Our Hilly Fields Big Birdwatch on 30 January was the first since January 2020 and we had probably the best ever attendance. It was particularly good to see so many children brought along by their parents and making bird feeders at the Friends stall or coming round on the guided walk.
22 species were recorded which is not a record breaker, but still a healthy total. Surprisingly, the highest individual total was the Common Gull of which 22 were counted on the north field. Despite its name, this bird is usually outnumbered by the Black-headed Gull which in winter is the most common gull in London and the UK. Next highest were the Starlings at 16 and Goldfinches at 12.
Common Gull left, Black-headed Gull right
At the other end of the scale, a single Greenfinch and Redwing were seen. It was good to catch sight of the Nuthatch pair who hopefully will be breeding in the park again this year. We had a good view of them on the Lane during the guided walk. Sadly, no Great Spotted Woodpeckers turned up this year, nor did we see any Song or Mistle Thrushes (though a Song Thrush was seen and heard on the Lane on 1st January).
Greenfinch at Hilly Fields
Thanks are due to Rachel who masterminded the stall as usual, to Sue, Judith, Conrad and Lawrence who helped on the guided walk, to Lee the parkie who lugged stuff around for us, to the cafe for all their support and to Debbie who volunteers with the London Peregrine Partnership and brought along two fine displays of bird feathers for the stall.
For early risers, we'll be doing a dawn chorus walk on Thursday 31 March, starting from the cafe at 6 am. And in the meantime, our Birds of Hilly Fields booklet can be bought from the cafe or via this link.
This year's big birdwatch took place on the morning of 26th January. The sky was overcast most of the time, but the weather was mild and about a dozen people came with us on the guided walk. We spent a hour walking through most areas of the park and saw 24 species which is not a record, but a respectable tally. The highlights were a pair of nuthatches and 15 Redwing all seen in the east field.
The nuthatch has blue-grey upperparts, buff underparts, a black stripe across the side of its head and a long pointed bill which it uses to dig insects out of tree trunks. It is very agile and the only British bird that can descend a tree trunk head first. There are better photos on the web, but the one above (taken in Sydenham Hill Wood a few years ago) shows it in action. It has a distinctive call which can be listened to on the RSPB website. The fact that we saw two together is a hopeful sign that they will nest and breed in the park this coming spring.
Redwings on Hilly Fields: 2018
The Big Birdwatch is the first time we've seen Redwing in the park this winter. Redwings are thrushes which migrate here in the autumn from Scandinavia and depart in the early spring. Berries and fruits are their food of choice but when those are running out, they'll make do with worms and insects. The red under the wing which gives them their name is not always as obvious as in the above photo, but the white stripe arching over the eye is another distinctive feature.
The rest of the count as recorded on the Big Birdwatch Blackboard is as follows: 35 Black-headed Gull, 20 Starling, 12 Common Gull, 10 Goldfinch, 10 House Sparrow, 5 each of Great Tit, Robin and Woodpigeon, 4 each of Blue Tit, Crow and Ring-necked Parakeet, 3 each of Feral Pigeon and Magpie, 2 each of Blackbird and Chaffinch, 1 each of Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Song Thrush and Wren.
Rachel and Emily did a sterling job on the Big Birdwatch Table outside the cafe and persuaded numerous children to make seedballs which hung from nearby trees at the end of the event. Thanks to the 'other bird champion' Sue and to Conrad, Lawrence and Rupert for lending their expertise, to Judith from Glendale for her support and to the cafe as always just for being there. Our Dawn Chorus Walk will be on Thursday 2nd April at 6.00 am. See you there!
Another Sunday in January (29th), another Big Birdwatch on Hilly Fields. Last year, it rained depressingly throughout the event and our final count was low. This year did not look promising. It was dry when Sue and I started leading the walks, but the gentle rain from heaven was soon pitter-pattering on our heads. After a while though, it stopped and after another while, the sun came out. Best of all, the birds came out all the way through and by the end of the event, we'd chalked up 25 species - almost a record - on our famous blackboard.
