We've been holding Big Bird Watch events on Hilly Fields on the last Sunday in January since 2009. Alas, Covid-19 put a stop to that this year, but we managed to do a survey on Friday 29 January in two groups of two. Alas again, it rained from start to finish, probably the worst weather that we've ever surveyed in. Water was streaming off the hill. In the circumstances, a count of 19 species was not too shabby, particularly as it included 150 Black-headed Gulls in the north field which is probably a site record, 60 Redwings, 26 Starlings, 25 House Sparrows, 12 Robins and 10 Magpies. Sue also heard a Nuthatch calling and it's good to know that they're still around. Also recorded were 3 Blackbirds, 3 Blue Tits, 3 Crows, 1 Collared Dove, 7 Common Gulls, 1 Dunnock, 5 Goldfinch, 5 Great Tits, 2 Herring Gulls, 4 Ring-necked Parakeets, 3 Woodpigeons and 1 Wren. We sent our results off to the RSPB for their annual survey.
Black-headed Gull - winter plumage
The reason why we had so many gulls is simple. Rain brings worms to the surface. They listen to the rhythm of the falling rain and slink upward from their burrows. We saw them everywhere on the surface, on paths as well, and the gulls had a feast. Some of the other birds were joining in including the Redwings and Starlings.
Black-headed Gulls breeding plumage in spring
Just a reminder about our new booklet 'Birds of Hilly Fields'. It's been selling well, despite lockdown, and the feedback has been good, but we still have plenty of copies in stock. At present, it's available online (see link below) and can be purchased either by itself at £3.50 or with a tote cotton bag and postcards for £10. We deliver to your door within a radius of 2 miles and all profits go to the Friends of Hilly Fields. It can also be bought from the Hilly Fields cafe when open.
Thanks to everyone who came along to this year's Big Birdwatch event on 28 January. The weather was reasonably kind to us - mild, no rain and not much wind either. As usual we ran a stall outside the cafe where children made fat balls for the birds and we took two groups around the park on bird spotting forays. By the end of the event, we had recorded a very healthy 23 species on the Big Blackboard.
The stars of the survey were undoubtedly the two Great Spotted Woodpeckers who drummed on tree trunks by the lower Vicars Hill entrance for most of the morning. Lots of people saw them and 'Have you seen the woodpeckers?' was a regular refrain as we walked around. This is the time of year when the drumming can be heard and it is almost exclusively made by the Great Spotted variety of the woodpecker clan. The Green Woodpecker rarely drums and sadly the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is now quite rare. The main purpose is to establish their territory before the mating season begins in earnest. Interestingly, we couldn't see a red patch on the back of either bird's head which means that they were females possibly trying to attract a male. Let's hope they were in luck!
Pic: Rebecca Simmons
The final tally was as follows: 40 Starlings, 24 Black-headed Gulls, 11 Woodpigeons, 8 Robins, 7 Feral Pigeons, 5 Blackbirds, 4 each of Blue Tits, Common Gulls, Goldfinches, Great Tits and Ring-necked Parakeets, 3 each of Crows, Long-tailed Tits and Magpies, 2 each of Chaffinch and Great Spotted Woodpecker and 1 each of Collared Dove, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Stock Dove and Wren. The results will be forwarded to the RSPB.
Pic: Rebecca Simmons
Many thanks to Rachel as always for running the stall, to Judith from Glendale for the bird seed, to Sue for leading one walk and Lawrence for helping with the other, to Rebecca for her photos of the 'pecker' and to ranger Lee and the cafe for their support. Next Big Event is the Dawn Chorus walk on Thursday 29 March at 6 am. See you all there!
Rain is the curse of bird surveys. It deters the birds from coming out to play and blurs the vision, especially through binoculars and spectacles. So Sunday wasn't the greatest Birdwatch ever! The rain was light but the morning was damp, grey and overcast for the most part. Still, enough people turned up to make it a worthwhile event. Starlings were the stars of the count, seen by most people as they flew noisily in little flocks from trees to trees. 42 was the maximum number recorded. The Black-headed Gulls around the cricket pitch were runners-up with a count of 29. Full stats can be seen on the blackboard below.
We recorded a total of 19 species in all and had good views of a charm of Goldfinches outside the school and a Dunnock scrabbling around on the ground. We heard a Dunnock singing as well for the first time this year. Towards the end, the sun did fleetingly show itself and a pair of Mistle Thrushes spent some time in the trees opposite the cafe. All you need is to see one beautiful bird thriving in the park like this and it's all worthwhile.
