Contrasting Visits - Greenwich Peninsular and Totteridge Valley - 2nd March and 7th March 20187/3/2018 My last visit to the Totteridge Valley was one of a wintery theme with everywhere looking like it had been turned into a ski resort with powdery snow being blown across the fields. My main aim for the visit on the 28th of Feb was to do a sky watch and sure enough it did not fail with Lapwing, Fieldfare, Kestrels, Bullfinches, Skylarks, and eventually even a Woodcock joined the party before it was way too cold to stay out any longer and I headed home! Below: Lapwing Above: Kestrel Below: Bullfinch On Friday my school finally gave into the wintry weather and so a day off school was greeted with a great sigh of relief. I decided to head up to the Greenwich peninsular to meet Dante and see what was around. The Tubes unfortunately had other ideas and thus I ended up getting to the emirates air line a little bit late. Honestly there wasn't too much at first bar a flock of Teal on the river and 6 Honking Canada Geese flying around the high rise flats that over look the river. A Snipe was seen briefly near Greenwhich Ecology Park and Dante thought he had a Lapwing as well. After a while we had clocked up 3 Dunlin including one that was missing an eye. We then moved to a sheltered area of the peninsular and found 40 Cormorants sheltering from the harsh conditions as well as 30 Mallard, 12 Gadwall, 5 Wigeon, 2 Teal, and a female Shoveler which is apparently a very rare record for this part of the Thames. Also sheltering here were 3 Meadow Pipit and a Reed Bunting! Below: Female Shoveler We then decided to head back out into the more open areas to see if there was anything roosting on the last available bits of mud at high tide! I have to admit that some of the snow drifts near the o2 were amazing and must have been at least 20cm deep in places! Fieldfare scattered the bushes closest to the river and eventually we found a Rock Pipit and a Common Sandpiper on the mud near the o2. Above: Rock Pipit Below: Common Sandpiper We then headed back towards the sheltered areas for it had become quite chilly in the strong Easterly Breeze that had developed. Again 2 more Dunlin were present in this area and were both different to the ones seen before. Another Rock Pipit was a bonus as well. Just when we were walking I spotted 3 Ducks cutting across the peninsular and heading up river. To mine and Dante's surprise they were Shelduck which is again quite a rare sight for this part of London! Above: Dunlin Below: Dunlin and Rock Pipit It was amazing to see the Dunlins so close to us as they are normally quite tricky to see at such a close range, however due to the weather conditions you have to feel for these birds. I have seen reports from areas such as Dorset over the last week with waders having ice cubes on their feet. 100's of 1000's of Lapwing have all flooded west to only find that it is equally as cold in Cornwall as it was where they came from and unfortunately large numbers of them will have unfortunately perished, they aren't alone though as Fieldfares, Redwings, and even rather bizarrely Woodcock have all been flooding in to try and find some food and often finding them in our gardens. Sea birds have been washing up dead as they couldn't find enough food during the Beast from the East and there is even a photo of a Kingfisher frozen in the water of a lake mid dive! This shows just how deadly this sort of weather can be at the wrong time of year, and to be honest we might not be quite out of the woods yet! After I while Dante and I noticed that the railings were frozen solid and so too were the parked cars. We then looked at each other and we both had a covering of Ice on our coats. Even my camera and note book had a nice thin layer of ice and so too did some of the snow covered footpaths!!! There had been some freezing rain and we hadn't really noticed it! It was at that moment that I decided to leave Dante and head for home since I couldn't feel my fingers anymore and to be honest until I got to the station I had no clue if I had lost them or not! When I got home not only was I greeted to the 3rd or 4th Blizzard of the week I was also met by a group of Redwings and Fieldfares feeding in the garden along with a flock of at least 15 Greenfinch and 20 Chaffinches! Below: Fieldfare Moving onto today and it was a much warmer picture to be painted. In fact the sun was out and it was just about double figures when I left the house. I headed up to Burtonhole Lane and had a look round the substation. A rather large finch flew past but as it was just silhouette I wasn't quite sure what it was, although I do have a good idea. A large flock of Redwings were in the trees about half way down the path and at this time of year their usual chatter was heard from the tops of the trees! I then headed down to the field that I like to call Rabbit field and sure enough, there in the field were 2 Rabbits enjoying the last few rays of sun! I then headed to old Gropper field to have a look at what was on the adjacent farm land. To my surprise when I got there, there wasn't just one, but a pair of Peregrines flying over the area! Some Common Gulls flew through, but the usual large amounts were probably somewhat put off by the Falcons. (Peregrine Below!) I then headed down to the bottom of the field where to my surprise I flushed yet another large finch from the bushes. This time I was able to see what I needed, and the sheer size of the bird alone should have been enough to confirm it, as it flew towards Darlands calling loudly as it went. Yep it was yet another Hawfinch in the valley! Perhaps this year they will stay and breed? I then headed to check the little pond in John's field and to my surprise there were 3 Teal including that well marked Female! Above: Drake Teal Below: The best shots I could manage of the well marked Teal My mind I have to admit is still playing a bit with what that Teal could potentially be, but those photo's don't really help. I then headed onto Darlands Lake where 11 more Teal were in the middle of their courtship displays and a pair of Mallards dozed on the side of the Lake. Below: Teal I then had a quick walk the lake listening to singing Goldcrests as I went a cacophony of noise was coming from the tree tops and it turns out there were a number of rowdy Rooks nest making at the tops of the trees with at least 13 Present. One of the local Farmyard Geese flew over Darlands hooting loudly as it went in its rather oddly pitch call! I then moved onto Owl field where only one Meadow Pipit had come into roost this evening! A male pheasant was a nice addition however the best was still yet to come. I was about mid way through the field when I noticed something white in the corner of my eye. I was surprised to find out that it wasn't a plastic carrier bag and was in fact the ghostly figure of a Barn Owl! I must have watched it for nearly 10 minutes as it hunted over the field giving amazing views the likes I have never had the privilege of before! The Barn Owl eventually headed off towards Lapwing field, but I could not subsequently find it! I did however find both a roosting Kestrel and also a pair of Buzzard in my quest. Above: Kestrel Below: Buzzards And so apart from a stream of Canada Geese and a pair of Mandarins heading into roost that was it for the day! A 35 minute wait for the bus almost meant that I missed my dinner, however the sunset was superb!
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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 17. ArchivesCategories |