Joint leaders were the Common Gull and Starling - both with counts of 30. In second place, a flock of approx 13 Goldfinches and in joint third place - the Black-headed Gull and the humble Woodpigeon with counts of 10 each. Highlights included sightings of four different species of thrush - a Mistle Thrush camouflaged almost to invisibility against a backdrop of dead leaves, brief glimpses of a Song Thrush and Redwing (winter migrant from Scandinavia) and 9 Blackbirds which are also fully paid-up members of the Thrush family. Other highlights included clear views of a female Great Spotted Woodpecker chipping at tree trunks in two different locations, a lively little flock of 5 Long-tailed Tits, two Dunnocks, a Greenfinch and a Herring Gull on the south field grassland.
Spot the Mistle Thrush (Pic: Rebecca Simmons)
The remaining birds seen were 9 Great Tits, 7 each of Blue Tit, Feral Pigeon, House Sparrow, Ring-necked Parakeet and Robin, 3 each of Crow and Magpie, 2 Wrens and 1 each of Chaffinch and Collared Dove. Meanwhile, outside the cafe, Rachel and her helpers were handing out information and showing a total of 18 children how to make seed balls and bird feeders, hopefully sowing the seeds of bird awareness amongst the young.
Female Great Spotted Woodpecker (Pic: Rebecca Simmons)
Thanks to everyone who came along and helped, particularly Conrad Ellam whose bird knowledge and keen eyesight were particularly useful. Thanks also to Lawrence for his support, to Sue and Judith, to Rachel, Phil, Sally and the Friends of Hilly Fields, to Lee the parkie and to our community-minded cafe. Dawn chorus walk next at the end of March!
Our monthly survey on 25 February got off to a great start when we spotted a woodpecker in trees along the Veda Road border. Yes, folks, it was a Great Spotted Woodpecker - a female as it lacked the male's red patch behind the head.
Later, we discovered that last year's woodpecker nest (see here) has been commandeered by a pair of parakeets who start breeding earlier than the other birds. If you walk due south from the front of the cafe with the tennis courts on your right, there is a traffic barrier and to the left of that an ash tree. The nest is in a hole (which the parakeets have widened a little) about 20 feet up the tree. To the best of our knowledge, we have only one pair of woodpeckers in the park and they generally choose a different site every year so war is unlikely to break out. But it's a bit of parakeet cheek. I bet they never asked...
The small birds were all very active as we would expect given it's their mating season. Great Tits were the most vocal, but Robins and Wrens were also singing loudly. While most of the tits and finches were flitting around, a Greenfinch sat still for quite some time in the top branches of a tree on upper Eastern Road, evidently enjoying the sunshine.
Counting the gulls on the cricket field was difficult as they came and went, but we estimate 50 Common Gull (yellow bill and legs) and 8 Black-headed Gull (Red bill and legs). Hilly Fields is one of the few sites in Lewisham where Common Gulls congregate in such numbers. Sue saw a pair of Collared Doves which is unusual in the park. And just when we thought it was all over and were refreshing ourselves outside the cafe, we saw a pair of Redwings in the trees next to the basketball court. These are thrushes which winter here from Scandinavia and have a patch of red under the wing, hence the name.
In addition to the birds already mentioned, we saw 12 Starlings, 9 House Sparrows, 6 Feral Pigeons, 5 Woodpigeons, 5 Crows and 5 Dunnocks, 3 Blackbirds, 2 each of Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Long-tailed Tit and Magpie and 1 each of Mistle Thrush and Goldfinch - making an impressive 23 species in total. Incidentally, 5 Dunnocks is a new record for Hilly Fields and two of them engaged in a mid-air courtship display which involved flapping their wings at each other. All in all, a busy and rewarding morning.
It was a fine clear morning with some winter sunshine for our 7th Big Garden Birdwatch on 25 January. Lots of people came along and either went around the park by themselves or joined one of the two guided bird walks that took place. We gave out around 70 survey sheets at the stall and as always the children had fun making fat balls and bird feeders.
Most important of all, the birds co-operated. Even before we began, a Mistle Thrush came and perched in one of the trees overlooking our stall as if to say 'Count me in!' And Lawrence pointed out a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers on a tree just beyond the tennis courts.
What was good once we got going was to see some of the 'occasional' species that we know are around somewhere in the vicinity but don't often turn up during surveys: three Redwings, for example - the first sighting this winter, a Coal Tit, a Goldcrest in the garden next to the bothy. And Phil spotted a Song Thrush, the first sighting since the Bird Champion recording scheme began in 2007. These birds helped to boost the final total but all the regulars like the Blue Tits, Magpies, Robins and Wrens were there too.
