Regent’s Park
Not a very rewarding day in the park. I had hoped to find a large raptor or two, but failed miserably. It was good to see 2 pairs of Sparrowhawks displaying over the park.
Other birds of note:
Shoveler: 18 birds were roosting around the shores of area 8.
Water Rail: still present in the rail ditch in area 2.
Chiffchaff: one was calling from just inside the grounds of The Holme, area 9.
Jackdaw: singles flew over.
Siskin: 3 in the Cricket Pen, area 31.
pictures from today
This is looking like it could be the worst breeding season since the 1980’s.
Young can be seen in one nest on area 7 and heard in another on area 8.
nest building is still on going, but I only counted 21 occupied or nests under construction.
Hopefully the gulls will polish a few of these goslings off. This species is another that should never have been allowed to get a foothold in the UK.
The female Shelduck was keen to get close to the brood of goslings, the male was wary of coming to close to the public.
These Whooper Swans had good reason to make a hasty retreat, the bully below was hot on their tails.
Coots were fighting all over the lake, will they ever get along?
It looked like these Common Gulls were playing ice hockey with a piece of bread.
I cant ever recall seeing so many adult Black-headed and Common Gulls present on the lake at this time of the year. Departure from the park when I started working here in 1977 used to be around the 21st March and has been gradually getting earlier. In recent years most have departed by around 12th.
The area near the Bandstand is a great place to see this Green Woodpecker.
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