Winter on the Way

November 23rd was a quiet and windless autumn day for our monthly bird survey. We heard the Ring-necked Parakeets more than usual, perhaps because they're building up to their breeding season which starts in January, earlier than other birds. They did seem to be checking out an old Ash tree by the school access road which they've nested in before.

Robins were singing and clicking along our route and we heard the occasional Wren too. The resident family of Blackbirds which hang around the Upper Eastern Road area were very active and one of the male juveniles was foraging in the shrubbery at the back of the school. Maybe because he's still young and less wary, I could get closer to him and the photo below shows the plumage not glossy black yet and the bill still turning orange.

On the north field, we saw a juvenile Pied Wagtail (as per last month) but only four gulls - two Black-headed and two Common - so numbers have still not built up. We also saw a couple of Starlings. Like the gulls, their numbers will increase as winter sets in and they flock to the less exposed inner suburbs. A pair of Mistle Thrushes were in the trees showing their fine speckled breasts. They like the red berries on the nearby Whitebeam.

Whitebeam tree in the foreground hung with red berries

A single House Sparrow could be seen in the Cliffview hedge, but others were chirping nearby. Our final bird before absconding to the cafe was a Blue Tit silhouetted on the Vicars Hill border. In all, we recorded a better-than-expected 18 species: 12 Feral Pigeons, 9 Robins (at least), 7 Blackbirds, 5 Woodpigeons, 4 each of Blue Tit, Crow and Parakeet, 3 Great Tits, 2 each of Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Goldfinch, Magpie, Mistle Thrush, Starling and Wren, 1 each of House Sparrow, Jay and Pied Wagtail.

Finally, last month I mentioned the beautiful pink fruits and orange seeds of the Spindle tree near the bothy. One month later, the seeds have all gone, fallen to the ground or eaten by birds, and the lobes of the fruit are darker and decaying. It's autumn still, but winter is on the way.

Blue Tits On Our Trail

Sometimes on our monthly bird surveys, we seem to be followed around the park by one particular species: Robins, for example or Chaffinches or Crows. On 31 August, it was the turn of the Blue Tits. All along our route, we heard their churring call and occasionally saw one flitting between the branches. Some may have been young birds born in the spring; the others were back in action after the huge effort of feeding their young and after the moulting period when they're extra vulnerable to predators like the Sparrowhawk. In this clip, the churring can be heard coming from a Blue Tit off camera and the bird you can see is responding to it.

We saw Great Tits too which are slightly bigger than Blue Tits with a black head and a thick black stripe down their breasts in the male (see photo below), a thinner stripe in  the female. Robins were singing more after their moulting period and the occasional Wren burst into its brief song as we passed. These are likely to be the only two birds we'll hear singing between now and the New Year. On upper Eastern Road, we had a brief glimpse of a juvenile Blackcap nibbling at the haws. The ripening of fruit on the trees and bushes is likely to bring more birds out into the open.

Male Great Tit on Hilly Fields (31/8/16)

On the whole, it was a little livelier than the previous month and we recorded a total of 15 species. As well as those already mentioned, we saw 8 Woodpigeons, 7 Goldfinch, 6 Sparrows, 2 each of Blackbird, Crow, Long-tailed Tit and Magpie and singles of Chaffinch, Feral Pigeon and Ring-necked Parakeet. The Sparrows were in the Cliffview hedge and difficult to see clearly in the foliage, but one emerged long enough for a photo opportunity. It lacks the dark brown head and black bib of the adult male, but could be a juvenile male rather than a female. This is the time of year when the new kids on the block can cause confusion!

And finally, more Blue Tits. The clip below is over an hour in length, but just try watching the first few minutes for some great close-up footage of this hopelessly cute little bird.

Feeding Frenzy

Cow parsley at chest height greeted us by the Lower Vicar's Hill entrance on 25 May when Sue and I carried out the monthly bird survey. We were also greeted by the song of the Chaffinch, the Wren and the Great Tit - the latter for once actually sounding like 'teacher, teacher' as Bill Oddie has described it. It is unusual to hear a Chaffinch in that location, but in fact we heard it singing almost everywhere we  went in the park. Either it followed us around or the bird has multiplied. Usually we see only one or two - if that.

