New Cafe and Green Flag

At long last I managed some quality time in the park today, about an hour in all.

The first thing I noticed, to my horror, was a large truck driving across the grass.  Having been stopped on more than one occasion by people complaining about Glendale vans on the grass, I expect this truck will attract complaints too.

The playground was busy, as were all the tennis courts and the table-tennis too.  I've rarely seen the place so well used before 10am, but little birdlife.  Just a few Carion Crows and Woodpigeons on the north, soon-to-be-cricket-pitch, field.  Down in the meadow south of the school: nothing.  Alongside the road west of the school: nothing. 

I didn't venture east of the school, but returned to Keith the park-keeper's office to get birdfeed for the feeder in the quiet garden; very quiet, no birds there either.  However, along from the garden at the back of Cliffview Road I heard Blue Tits, Greenfiches and a Parakeet.  Couldn't spot any on them!

Keith told me the new cafe beside his office will be a regular feature throughout the school holidays, so I took myself off there and had a very decent cup of tea in a real mug for £1.

Later I bumped into friends out for a stroll and walked down past the bowling green with them; no birds there either.

This morning hasn't been a good time for birds in the park; it was probably too busy for them, but back home in Cliffview Road there were Greenfinches, House Sparrows, Blue Tits, Great Tits and a Woodpigeon around our feeder where we've also seen a Great Spotted Woodpecker early every morning for the last week.

Oh, yes!  I nearly forgot to mention...  Hilly Fields received its Green Flag award on Wednesday

Windy morning

This morning was the first chance I've had since my holidays to get
into the park.

Unfortunately the strong wind kept almost all the birds hidden. Just
a solitary Woodpigeon and a single Magpie showed themselves in the
north and east fields, and I heard a Goldfinch behind Cliffview
Road.

I think I saw evidence of a boundary marked around the north
field, presumably for the new cricket pitch.

Just for the record, the birds of the Scottish Highlands were noticeably
different this year. There were Hooded Crows and Pied Wagtails
everywhere we went, and lots of Sparrows too.

Evening Birdsong Guided Walk

Twelve of us joined Chris McGaw (Rivers and People Project) for an excellent guided walk around Hilly Fields this evening.  At times the wind kept the birds quiet but we did hear and see 15 species:

Heard (but I didn't see)

• Blue Tit
• Great Spotted Woodpecker
• Great Tit
• House Sparrow
• Robin
• Wren

Heard and seen

• Blackbird (1)
• Carrion Crow (2)
• Chaffinch (1)
• Goldfinch (1)
• Magpie (5)
• Mistle Thrush (2)

Seen (but I didn't hear)

• Starling (7)
• Woodpigeon (15)
• Sparrowhawk (1)

Yes!  The Sparrowhawk is back.  At around 20:00 it flew from Vicars Hill direction along the rooftops of Cliffview Road.  It all happened too fast for a photo, but here's a couple I took earlier of a Mistle Thrush on a nearby tree and our party watching it.

Chris (8th from the left) will be taking more bird-oriented walks around the park in the future and I'll give notice of these events in this blog.

Playground opens

Hardly a bird in the park today because it was the last day of Brockley Max and the new childrens' playground was opened by Sir Steve Bullock.  Here are a few photos I took of the opening ceremony and Rachel Mooney showing the plans to Sir Steve.

Sculptures and Blue Tit nest

Driving to the Dawn Chorus walk at 5 o'clock this morning I noticed the new sculptures in the park, so I resolved to take a closer look before catching up with my sleep.

There's one in Hilly Fields Crescent and another at the lower end of Montague Avenue and I took a couple of photos for the blog.

What surprised me as I returned from Montague Avenue was the number of Glendale vehicles in the park.  At one point I could see nine of them, and that was just on one side of the hill!  Then it dawned on me (excuse the pun), this morning there was to be a Green Flag inspection so the park was being cleaned and tidied, paths swept, grass cut, seats repaired, sandpit raked etc.  I do hope it's successful.

On passing the tree on the corner of the playground beside the tennis courts, I spotted a Blue Tit's nest,  a parent was frequently to and fro, probably with food for young.