A Hilly Fields Blue Tit being birdwatched (photo Rebecca Simmons)
A Hilly Fields Robin also being birdwatched (photo Rebecca Simmons)
The final tally of birds seen or heard was 26 species which is the highest total recorded on Hilly Fields Big Birdwatch day since the event began in 2009. The breakdown is as follows:
Black bird, 6
House Sparrow 9
Wren 3
Redwing 3
Blue Tit 6
Great Tit 3
Goldfinch 9
Carrion Crow 5
Common Gull 15
Black-headed Gull 24
Jay 1
Magpie 4
Feral Pigeon 12
Greenfinch, 5
Woodpigeon, 8
Ring-necked Parakeet, 5
Starling, 24
Robin, 3
Long-tailed Tit 8
Coal Tit, 1
Mistle Thrush, 2
Pied Wagtail, 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2
Chaffinch, 2
Song Thrush, 1
Goldcrest, 1
And don't forget me - I come under 'Other Wildlife' (Photo Rebecca Simmons)
Well done to everyone who took part and helped us in achieving this brilliant total. And thanks in particular to Rachel who organised the stall, to Sue, Phil, Judith and Lawrence for helping with the walks and to 'the other Phil' and Sandy for general hands-on assistance. And by the way, the RSPB were there too with their own stall next to ours and signed up a whole bunch of new members. I'm sure they found it worthwhile.
Next: the Dawn Chorus Walk! But not until spring has sprung. Date to be announced...
This year's dawn chorus walk on 2 April was blessed with good weather and plenty of birdsong. Sixteen people came along as we walked around the green border of Hilly Fields (seeing the sunrise over lovely Lewisham), through the nature reserve and the upper part of Eastern Road, then down St Cyprian's Passage to the Brockley & Ladywell cemeteries. On Hilly Fields as expected, we heard plenty of Great Tits calling and Robins and Wrens singing, but also the newly arrived Chiffchaffs sending out their sharp, insistent song. And of course we heard the Blackbird which starts singing in the 'darkest hour' before dawn. On top of the hill, a Redwing was seen in the trees, a late-stayer as most of its fellows have returned to Scandinavia. And in front of the school, not only did we see Long-tailed Tits and Starlings but the youngest member of our party was able to show us some excellent pictures of them from her Ladybird Book of Birds.
In the cemeteries, the highlight was undoubtedly the Green Woodpecker which was heard almost as soon as we entered. Eventually we found it high in the branches of a tree and I think most people caught at least a glimpse of it. But if it wasn't easy to see, it's laughing call (known as a 'yaffle' to birders) was very distinct. And amazingly, its cousin a Great Spotted Woodpecker then landed on the same tree, briefly turning it into Woodpecker Central. Further on we heard (and briefly saw) a Song Thrush, again high in a tree, repeating each song phrase several times over as they famously do. We also heard a Greenfinch sneering and, inevitably, a Ring-necked Parakeet.
'There it is!' Spotting the Green Woodpecker...
And here's what it looked like from below...
...and what it looks like close-up [Stock Photo]
In all, we saw and/or heard 19 species on our walk: Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Robin, Wren, Chiffchaff, Woodpigeon, House Sparrow, Redwing, Crow, Blackbird, Magpie, Starling, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Greenfinch, Ring-necked Parakeet and a Mistle Thrush heard singing near the playground as we walked back through Hilly Fields. A good haul and I'm glad that everyone seemed to enjoy the walk. Thanks to Rachel from the Friends of Hilly Fields for publicising it and thanks to the FoBLC and Mike Guilfoyle for enabling early access to the cemeteries.
If you would like a second chance to join a local dawn chorus walk, Lawrence is organising one along the River Pool on Thursday April 17th at 6am, meet outside the Sydenham Sainsbury Savacentre. The River Pool between Bell Green and Catford is one of the natural glories of Lewisham. If we are very lucky, we may catch a glimpse of a Kingfisher or Sparrowhawk, but we should certainly hear Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, probably a Song Thrush and many other birds. Check here for more details.