Female Chaffinch in the Shade Garden

What became evident as our survey progressed is that the breeding season has become the feeding season. Great Tits, Blue Tits and House Sparrows in particular have chicks to feed and there was much frantic foraging activity by the parent birds. Every year, we have seen how bedraggled Tits become by the end of June, exhausted by the constant to and fro-ing from nest to food source and back again. In fact, there is evidence that Tits time their breeding to coincide with the maximum availability of caterpillars as these are the best and most popular foodstuff for the young. I watched a Blue Tit nest elsewhere last week and estimated that the parents were bringing food 40 times per hour over a 16 hour day. (See here for a charming children's story which describes the cycle). Normally they have only brood per year which is not surprising.

Blue Tit with caterpillar (Credit:Steve Larkins)

Of course, one big risk at this time of year is that the chicks may become food themselves. We saw a graphic example of this in the upper part of Eastern Road when Sue observed a Jay with a fledgling Great Tit in its beak. Before it could get very far, a Magpie descended and, as the bigger bird, snatched the fledgling from the Jay and began to peck at it in the road before flying off with it. In the background, the parent birds were making an almighty noise though rather helplessly. Alas, most Corvids will eat eggs and snatch birds at the nestling or fledging stage, as will Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Sometimes, it's a bird eat bird world.

In the shade garden next to the bowling green, a pair of House Sparrows were repeatedly diving into the cow parsley, then flying off presumably with seeds for their young. And a fledgling Great Tit perched on the branch of a tree was shaking its wings in a begging display while the parents brought it morsels of food. Fledglings will often leave the nest a day or two before they're ready to fly.

Great Tit wing-shake begging display (Credit|: Rémi Bigonneau)

In all, we saw or heard a respectable 18 species during this survey (see below). It  will be interesting to see if the Starlings are still there in June as they and their young tend to disappear in the summer months. The number of Wrens is an estimate as they are difficult to see, particularly when foliage is in full bloom. But they were singing loudly and as they stay in their territories, a reasonably accurate count can be made. Surprisingly, we neither saw nor heard our two resident warblers - the Blackcap and Chiffchaff - but I suspect they're still lurking.

After the Storm

Our October survey took place a day after the so-called St Jude's storm. By then, the wind had dropped, the clouds were white and fluffy and there was even some blue sky and sunshine. When we entered the park halfway up Vicars Hill and saw a Dunnock sitting on a branch in the border scrub, I knew we were in for a good morning. This is the area where we heard it singing in the spring and is presumably its main territory. Seen from below, the Dunnock appears rather nondescript and similar to a House Sparrow. In silhouette, however, a needle-point bill can be seen quite unlike the chunky beak of the sparrow. Although the Dunnock is still sometimes called the 'hedge sparrow', the two birds are completely unrelated.

Dunnock in the Vicars Hill border

We were then distracted by a small gang of Blue Tits chasing each other at high speed around the trees and performing their usual acrobatics among the branches. This reoccurred elsewhere and was probably a release of pent-up energy after the end of the moulting period. On the eastern wall of Prendergast School, a rainwater gully attracted the Tits attention, perhaps as a drinking and dunking hole. A Pied Wagtail was also spotted nearby. Great Tits were out and about and were even heard calling although rather faintly. They don't normally get into their two-note stride until after Christmas. Among the Eastern Rd hawthorns we were pleased to see a small flock of Long-tailed Tits which are also fast and agile movers. The RSPB Handbook's description of them as 'restless' seems pretty accurate.

Blue Tit inspecting the drains

Another highlight was the sighting of both male and female Great Spotted Woodpeckers in the Eastern Rd area. How can you tell them apart? The male has a red cap at the back of its head, the female doesn't (see photo here). Both have bright crimson feathers under the tail and all juveniles have a red patch at the front of the head (see below) which disappears with the first moult. In total, we counted 19 species during our walkabout. As well as those already mentioned, we saw or heard at least 15 Wood and 6 Feral Pigeons, 7 House Sparrows in and around the Cliffview hedge, at least 5 Robins calling, 5 Crows, 2 Magpies and 2 Blackbirds. We also heard a Chaffinch, a Goldfinch, a Ring-necked Parakeet, at least one Wren and caught brief glimpses of a Mistle Thrush and a Starling. The Starlings have not yet returned in force from the outer suburbs but should be back soon along with the Black-headed and Common Gulls.

