Eight Miles High

Rook (no, seriously)

Another beautiful day in the smoke, with temperatures again above 20 degrees centigrade and the city bathing in glorious sunshine; and so another sky-watching session from Lincoln Court, on the east bank of the reservoirs. Today differed from those preceding it by being entirely bereft of anything resembling a wisp of cloud; hence results, and the behaviour of fly-overs, differed accordingly.


this Common Buzzard, at approx. 20,000m, still won the prize for lowest large raptor of the day

Up on the roof for 1245, the first two hours were hard work, with no large raptors recorded; other movements came in the shape of a couple of head-height Skylarks, a few Meadow Pipits, a single Swallow and a high, thermalling-and-then-northbound Rook (a rare migrant here, substantially rarer than e.g. Red Kite). Interestingly, a Great Spotted Woodpecker bounded north at great height and was lost to view way over Edmonton, having originally been picked up over the reservoirs.

But just as it seemed like a good idea to descend and check the bushes, a Kite appeared and swiftly gained height, eventually disappearing into the sky above Alexandra Palace. Ten minutes later, and the most minute speck almost directly overhead soon turned into a Marsh Harrier, thanks to 60x more magnification; ditto a Common Buzzard, which headed southwest shortly after.



Wednesday's altogether more accomodating Marsh Harrier

With no cumulus, it seemed all soaring birds - including gulls, Cormorants, Sparrowhawks and Grey Herons as well as large raptors - had no limiting factors today, and I can't recall seeing a majority of birds recorded all at such great heights.

It's been a good week for birds of prey, with 11 Common Buzzards, three Red Kites, two Marsh Harriers and a Short-eared Owl, as well as an escaped Goshawk, plenty of Peregrines, and the usual omnipresent Sparrowhawks and Kestrels; not bad for central London.

From Russia With Love

The explosion of blossom, the flutter of Small Tortoiseshells, the blaze of the afternoon sun, and above the scream of Babylon's police sirens, the sweet song of a Siberian Chiffchaff. WTF, as the youth would have it.

More details (and access arrangements for tomorrow) at Hackney Wildlife.

The Owl and the rusty Kite(s)

It looked good, and it was; a four-hour skywatch from 16 storeys up on the roof of Lincoln Court (my obs of choice for the spring, a residential tower block overlooking the reservoirs - and much of north London - here in Stoke Newington) produced a memorable roll-call of birds of prey.


One of today's Red Kites taking the equivalent of an open-top bus ride around Babylons's tourists traps, starting with the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben....

The pick of which were a Short-eared Owl thermalling high to the east, a Goshawk (of unknown origin), two Red Kites and seven Common Buzzards, plus a Peregrine, Sparrowhawks and Kestrels. With enigmatic locals Laurence and Jamie on board today, the strike rate was pleasingly high.


... and continuing past the London Eye....

April is arguably the most productive month locally, and the first week always pays out handsomely; hopefully there's similarly rewarding frolics to follow over the next couple of weeks, my last in my adopted manor for a long time.....


...Battersea power station.....


...and finally Centrepoint, before sensibly seeking more green and pleasant climes

more at Hackney Wildlife.

Rainham Marshes, Essex - 1st April 2011

A full day at Rainham, with the morning on the tip and the afternoon on the reserve, paid off with cachinnans success and a good cast of spring migrants. Scanning through the fence at the constantly moving, thousands-strong gull flocks on the tip was challenging but ultimately rewarding, with a cracking 2cy Caspian Gull, as well as a couple of Yellow-legged Gulls and an albino Herring Gull amongst the masses.




The reserve provided three Little Ringed Plovers, a pair of Garganey and eight Sand Martins, as well as a good cast of wildfowl, Buzzard, Peregrine etc.

singing Phylloscs

Chiffchaff

Despite a cool, wet and blustery day, the trans-Saharans continue to trickle back through the patch, with just Swallow still to check in of the expected early spring quartet. Of warblers, Chiffys and Blackcaps have been knocking around for several weeks now, and today produced the first Willow Warblers, with at least three birds singing sweetly despite the rain. More at Hackney Wildlife.


Willow Warbler

honk if you just got hitched

Yorkshire, 18th - 26th March 2011


There were innumerable highlights, both avian and otherwise; of those another time. But last week, back home with our nearest and dearest from as far afield as Japan and the U.S., was all about becoming an honest man, thanks to my american beauty. Lucky me.


Pink-feet, not cold feet

three little steves

After a week-long vigil staring into space, finally they came today, and were well worth the wait; as an added bonus, an ultra-rare patch Redshank made a few ultimately doomed circuits before sensibly heading north. More at Hackney Wildlife.

open season

While the first Sand Martin back on patch may be 'late', large raptor movements have kicked in with a vengeance, especially today.....


Conditions have been mixed over recent days, but a sunny and mild period on Saturday produced the first Common Buzzard of the spring, low and north over the East Res; similiar conditions today looked promising, and a Red Kite (likewise the first of the season) looked particularly evocative just above the tower blocks and against a blue sky as it drifted east mid-morning. A Common Buzzard drifting some distance to the south added further inspiration.



A 'business lunch' on the roof of Lincoln Court - a neighbouring 15-storey residential block which is luckily also my Obs of choice for the spring raptor season - instantly produced. Setting the 'scope up and scanning north, no less than six Common Buzzards were thermalling together, before drifting north - a record simultaneous count.



Three of the same species ten minutes later some distance away may or may not have involved the same birds, but 'fresh' singles north and east over the next hour or so brought the day total to a minimum of nine, a new day record, and still so early in the season.... Peregrines were pleasingly omnipresent all day, and equally predictable were Sparrowhawk and Kestrel. Five raptor species in mid-March in urban central London will do just fine for now.





and some other photos from the patch over the last day or two; full details here