Regent’s Park
A tremendous amount of rain fell overnight, turning parts of the Westway (my route to Bushy Park) into a river, three lanes wide and deep. Fortunately it eased off by 9.00am. Not that I could enjoy it, I had meeting all day. But Dave and Birdman Euston were not doing to badly. I had to wait until late afternoon to connect with a couple of goodies.
Marsh Harrier: one flew SW at 4.00pm.
Hobby: singles flew SW at 4.00pm and 5.40pm.
Common Buzzard: one flew NE at 4.50pm.
Collared Dove: a pair still present in area 14.
Swift: 20 plus flew through.
Swallow: 25 in one’s and two’s flew through.
House Martin: 10 birds around the lake.
Northern Wheatear: 2 female Greenland race birds present.
Reed Warbler: the 2nd of the year was singing from reeds in the Wetland Pen.
Lesser Whitethroat: a pair in the Cricket Pen and another male in the Leaf Yard Wood has made this our best spring for a few years.
Willow Warbler: 3 birds present, 2 in area 2 and 1 in area 31.
Reed Bunting: a pair still in area 32.
Skulking Lesser Whitethroat in the Cricket Pen
Common Buzzard
Comments
Back to reality: today saw heavy clouds with light northerlies from the North Sea, so it was much cooler but without rain. In a word, seven hours of easy pickings yesterday are to be followed by seven days of hard graft beginning today, if the long-range forecast is to be believed: overnight frosts are expected by the weekend.
Reed Warbler 1m: singing in the Wetland Pen, area 32.
Reed Bunting 1m: singing in area 32.
Willow Warbler 1m: area 1.
The fledgling Tawny Owls were at the top of a large plane tree opposite the Open Air Theatre in area 33.
Shelduck 3: off area 36 - the pair with the winged duck were being bullied by a free-flying male at 07.30. (I never knew shelducks could dive till now!) The pair thereupon repaired to the safety of their customary roost on Heron Island, area 8. (No sign of the free-flying duck - is she nesting somewhere?)
'John', the Chiffchaff in area 13/14, was heard for the first time in a few days but he was singing a different tune: as emphatic as ever but ascending in triple time, heavy on the bass downbeat (which he's not repeating any more). If he keeps this up I'll have to rename him 'Johann' (Strauss)!