Bushy Park
Bittern: I was almost home when I had a call from Bushy Park. There was a Bittern showing well in a field. There was no way I could get there before the light started to fail. Fingers crossed it will go to roost nearby and I will find it in the morning.
Red Crested Pochard: fourteen were on Heron Pond.
Lesser Black-backed Gull ( intermedius race): one was loafing by the Diana Fountain with a 10 Herring Gulls and 3 juv LBB Gulls. I am not normally in that area at that time of day and this is the largest number of these species that I have seen in the park.
Fieldfare: five were feeding on Mistletoe in Lime Avenue.
Redwing: a flock of around 20 flew over the Woodland Gardens.
Siskin: four were in an Alder by the Longford River.
I called in on the Bearded Tits on the way home, hoping the sun would remain out. It did for a short while and the birds performed well for the small gathering of birders.
Comments
Cheers, Bill
It certainly will be and I haven't got much time before I have an early morning meeting.
If I do track it down and it is viewable I will leave a message on the London Bird Wiki. I have a feeling that it may have been in the field just west of where the Longford River exists the Woodland Garden and through Roaring Arch near White Lodge.
The funny duck was back again in the same area and this time I got very good views of it - much smaller than my previous estimate from the not-so-good view before Christmas, it's only a little bigger than a tufted duck but the head is smaller, so looks small overall. Definitely an exotic, and definitely not a sawbill. It is very mottled at the front, grey body, black stripes down the back, small brown head with a sort of crest at the back of the neck (which gives it a sawbill-like square head profile) and a tiny beak. It's male, acting agressively to pretty much everything else including a swan, and kept stretching its neck up and mewing in a display. Any ideas?? I'm still curious even though it's an escaped something, as I've no idea what it is! :)
Great Bearded Tit shots....l am hoping they hang on tlll the weekend.
I will ask my old assistant if he can keep an eye out for it. I am glad the rail is using the new reed bed. If I hadn't enlarged the area it would have probably been on view more often.