A Rainy Day In Autumn

Rain was threatening from the outset on Wed 29th October when Sue, Judith and I did our monthly bird survey. It held off for about an hour and a half but by 11.15  was seriously hampering our efforts (will no-one invent 'windscreen' wipers for glasses and binoculars?) and we decamped to the cafe. Luckily, by then we had seen or heard 17 species, so not a total washout. As so often in the past, we had a quiet start along the Veda Rd border but things picked up on reaching the little wood and the upper half of Eastern Road. Here we saw a family of four Blackbirds including a juvenile male born earlier this year. A couple of Wrens were lurking in the bushes, a Long-tailed Tit was briefly glimpsed, a Great Spotted Woodpecker briefly heard and a fine flock of about ten Goldfinches seen and heard between school and tennis courts. We also had an excellent view of a Mistle Thrush in the trees behind the school.

Juvenile male Blackbird, bill just starting to turn yellow

From then on, the rain got steadily worse. Not even a solitary Black-headed Gull on the north field could lift our spirits even though it indicated that the winter gulls are on their way. The rest of the count consisted of at least 9 Robins in different territories around the park, 6 Blackbirds (including the 4 mentioned earlier), 4 each of Great Tit, House Sparrow, and Woodpigeon, 3 Crows, 2 each of Blue Tit, Feral Pigeon, Greenfinch (heard sneering but not seen) and Magpie and a solitary (hurray!) Parakeet. And on her way home from the cafe, Sue saw a Lesser Black-backed Gull on the north field making a grand total of 18. Not bad for a rainy day in autumn.

Robin singing against a grey, grey sky

First sighting this year of a lesser Black-backed Gull, seen twice in 2013

Footnote: I should also mention the impressive flock of about 50 geese that we saw flying high overheard in V-formations around 10.30 am. From enquiries with other birders, these were almost certainly Brent Geese arriving for the winter either from Arctic Canada or Siberia. Several movements of these geese were seen over London that day including a flock above Greenwich Park earlier in the morning.

Photo from http://www.birds.deansfamily.com/