Woodpecker nestling in 2012

As for the storm, what damage has it caused on Hilly Fields? Several trees have been felled including, sadly, one of the two crack willows on the south slope. Lots of branches and whole limbs have been broken off including one in which our Great Spotted Woodpeckers nested in 2012. On the whole, though (and despite the dramatic looking photos below), St Jude's storm wasn't in the same league as the great overnight storm of 1987 which killed 18 people in England, felled an estimated 15 million trees and of course immortalised a certain weatherman.

One of the two crack willows on the south slope

The Woodpeckers' nesting tree in 2012

A Dead Duck and An Owl

You know it's a quiet morning when three birders - myself, Sue and Tony - end up staring through our binoculars at a Wood Pigeon sitting in a tree. Later on, we saw a flock of 26 "Woodies" on the East Field, although they were soon frightened off by a Glendale man hoovering up litter. Other than that our monthly survey on 28 September was very nearly a dead duck- as they say. The oppressively gloomy weather had a lot to do with it, I'm sure. Birds that we have little difficulty in seeing on a normal day like Great Tits, Robins and Goldfinches could not be tempted out of their cover and were heard rather than seen. We did get a good view of three Blue Tits at the top of a tree in the Vicars Hill border, though one had flown by the time I got my camera out.

Blue Tits in the Vicars Hill border

We heard a single Wren in the wood, caught a brief glimpse of a blackbird in the Veda Road garden border, saw a Mistle Thrush fly across the lower field into the tree canopy and two House Sparrows at the top end of Vicars Hill. But only those old familiars - the Crows and Magpies - were out and about as usual. At least by the end of next month, the gulls should have arrived for the winter. And the Robins which are ticking and clicking just about everywhere at the moment as they establish territorial rights should be showing themselves more clearly. And of course the trees will be shedding their leaves...

Magpie on the East Field

There has been one piece of good news during September - a Tawny Owl has been heard hooting after dark by residents along the Cliffview Road border. Tawnies are not uncommon in the parks and wooded areas of London, though this is a "first" on Hilly Fields during the time that we've been recording. When the London Wildlife Trust carried out a survey in 1985, over 400 records of Tawny Owls were submitted covering every borough except the City of London. Interestingly, the LWT has just completed another "owl prowl" survey and it will be interesting to see how it compares and whether numbers have fallen like those of many other bird species. If you hear an owl hooting on Hilly Fields, please let us know via the comments box.

Tawny Owl [stock photo]

May Bird Survey

The late May heatwave was still in progress when Sue and I did our monthly bird survey on Tuesday 29th. The park was looking good in the sunshine even though all the beautiful white blossom on the Hawthorns and Horse Chestnuts has disappeared. The birds were lying low at first, so much so that we started to count the Speckled Wood butterflies instead, except there were too many of them!

Then we had a surprise - a constant high-pitched noise heard behind Prendergast School turned out to be coming from a hole high up in some kind of ornamental oak tree. The arrival at the hole of a male Great Spotted Woodpecker and then soon after a female confirmed that we had found a nest with hungry woodpecker fledglings. They couldn't be seen from ground level, so numbers are uncertain but we will be keeping an eye on the nest. There are normally between five to seven eggs in a GSW brood, but eggs and fledglings can be taken by other birds while the parents are out hunting for food. While we were there, the female was seen at a tree some thirty yards away, presumably digging insects out of the bark.

Male and female GSWs. Female has no red patch on back of  head, but does have red under the tail like the male

Sue also found a Blue Tit nest in a dead tree near the tennis courts. One of the parents was in attendance while we watched. Apart from that excitement, we noted a slight revival in the number of Starlings, ten being spotted together at one point. Otherwise the following birds were seen and/or heard, all in small numbers: Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Magpie, House Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Wren, Robin and Ring-necked Parakeet.

A few days earlier (25th), Sue spotted three Pied Wagtails on the bowling green and then witnessed a Sparrowhawk swoop down on them! All three appeared to evade capture.

Woodpecker Update: the picture below was taken by my daughter on Saturday afternoon (2 June) and shows one of the fledglings peeping out of the hole. The crimson crown on top of its head will disappear with its first moult. Hopefully, it's not an only child...