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.

The Case of the Leucistic Crows

18 December: three days before the winter solstice. After a mild start, the south west wind got stronger and the morning colder as we walked around on our monthly survey.  The birds however seem to sense that the year is on the turn and the small birds in particular were more active and vocal. The day before on Ladywell Fields, we had heard both Song and Mistle Thrush singing. On Hilly Fields, more prosaically, we heard for the first time since summer the two note 'song' of the Great Tit - always a sign that bird brains are instinctively starting to think about procreation.

Great Tit

By the orchard we saw two leucistic Crows which Symon had told us about. Leucism is a condition affecting animal cells which drains colour from part or all of their coats or plumage, turning it white. Albinism is a similar complaint except that only the melanin cells are affected and the white of the albino can sometimes have a yellowish tinge. Also, in leucistic animals, the eyes retain their normal colour whilst in albino animals, the eye is red or pink. The two affected Crows are usually in the tall trees by the Veda Road border and Symon has spent several weeks luring them down to the stone circle with tidbits of food and taking photographs. As you can see, only small parts of their plumage are affected although the condition is more noticeable when they spread their wings.

On Upper Eastern Road, we saw a flock of Greenfinches sitting quietly in the trees - at least 8, an unusual number for Hilly Fields. A large flock of 30 or more Starlings were whistling noisily on the south slopes while in the north field around the cricket pitch, we counted at least 60 Black-headed Gulls with a couple of Common Gulls amongst them. These high numbers are another sign that winter is on the way. Not only do birds like these move inland for greater warmth, but flocks can be swollen by migrants as well. Just after the bothy, we caught a brief glimpse of Britain's smallest bird, the Goldcrest - the first for some time on HF - and in the Cliffview hedge were no less than 14 House Sparrows. 2014 seems to have been a baby boom year for them.

Female House Sparrow

The rest of the roll-call: 10 Feral Pigeons, 7 Robins, 7 Woodpigeons, 4 Crows, 4 Ring-necked Parakeets, 3 Blue Tits, 2 Blackbirds, 2 Magpies and one each of Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Mistle Thrush and Wren making a thoroughly decent total of 20 species in all. And finally this seems like a good moment to announce the forthcoming Big Birdwatch event on Sunday 25 January from 10.30-12.30. This is the weekend of the RSPB's nationwide Big Garden Birdwatch and we treat Hilly Fields as our Big Garden. Our stall will be outside the Cafe as usual and we will offer activities for children as well as a guided bird spotting walk at 11.00 am. More details will be circulated via the Hilly Fields Facebook page and the Friends of Hilly Fields website. Hope to see you there!

Return of the Chiffchaff

Our monthly bird survey on 26 March began well with the sighting of a pair of Jays in the trees along the Veda Road border. It is sometimes hard to believe that these birds with their colourful pink and fawn bodies and bright blue wing patches belong to the same family as the all-black Carrion Crow, but they do - as also do Magpies. Further on we saw a Crow with nesting material in its beak and as we worked our way round the park with Robins, Wrens, Great Tits and Blue Tits singing and calling, it was evident that the birds were busy preparing for the mating season.

Crow with nesting material in the children's playground

In the wood, we heard what I'd been hoping for - the song of a Chiffchaff. This is a small warbler with a pale lemony breast and a white stripe above the eye. It migrates to Britain every spring from the Mediterranean and West Africa. This year it got here just before the Saharan dust! It's only in the last 3 years that we've seen or heard Chiffchaffs on Hilly Fields and only last year that they stayed the whole summer and bred. A few days after the survey, I heard two Chiffchaffs singing and there may be a third somewhere in the trees around the Veda Road/Eastern Road back gardens. Their song is very distinctive and easy to remember. Here's a clip I posted on the blog last year

In the trees at the back of the tennis courts, we had some good views of a Great Spotted Woodpecker and later Judith saw a Mistle Thrush on the grass in front of the courts. There was no sign of any gulls - the mild weather has presumably tempted them back to the coasts. Next to the bothy, some sort of territorial skirmish was going on between a plucky little House Sparrow and two Blackbirds. Here's one of the latter peeping out rather cautiously from a bush:

In total, we saw and/or heard 19 different species. As well as those already mentioned, these include no less than 25 Feral Pigeons on the cricket pitch observed by Sue on her way home, 11 Starlings, 4 Woodpigeons, 2 Magpies, Goldfinches and Ring-necked Parakeets, a singing Dunnock and a solitary Long-tailed Tit. All in your local green space on a fine spring morning. I'll update on the Dawn Chorus Walk in a few days...

