Long-Tailed Tits return and a Jay visits the Garden

A lovely sunny autumnal day, a rarity this year, so I decided to have lunch in the park and, just walking through the gate at the top of Vicars Hill, I spoted a pair of Long-Tailed Tits in the tree opposite the gate. They’re one of my favourite little birds and I haven’t seen them in the park since the end of May so I was beginning to think we’d lost them. It’s good to see them back. (This is a stock photo, not today's bird)

On the way to the Flower Garden I passed the usual bush full of House Sparrows on the Cliffview Road side and Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon and a Magpie in the field.

I stopped in my tracks just inside the Flower Garden when I spotted a rare Jay in the tree above the birdfeeder – rare to Hilly Fields, that is, because my bird book says they’re twice as numerous as Long-Tailed Tits. It was eating a berry then flew to a neighbouring tree before flying off in a north-easterly direction. (This is a stock photo, not today's bird)

The birdfeeder was full when I arrived today, so I must thank somebody for filling it for me. Blue Tits used the feeder while a Blackbird scrubbed around for worms in the fallen leaves and I had my lunch. Job done.

October Roundup

I only managed to get into Hilly Fields four times this month, but on those visits I did count at least 97 birds of 9 species, including today's Kestral.

On my way home today I walked across Hilly Fields. I was halfway up the meadow when a small flock of birds, mostly Magpies but two were larger and brown, landed in a tree beside Prendergast School. Moments later a solitary Kestral flew from the tree to soar and hover over the meadow. Was that really two Kestrels I saw? I stayed a few minutes but without my binoculars I couldn't see the other large bird in the tree.

The nine species this month were:

Species (no. of visits) max. count

Blue Tit (2) 2,
Carrion Crow (4) 5,
Feral Pigeon (1) 1,
House Sparrow (4) 12,
Kestrel (1) 1,
Magpie (2) 3,
Ring-necked Parakeet (1) 1,
Robin (1) 1,
Woodpigeon (3) 26

BirdTrack and Hilly Fields Park

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!

September roundup

Another month has flown by (excuse the pun) and I note that, on my 9 visits to the park, I've reported 113 birds of 9 species, the most notable being the Kestrel.

The feeder in the Flower garden only had to be filled once, partly because they don't need much extra food at this time of year and also, I suspect, because of the feeders in nearby gardens.

The BirdTrack Organisation is at this moment setting up Hilly Fields as one of its known bird sites, so very soon in this blog I'll be able to tell you how to register and then report on the birds you've seen here (and elsewhere too). Also we'll all be able to get their stats. on the birds of Hilly Fields.

Kestrel in the Meadow

Wandered over to the meadow to see the wildlife information board, and got a real treat: a Kestrel




I first spotted it sitting on a lamppost, and edged cautiosly closer to get a better photo.



Then it spotted me and flew off into a tree beside the school.

I walked slowly towards the tree, keeping to the footpath that curves up towards the playground and when I was nearly at the junction of paths it swooped down to catch something, probaby a mouse, in the undergrowth at the edge of the meadow.

I grabbed two more photos as the Kestrel ripped apart its catch

...and another as it flew away.

Sparrowhawk!

In my garden, hanging below a lilac tree, is a birdfeeder. While I was filling it this afternoon several House Sparrows landed in the tree, queuing up to feed as they often do during the daily fill.

Suddenly something spooked them and they scattered in all directions. In its panic one even brushed my ear as it flew past me.

Then I saw the Sparrowhawk, perched directly in front of me about a metre away at eye-height. It had flown in from Hilly Fields and just failed to grab a meal. We both remained motionless, staring at one another for about ten seconds then the Sparrowhawk flew off.

What an experience!

Goodbye Wendy

Neither Wendy nor Lawrie's foodstall were in the park yesterday so the birdfood was inaccessible. This was not of immediate concern as it was, I believe, only the second time I've been in the park and seen no birds at all. Mind you, it was raining fairly heavily at the time, so they were probably taking shelter.

I was particularly sorry not to see Wendy as it was her last day with Glendale and I wanted to thank her personally for being so supportive and for contacting me whenever the birdfeeder was empty. All the best, Wendy, enjoy the south coast!