Hilly Fields Walk on October 6th

There'll be a walk in Hilly Fields, organised by Chris McGaw, On Wednesday 6th October.  Here's an extract from his flyer:

For information on this, or any of the other nine walks during September and October, click the "Rivers and People Project" link on the right.

Cricket pitched up, Feeder dropped

Farmers' Market

During a brief visit to the Farmers' Market on Saturday I noticed that our bird feeder in the quiet garden was hanging loose on its chain. It's a shame that this feeder has proved accident prone; I do hope Glendale re-fix a bracket for it soon.

Bird Feeder

Strange blue tree nearby

The park was pleasantly busy, and the cafe too - I hope it stays beyond the summer holidays – but all this action kept the birds at bay. There were a dozen house sparrows, three magpies, three carrion crows and a solitary woodpigeon. I did hear blue tits and goldfinches in the Cliffview Road hedge, but couldn’t spot any of them.

Cafe

On Monday I had a very pleasant cup of tea at the café while watching work start on the new cricket pitch.

Cricket Pitch

A park busy with summer activities kept the birdlife hidden once more but I did spot five feral pigeons, three magpies and a couple of carrion crows. House sparrows and great tits (probably) sang in the Cliffview hedge.

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.