Through All Kinds of Weather

The wind was gathering force again as Sue and I met on 27 December for the last monthly survey of 2013. It rained for a while too though we found shelter in the wood where a brief outburst of song from a Wren briefly lifted our spirits. Then, just as we were cursing for not checking the weather forecast, out came the sun and brought a few more birds with it. Eventually, we ended up with a healthy total of 18 species. Blue and Great Tits were very active in the trees and quite vocal with Great Tits calling more frequently as if aware that a new year is on the way. Robins were singing around the park too though were not so easy to spot. Near the bothy, we saw a few Long-tailed Tits, very pretty birds but fast-moving and difficult to photograph. My effort below does at least show the length of the tail although the camera angle makes the tail seem as long as the body when in fact it's longer. When you see them in the trees, you notice how small their bodies are compared, say, to the Blue Tit.

A large flock of gulls was spread across the cricket field with Black-headed Gulls (40) outnumbering Common Gulls (5) on this occasion. A Lesser Black-backed Gull was seen there too, though keeping its distance from the others. This was the second Lesser Black-backed sighting of 2013. Sue also glimpsed at separate times the male and female Great Spotted Woodpeckers. And the Starlings are back from wherever it is they go to in the summer - a flock of about 30 was moving noisily tree by tree from near the playground down to the north field. Sadly, the RSPB estimate that the Starling population has fallen by 66% since the mid-70s and it is now red-listed as a bird of conservation concern.

In their usual territory - the Cliffview garden hedges - we saw no less than 12 House Sparrows, slightly more than usual. This is another once common, now red-listed bird which still finds a home on Hilly Fields. Elsewhere in the park, we saw 12 Feral Pigeons, 4 each of Woodpigeon and Crow, three Blackbirds, a pair of Magpies and a single Chaffinch and Ring-necked Parakeet. And so it remains only for me to wish you a very Happy New Year and remind you of what will undoubtedly be the greatest birding event of 2014 if not of all time (weather permitting)...

This is part of the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch weekend. Bring binoculars if you can. We will provide survey sheets. Children are welcome and we will have material for bird feeder making if they are interested in that. You can also have a go at our Fun Bird Quiz which, without being too ornithological, will challenge your common knowledge of our feathered friends. See you there!

Bird List: 2007-2013

It is almost six years now since the Hilly Fields Bird Champion Project was launched by Lewisham Council. To provide some feedback, I submitted a report to the Lewisham Biodiversity Partnership in April which included a list of all bird species seen in the park since the project began. The report was discussed at the May meeting of the Partnership and was welcomed. A further initiative may derive from it which I will report on at a later date.

I will not rehash details of the report here as it can be read on the Lewisham Nature Conservation blog. However, I have reproduced the bird list below with the addition of a Lesser Black-backed Gull seen since the report was submitted. The birds are classified under Everyday which means you should see or hear them every time you visit the park; Regular which means they should be seen or heard often (in their season), perhaps at least once a week; Occasional which I think is self-explanatory; Rare which means rare to the area and to Inner London as a whole. Indeed, if a Cuckoo or Short-eared Owl were to stay on Hilly Fields for a while, it would almost certainly attract a few twitchers!

Although I suggest in the report that bird population levels in the park have been stable since 2007, Keith has pointed out that local House Sparrow numbers have declined during this period. As the original bird champion, he recorded as many as 50 during 2007-8, whilst 10 is the highest number seen nowadays. The sparrows are usually in and around the Cliffview hedge (see the site map) and the answer may lie in the fact that roof repair work carried out in some adjoining Cliffview Road houses not long ago may have disturbed their nests. It is likely therefore that some of the sparrows have simply relocated elsewhere in the neighbourhood which is not short of this once ubiquitous bird. I've noticed a thriving population recently, for example, along the Ravensbourne at Cornmill Gardens.

A word about the Chiffchaff which is number 26 on the list. This is a warbler which usually arrives on our shores in late March and April. It is not by any means rare or even 'occasional' at other local sites. It can be heard regularly at Ladywell Fields and Brookmill Park, for example. At Hilly Fields, however, I've heard it only three times this spring and have suggested that it simply rests here before moving on elsewhere. On 2 June, however, I heard it singing from the top of an Eastern Rd tree for about 15-20 minutes as if it were seeking out a partner.

Could it be breeding in the park? The photo above was taken at full zoom against the sky and is not very clear, but this earlier post includes a clip of the Chiffchaff's short simple song which begins nine seconds into the video. It is perhaps the easiest of the warblers to identify. Please let us know if you hear it.

So here is the bird list - 41 different species identified since 2007. Onwards to the half century!