Another Waterlink Way Dawn Chorus

We're lucky Chris McGaw was pursuaded to repeat his dawn chorus walk of Waterlink Way today.  On the plus side it was 8 to 10 degrees warmer this morning than three weeks ago, on the other hand we started half-an-hour earlier!

Nine of us managed the 5am start, three had been on one of Chris' other dawn chorus walks whereas six were new to the experience. 
Birds we heard (but I didn’t see):

• Blackcap *
• Blue Tit
• Cetti's Warbler *
• Chaffinch
• Chiffchaff *
• Great Tit
• Greenfinch
• House Sparrow
• Lesser Whitethroat *
• Reed Warbler *
• Robin
• Song Thrush *
• Stock Dove *
• Swift
• Whitethroat *
• Wren *

Birds I saw and heard

• Blackbird
• Carrion Crow
• Dunnock
• Goldfinch
• Great Spotted Woodpecker
• Greenfinch
• Magpie
• Moorhen *
• Ring-necked Parakeet
• Starling
• Woodpigeon

Birds I saw (but didn’t hear)

• Collared Dove *
• Feral Pigeon
• Grey Wagtail *
• Jay
• Kestrel
• Long-tailed Tit
• Mallard *

* Birds never seen (by me) in Hilly Fields

Being warmer than last time I was able to take a few notes about some of the birdsong, I just hope I can remember them for future reference:

• Cetti's Warbler: an explosive metallic song;
• Blackcap: like a speeded-up blackbird;
• Chaffinch: a bowler running up to the crease with a final flourish;
• Wren: piercing with a trill near the end;
• Dunnock: an even sounding warble like a wren but with no trill;
• Greenfinch: a wheezing sound;
• Robin: song is sad, alarm is a tick-tick;
• Whitethroat: a non-musical scratchy warble;
• Woodpigeon: 5 notes with stress on the 2nd;
• Collared Dove: 3 notes with stress on the 2nd;
• Stock Dove: a cyclical series of notes.

I didn't stay for the cup of tea and chat at the end as there was to be a Green Flag inspection of Hilly Fields park later and I wanted to be there if I could.

Waterlink Way Dawn Chorus

I'm a night owl, not an early bird, so to ensure that I got to Sainsbury’s in Bell Green by 05:30 I had to stay up all night.  That's how, yesterday morning at 5degC and in a northerly wind, I met Chris McGaw and seven others for his Dawn Chorus Walk along Waterlink Way. Chris runs the Rivers and People Project for Lewisham Council and his birdsong identification skills are amazing.

Our first stop was the Pool River immediately behind the store. Within just a few minutes the number of birds whose song Chris had identified was into double figures. If you ever get the chance to join one of his dawn chorus walks, don’t hesitate.

Most of the birdsong was heard on the first half of the walk, by the time we arrived at the confluence with the Ravensbourne River the sun was up and many of the birds had quietened down. We finished at the environment centre, whose name I forget but it used to be the southbound waiting room of Ladywell station, for a very welcome hot drink, biscuits and fruit. I returned by 75 and 181 buses to pick up my car. At 05:15 it took 10 minutes to drive there, at 08:20 it took 40 minutes to drive home!

Birds we heard (but didn’t see):

• Cetti's Warbler *
• Chaffinch
• Chiffchaff *
• Collard Dove *
• Dunnock
• Greenfinch
• House Sparrow
• Lesser Whitethroat *
• Reed Warbler *
• Song Thrush *
• Woodpigeon
• Wren

 Birds we saw and heard

• Blackbird
• Blackcap *
• Blue Tit
• Carrion Crow
• Great Tit
• Long-tailed Tit
• Magpie
• Mallard *
• Moorhen *
• Ring-necked Parakeet
• Robin
• Starling
• Whitethroat *

Birds we saw (but didn’t hear)

• Feral Pigeon
• Grey Heron *
• Herring Gull *
• Jay

* Birds never seen (by me) in Hilly Fields

Forgive me for posting info unrelated to Hilly Fields, but it IS a local birdy blog!