One big plus was to see so many children brought along by their parents. They all had an enjoyably messy time making fat balls and bird feeders throughout the morning. Thanks to Rachel for organising the stall and publicity, to Sandy for helping on the stall, Judith from Glendale for the photocopying (and bringing her mum!), Sue and Keith for helping to lead the guided walks and Lee the park keeper for general support. Here's to next year and hopefully some decent weather. That's not too much to ask, is it?
I don't want to sound wildly optimistic but I think we may have reached a turning point. With temperatures soaring into double figures (19°C promised on Sunday), things are changing on Hilly Fields and no doubt elsewhere. On Wednesday morning, at least a dozen Redwings (with a few Fieldfares mixed in) were twittering excitedly in the West Field trees alongside Montague Avenue. It sounded as if they knew that the time was approaching for their delayed (by bad weather) flight back to Scandinavia. Sure enough, when I led a group of dawn chorus walkers over there the following morning at 06.30 hrs, the trees were silent.
Redwing in one of the West Field trees - red under the wing and a white stripe over the eye
The Black-headed Gulls departed sometime over the weekend. Today, Friday, I noticed one or two Common Gulls overhead but there was no sign of the usual flock on the grass, so they too have presumably gone forth to multiply. I also saw this morning, however, the two resident Mistle Thrushes singing for the first time this year and heard a Chiffchaff singing in one of the Eastern Road hawthorns. The Chiffchaff is a spring migrant which flies to the UK each year from the Med and West Africa - an olive brown warbler about the size of a Blue Tit. They have been arriving more slowly than usual, presumably because of the weather and there have been reports of them flopping in exhaustion on reaching the south coast beaches. But one at least has made it this far and they've also been heard in other nearby locations. The Chiffchaff is not always easy to spot, but its song is very distinctive and easily remembered.
Elsewhere, nest building is going on apace. A Crow's nest can be seen high in one of the London Plane trees on the northern border of the bowling green and the resident Magpies are nesting at the top of one of the Eastern Road hawthorns. A little further down Eastern Road just past the green gates, Long-tailed Tits have built a nest in a bramble bush, but it seems to have been abandoned. We can't be sure why, but it is a bad location - too close to the pavement and too vulnerable - and their nests also suffer from a high level of predation by other species.
Changes are visible in the plant world too where there really are "green shoots of recovery" to be seen. Cow Parsley is spreading across the ground, particularly around the lower Vicars Hill entrance, ready to accompany the May blossom next month. And the wild Sweet Violets which Nick Bertrand pointed out to us on the Rivers and People walk last month are now coming into flower. Look for a bright green patch just off the path which runs alongside the Cliffview Rd border. On the whole, there is much to look forward to in the coming weeks.
The dawn chorus walk on Thursday was well attended. 15 people turned up at 6 am after a night's rain which was still lightly persisting. Naturally, we heard Great Tits calling everywhere, Wrens with their mighty trilling song, a Blackbird singing beautifully on Eastern Road and saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker high in a tree on the Adelaide Avenue border. Nothing spectacular but sometimes the simplest things can mesmerise. People were much taken by the sight of a female Chaffinch singing on a low branch only a few feet in front of us outside the school. After Hilly Fields, we went on to the Brockley and Ladywell cemeteries where we heard Robins (strangely quiet on Hilly Fields), a Dunnock and, in the distance, the laughing call of a Green Woodpecker - though not everybody heard that, including me! However, everybody did hear a Song Thrush repeating its varied phrases (as many as a hundred in its repertoire) from the top of a tree.
Here's what a Green Woodpecker looks like and what it's laughing call or "yaffle" sounds like:
The cemeteries are of Victorian origin and, as well as containing much local history, they are in effect a nature reserve in the heart of Lewisham. In fact, the council has listed them as a Grade 1 Site of Borough Importance for biodiversity and nature conservation purposes. The Friends of Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries have their own website - http://www.foblc.org.uk/ - and hold guided walks. The next one is on Sunday 21st April starting from the Brockley Road gate at 2pm and lasting about 1 hour 45 mins. Thanks to Lewisham Council for allowing us access to the cemeteries outside normal hours, special thanks to Mike Guilfoyle from the Friends who came along at 7 am to unlock the gate for us and thanks to Rachel for publicising the event via Facebook and http://www.hilly.org.uk/