I mentioned the sighting of a female Blackcap on Hilly Fields in my "December Bird Survey" post. Since then, this little bird has made the national press and television (well, the Independent and BBC's Winterwatch at least) and it's all due to the British Trust for Ornithology. The BTO has initiated a January Blackcap garden survey, details of which can be found on their website: http://www.bto.org/. It has also produced evidence that Blackcaps which winter in the UK are not - as I confidently asserted - staying on after the spring migratory flocks return to Spain and North Africa in autumn, but are part of a separate population from Central Europe - particularly Germany. Whereas in the past, these birds have gone south from Germany in autumn, they now prefer to spend their winter vacation here (see the yellow arrow in the diagram below).
"What?!" I hear you say. "They prefer Britain to the Med! Talk about bird-brained..." But they've discovered that it's warm enough here and, even better, their return journey is much shorter, allowing them to get back quickly to Germany in the spring and nab the best nesting sites. Not so silly after all, eh? "We have a new winter bird" is how Michael McCarthy put it in the Independent. And the upshot for us is that we will have year-round Blackcaps in Hilly Fields, albeit not in great numbers. Their use of garden feeders is on the increase and if you have one, it is worth doing the BTO survey. In my experience, the feature that stands out in the Blackcap is its pale grey breast. Once you've seen that, check if they have a black head (male) or chestnut brown (female). Here's a close-up clip of a male:
Redwings are another species which winter in the UK, arriving in their thousands from Scandinavia. Members of the Thrush family, they have speckled breasts but the main distinguishing features are red patches on their sides and a white stripe over each eye. Yesterday we did a special mid-month survey of Hilly Fields prior to our Big Birdwatch event (Sunday 27 January at 10.30) and saw four of them which is the first sighting on HF since Keith recorded a small flock of seven two years ago.
In addition, we saw 30+ Starlings, 17 Goldfinches, 15 Wood Pigeons, 11 Common Gulls, lots of Great Tits, Blue Tits and Robins, Crows, Magpies, Blackbirds, Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Mistle Thrushes, House Sparrows and one each of Jay, Ring-necked Parakeet, Wren, Feral Pigeon and Black-headed Gull. A total of 20 species which augers well for the (stop me if I've mentioned this before) Big Birdwatch event on Sunday 27 January at 10.30. Incidentally, there seemed to be a growing awareness amongst some birds yesterday that the mating season is getting closer. Certainly, this Robin was singing very lustily in Hilly Fields Wood...
Two Chiffchaffs were heard calling on 29 September - a first for Hilly Fields since the Bird Champion scheme began. Probably a rest stop on their migratory journey, although an increasing number of these warblers are over-wintering in the UK
Five Mistle Thrushes were seen on 10 October in the line of trees leading down to Hilly Fields Crescent
A Blackcap was spotted in the trees bordering Vicars Hill on 26 October. These are still uncommon on HF although one was heard singing in the wood during our dawn chorus walk back in May
Long-tailed Tits - a flock of about 12 seen in the trees bordering Vicars Hill on 26 October. Lovely birds if you can get a close-up view
Great Spotted Woodpecker - a clear eye-level view of one on 26 October, hammering away at the trunk of a tree near the playground. The GSW has an unmistakeable combination of black, white and red colours and a bouncy flight
Goldfinches - a flock of about 16 is usually seen and heard in the trees around Prendergast School
What we haven't seen yet are any Redwings, although they've been pouring into the country from Scandinavia since mid-October. Members of the thrush family, Redwings can be identified by a clear white stripe along the side of the head and, believe it or not, by a touch of red under the wing. They've turned up for the last three winters on Hilly Fields with as many as 40 counted in January 2010. If you see any, please let us know via the comments below.
I was pleasantly surprised to fine a pair of Redwing in the East Field yesterday. It's the furthest east I've seen them in Hilly Fields as they're usually in the West Field or the Meadow. As winter visitors they'll be off to Iceland or Scandinavia by the end of this month, so let's enjoy them while we can. Hopefully they'll return to Hilly Fields this October.
Another rare visitor to the East Field was a Mistle Thrush, usually seen around the school or south-west of it. Along with Chaffinches, Blackbirds, Blue Tits, House Sparrows, Black-headed Gulls and a Common Gull it was pretty busy along the eastern perimeter of the park.
