distance and then upon scanning the whole horizon we realised that there wasn't just one, but 7 up all at the same time. The day was starting to get interesting now. 3 Common Buzzard flew through and so too did a Hobby. A Large flock of Lesser Black-backed Gull and Black-headed Gull were also feeding over head. Above: Red Kite We then headed up to Long Pond where there wasn't too much about bar a few Mallard, Moorhen and Canada Geese. Swifts were present over head and the Red Kites were now i guess you could call it playing as they tussled and turned showing off their array of acrobatic skills.
Just as we were leaving i spotted a rather familiar Large Butterfly gliding from one of the trees at the back of Long Pond in our direction. It was another male Emperor Butterfly. I could not believe and i managed to get Dante on it just before it headed over the road and disappeared out of sight. This sighting makes me wonder just how many more there could be in the local area, but with only just under a week left of the Emperor season i am not too sure that i will find many this year, but for next year there is great potential! Dante and i then headed for a brief visit to the Dollis Valley at Denham Farm. 3 Red Kites were up over head along with a few Buzzard. We headed right down into the heart of the valley and here we sat and watched as probably as many as 80 Black-headed Gull stream through from absolutely no where just dropping in from high. I then picked something up heading in the opposite direction to the gulls. It was a Common Tern which is a local mega rarity with only one previous record of a bird fishing at Long Pond in 2007. The frustrating thing about this bird is that despite being so close to the Totteridge Valley i can't count it for my patch list. It probably flew no closer than 500m away from the boundary, but it is still not countable. Anyway after this a pair of Bullfinch came through and a strange call sounded from a nearby field leaving both Dante and i completely bemused. And so with water supplies dwindling both Dante and i headed for home on what turned out to be and interestingly dull day. And so my wait for my recorder breaker in the Totteridge Valley goes on...
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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 18. |