11th April

Regent’s Park

A day with a handful of diurnal migrants on the move, most showed well, while one behaved as this species tends to behave when it turns up in the park.

I will be away in Norfolk until Sunday, so please leave any bird news in the comments section. Thank You

Peregrine Falcon: 3 birds were seen, a female at 8.20am, 1st year male 11.20am and a pair thermaling at 3.30pm.

Common Buzzard: one flew south at 11.00am.

Sparrowhawk: 2 males flew high westwards at 11.10am.

Common Shelduck: 2 pairs were around the lake.

Barn Swallow: one flew north at 11.15am.

House Martin: one north at 4.10pm.

Grey Wagtail: a pair were by the Bandstand, area 7.

Northern Wheatear: five birds dropped down on to the Cricket Squares this afternoon, a late text at 7.40pm says that they have increased to 7. By the time I got there, only a pair were left, the male being a bird of the nominate or Greenland race. It is a bit early for Greenland Race birds to turn up, they have much further to travel and their destination would be under snow for quite a while yet.

Common Redstart: a very vocal male, frustrated me for several minutes before popping out the top of a small tree behind the Gorse bushes in area 41, before flying off into the Leaf Yard Wood. I searched for 25 minutes without any luck. This is typical of this species, particularly during the spring.

Willow Warbler: five birds were singing in areas bordering the lake.

Reed Bunting: a female was again in area 2 as was the male who was singing from the Wetland Pen, area 32.

Linnet: three singles flew north.

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Northern Wheatear

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This is the problem most grassland visitors have to contend with

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Willow Warbler by the Bandstand

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House Martin over the Leaf Yard Wood

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1st year male Reed Bunting

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This is the moment this bird takes his first flight. It started off a bit wobbly but with a bit of tree hopping a stint on the ground, a bit of hassle from a crow it eventually got back into a tree next to the one the nest was in.

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Life inside the visible is progressing well, with the young growing steadily. The male (pink bill) was brooding the chicks, the female (yellow bill) arriving after over an hour.

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Please excuse the poor quality clip, I am not sure why it is so bad but it’s still interesting.

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Grey Wagtail male with his blackish throat

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Grey lag Goose dispute

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A nice symmetrical Cormorant

Comments

birdman_euston said…
What time in the afternoon did your observer see the first five Wheatears, Tony? I just happened to cross the Park via the southern end of the cricket squares around 3.15pm but didn't see anything. :(
Rose had them from about that time. I had a call at 3.25pm.
Helen Speak said…
I saw them at about 2:15pm - very lovely :)
Helen, you can't beat a nice chat.
Morg and Rose said…
12th April: at approx 8am Dave Johnson had a very rare sighting over the Park and London,a Raven(a sighting that was shared by birdman euston who was unaware of how rare a sighting this was because in Canada they are a bird that is common place). Also at 8ish there was a Reed Bunting in the Wetland Pen. Later, 9.30 Dave had 4 Greenland Wheatears with a stunning male amongst them & a mipit on the ground. I unfortunately missed all the excitement-I think there's a lesson in there somewhere. When I arrived at the open spaces, at approx 9.45am, the Wheatears had gone and the Park was a torrent of Dogs and Dog walkers. It was like the Park was being invaded with at least 30-40 dogs around the open spaces - where do they all come from? I did have 3 mipits fly over the open spaces and my first London Swallow, all going north. Otherwise there were the usual assortment of Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Willow warblers in very good numbers. Morg also had his first Swallow over Lord's this p.m.
Helen Speak said…
Around 6 swallows flew low over the playing fields (western edge, heading north) just as the heavens opened at lunchtime today, very nice but resulted in me being very soggy on returning to the office! Nothing else showing in the rain. :)
birdman_euston said…
13 Apr: Clear with ground-frost and -mist at daybreak with light N/NE (alas) breeze. Reminiscent of the unfavourable (for birders) weather of the latter half of March, except there's more moisture in the air: heavy fog rolled in at 06.50.

Willow Warbler 1: area 2 (cf. the four birds I found yesterday).

Chiffchaff 5: areas 1, 10 (The Holme perimeter - this might have been the area 19 bird), 14 (the only male with a *two*-tone song, with the lower note repeated several times - I'm nicknaming him 'Jason', after the guitarist in the short-lived American band 'The Two-Tones'), 17, and 41 (the *four*-tone male, whom I'm renaming 'Paul', after Paul Desmond, the imaginative composer of 'Take Five').

Gadwall 1m (flying out of the Long Bridge sanctuary, area 35).

Blue Tit seen carrying nesting material to box on trunk of large oak that's just started flowering at N end of Marylebone Green, area 20. (I saw Blue Tits and a Willow Warbler feeding in the same tree as it began leafing out, a couple of days ago. Presumably the new, ready source of insects has triggered nesting behaviour.)

Red horse-chestnut coming into bloom near area 29.
birdman_euston said…
14 Apr: Arrived at Park after 08.30 (late night for me!) so I missed the early shower that may have forced migrants to drop in briefly. NE breeze and partly cloudy with hazy sunshine.

Willow Warbler 3: areas 2, 20 and 31.

Chiffchaff [song-pattern in square brackets] 5: areas 1 [three-tone], 10 [three-tone], 14 [contrary to my assertion yesterday, this male's song has *three* tones, not two, ending with several repetitions of the lowest tone - sorry for the confusion!] 17 ["Jason': distinctively *two*-tone, with lower tone repeated], and 41 [three-tone].
Disappointingly, area 19 near the Open Air Theatre - which was the hub of Chiffchaff activity less than a week ago with three birds recorded on 8 Apr - has seemed deserted for the past few days; perhaps all the construction and gardening activity (they nest on the ground) has finally put them off. One or both of the recent arrivals in areas 10 (The Holme perimeter) and 14 (the wildlife garden, down by the lake sanctuary) may be refugees from area 19.

Two just-fledged Mistle Thrush young were being fed by a parent at the southern end of the English Gardens, area 21.

Shelduck 2: area 36 (the free-flying pair).

Horse-chestnuts slowly coming into bloom. A few ash trees are starting to leaf out but most remain bare.