Rather poor photos snatched with my pocket camera show the Redwing foraging in the grass and Mistle Thrush in a tree
We were so lucky with the weather being dry, bright and sunny with little wind. However, it was only just above zero. Last year's 20 species record was not beaten, but we did sight three species not recorded in Hilly Fields for over 2 years (see below).
There were a good number of visitors and I took parties of five or six at a time around the park to see what we could find.
I was quite surprised not to find any birds at all in the South Field, Meadow or West Field (compared with two days ago) and very few around School area. Sports were being played in the North Field so none were spotted there either. The vast majority were to the south of the Stones Field and east of the East Field (i.e. along the Cliffview Road hedge).
[Correction on 01/02/2010: The Dunnock was previously omitted from this list (my error), and today I've seen one in my garden, a mere 50m from where we spotted it on Saturday.]
Long-tailed Tit
We are all indebted to Vicki Wheeler, Nature Conservation Officer, for organizing the event - especially the tea, coffee and biscuits which were certainly needed after wandering around the park in such cold weather. With Vicki's help, our younger visitors made birdfeeders from pots, lard and birdseed to take home and hang up in their own gardens.
In response to Hilly’s comment [see Brisk Walk, 1 Jan] about 20 mid-brown birds, larger than a sparrow and smaller than a thrush, pecking at the grass: my guess would be either Redwing or Fieldfare.
Both are common winter visitors, both flock, both eat worms, both are brown-ish.
The Redwing is midway between House Sparrow and Mistle Thrush in size, whereas the Fieldfare is nearer to the Mistle Thrush.
My money is on the Redwing [top pic] because its red underwing patch could be hard to see without binoculars, whereas the grey head and black tail of the Fieldfare would probably be more obvious.
A little after 3pm today a pair of Redwing were in the Meadow area, close to Adelaide Avenue, exactly where one was spotted on Big Garden Birdwatch day.
They kept to the 10m strip closest to the road and looked as though they were feeding on grubs and worms. Close nearby were a pair of Mistle Thrush also feeding.
There were birds to draw, masks to colour and wear, quizzes to solve, bird-feeders to make from flowerpot, lard and seeds then decorate and hang around the park or take home to hang in the garden.
Best of all, there were more species seen in the park today than have ever been seen since our records began.
All the more rarely seen birds were on display but the star of the day was a newcomer: a Redwing was first spotted with two Mistle Thrushes in the meadow near the road and later seen on the slope in front of the school.
The full list of birds is:-
Black-headed Gull 23 Blackbird 2 Blue Tit 10 Carrion Crow 4 Common Gull 3 Feral Pigeon 6 Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 Great Tit 2 Greenfinch 1 Goldfinch 1 House Sparrow 14 Jay 1 Magpie 3 Mistle Thrush 2 Redwing 1 Ring-necked Parakeet 2 Robin 2 Starling 18 Woodpigeon 5 Wren 1
Everyone had a great day.
Special thanks to Lara and Rachel and, of course, the birds of Hilly Fields.
Great news! The Bird Track Organisation has accepted Hilly Fields Park as one of its recognised bird sites. So now you can register with BTO and declare Hilly Fields Park as your recording site. Just follow these easy steps:-
1/ To register with BirdTrack, click here and complete the BirdTrack Registration Form
Registered users logon to BirdTrack here , then go to Data Home and click Submit Species List to report a bird count.
2/ To declare Hilly Fields Park as one of your recording sites, from Data Home click Create New Site then, on the Site Registration screen under Option B, select London Nat Hist Soc.
Another screen will pop up where you should double-click Hilly Fields Park --> TQ3775 and then the Go button which will have appeared on the Registration screen.
That’s all there is to it. Almost everything else on the BTO site is intuitive. Have a good look around it.
I asked BTO if they had a facility to permit a group to view each others records of a site, which we would like to do. Mark Grantham of BTO replied:
“…there isn't a facility to do this at the moment, but we are working on something along these lines. This will work through the 'Species by Location' feature we have developed. By entering a specific grid reference you can see a species list for the site, but only by month or year at the moment. We hope to expand this so people can see individual lists soon though, which should suit your needs.”
To try this, go to Species by grid on the Data Home page. Either navigate to Hilly Fields Park via the drop-down menu at bottom left, or enter grid reference TQ3775 at bottom right, then select no buffer and a time period and you’ll get the list of species around the park.
Interestingly, someone reported a Redwing in 2006!
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