Hilly Fields Bird List: 2007-2013

Everyday

1. Blackbird  (resident)                
2.   Black-headed Gull  (resident - winter months)
3.   Blue Tit  (resident)
4.   Carrion Crow  (numbers vary but thought to be 4 residents)
5.   Common Gull  (resident - winter months)
6.   Goldfinch  (daily visitors in a flock of up to 20 birds on occasion)
7.   Great Tit (resident)
8.   House Sparrow  (resident)
9.   Magpie (numbers vary but thought to be 2/3 residents)
10.  Ring-necked Parakeet  (daily visitors in small numbers) 
11. Robin (resident)
12. Wood Pigeon  (resident)
13. Wren  (resident)

Regular

14. Blackcap  (summer and winter migrants)
15. Chaffinch  (probably resident)
16. Common Swift  (seen overhead in summer months
17. Dunnock  (probably resident
18. Feral Pigeon (small no, easily outnumbered by wood pigeons)
19. Great Spotted Woodpecker  (resident pair)
20. Greenfinch  (probably resident)
21. Jay  (regular pair - possibly resident)
22. Long-tailed Tit  (unsure whether residents)
23. Mistle Thrush  (regular pair - probably residents)
24. Pied Wagtail  (seen on bowling green and on stone pathways)
25. Starling  (as many as 80 seen in winter months; disappeared during 2012 summer months)

Occasional

26. Chiffchaff  (heard since 2011 at spring and autumn migration times only)
27. Coal Tit (very occasional)
28. Collared Dove  (very occasional)
29. Fieldfare  (occasional in winter
30. Goldcrest  (possibly visitors from nearby Brockley/Ladywell cemeteries)
31. Green Woodpecker  (also possibly visitors from above)
32. House Martin  (not recorded since 2008)
33. Kestrel  (very occasional)
34. Lesser Black-backed Gull (very occasional)
35. Nuthatch  (very occasional)
36. Redwing   (seen more in winter/early spring 2013
37. Sparrowhawk  (possibly the birds that are known to have bred in Brockley Cemetery)
38. Stock Dove  (very occasional)
39. Tawny Owl  (heard by Cliffview Road residents in  autumn/winter 2012/13, not seen)
40. Willow Warbler. Seen and heard for the first time September 2013

Rare

41. Bullfinch (male, seen by Peter on 19/12/10 on SE edge of the park)
42. Cuckoo  (heard once in May 2011)
43. Mallard  (two seen by Rachel 10/3/08 approx 7am 'waddling up the park end of Eastern Rd')
44. Short-eared Owl  (seen overhead 13/10/12 being mobbed by crows. Probably same bird recorded over London Wetland Centre earlier that day

Updated Jan 2014

November Bird Survey

What a difference a month can make. At the end of October, I was moaning about the "dense foliage" hiding the small birds from view. By 27th November when we did this month's bird survey, the trees were almost bare, having been helped by some strong autumn winds to shed their leaves. As a result, the small birds were much more visible, even through the drizzle that splattered our optical aids. Walking around the park, we saw and/or heard at least 8 Robins, a couple of Wrens moving around tree trunks looking for insects, Chaffinches, Blue Tits, plenty of Great Tits (with a couple calling but not yet in full voice) and a small number of Long-tailed Tits alongside them. Close up, the Long-tailed Tit is an excessively cute little bird as can be seen in this recent photograph by Dave Bushell from the Kent Wildlife Trust page on Facebook.

Winter flocks are building up as well. At one point on Eastern Road, we saw about 20 Goldfinch suddenly rise en masse from a single tree, startled by a Mistle Thrush flying nearby. And at least 20 Starlings were making a communal racket in a tree near the playground. On the lower field, the Black-headed Gulls had returned in force, having been absent for most of the month. Perhaps they'd heard that the weather was about to turn cold. We counted 40 in total with a pair of Common Gulls among them. And along the path that borders the Cliffview Rd back gardens, we found 7 House Sparrows lurking in the hedgerows - which almost does constitute a "flock" these days for what was once the commonest bird in London.

In addition, we saw Wood Pigeons, Feral Pigeons, Blackbirds, Crows, Magpies and our old friend or enemy, the Ring-necked Parakeet. A respectable tally of 18 different species in all.

RSPB House Sparrow Count

This week the RSPB - in partnership with the London Wildlife Trust - launched its "Cockney Sparrow" count. It is asking Londoners to spend an hour or so between now and 12 July counting sparrows and recording the highest number seen at any one time. The count can be done anywhere in London - in your garden, on the street, in the park, near your workplace, wherever you like. There is a simple form available which should be completed and sent in - see Downloads on the right hand side of the following web page: http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/313435-cockney-sparrow-count. The RSPB emphasises that it does want "nil returns", ie. not seeing any sparrows is just as important to the survey as seeing them.