Brent Reservoir on the last day of spring

May 31st is officially the last day of spring according to the weather forecasters so I was out nice and early around the Welsh Harp to try and beat the throngs of people expected later as the forecast was for another hot and sunny Sunday. I didn’t linger much while walking through Neasden Rec apart from to admire the squadrons of screaming Swifts feeding in the skies as I wanted to get over to East Marsh early. The drought is having quite an effect on the reservoir with low levels leaving a lot of silt exposed in both marshes and the toxic Blue-green Algae warning signs have already gone up although this didn’t prevent one idiot illegally paddle-boarding on the reservoir.

On a favoured sunlit hedge there were a few Dock Bugs around and dozens of bumblebees on the newly emerged bramble flowers while on the path was a superb male Broad-bodied Chaser. It flew up onto the brambles and showed off its flattened shield-like body.

Dock Bug

Hoverfly sp, still looking to identify this one

Broad-bodied Chaser

I saw a pair of dozing Great Crested Grebes and snuck up close in case they decided to wake up. One of them did for a minute then decided to resume its nap. 

Great Crested Grebe

If you're lucky you may see them displaying which can be mutual head-shaking which may then culminate in a 'weed-dance'. This involves them diving underwater to get a bill full of weed then rearing up out of the water facing each other and paddling furiously to stay upright while shaking their heads from side to side. Clearly this pair weren't in the mood for such vigorous exertions so, in true Blue Peter fashion, here's a photo of a pair at it from earlier this spring.

Great Crested Grebes doing the weed dance

A little further out a female Mute Swan was gathering food for one of its new cygnets. When a flotilla of Canada Geese swam by she made sure to shield the cygnet from them.

In North Marsh a pair of Shoveler were dozing with a pair of Mallard. And over on the far side a new brood of Cootlings were being fed.

Mallards and Shoveler

Male Shoveler

Coot with young

In the grass I found the first Large Skipper of the year; there were very few butterflies around, possibly due to the very dry conditions. Over on the North Bank I located a Chimney Sweeper (a day flying moth) in the usual location and finally caught up with a Common Blue Damselfly to add to the Blue-tailed I’d seen earlier but surprisingly still no Azures. I heard the mobbing call of a Crow and looked up to see it have a go at the resident Buzzard, named Nick as it has a gap in its left wing.

 

Large Skipper

Chimney Sweeper

Common Blue Damselfly

Nick the resident Buzzard

By now, the area was already busy with people walking, running and cycling so I made my way home to some peace and quiet.

May 30th Fryent CP insect hunt

After a quick look at Brent Reservoir where the only thing of interest was a new Great Spotted Woodpecker nest in Silver Jubilee Park I headed across Church Lane and down Slough Lane to Fryent Country Park for a longer walk to try and track down some insects and see if I could find proof of any new birds breeding. Although it was still early, before eight, the sun was shining in a bright blue sky and it was already warming up. We’ve only had ten seconds of rain in the past three weeks so the hay meadows were already losing their bright green colour and the trees were now in full leaf.

Male Great Spotted Woodpecker near its nest

Wembley's arch is never far away

At the horse paddocks I turned left and headed south along the perimeter path adjacent to the houses where the sun was shining on a hedge full of flowers – the perfect place for insects. The Common Hogweed seemed to attract most of the insects with plenty of hoverflies to examine. I confess to not knowing the names of any of them so I just photograph what I can and look them up later; it can be quite difficult as each species seems to vary a lot. It doesn’t help that many don’t have an English name while those that do often seem to have more than one which confuses the issue!

I think these are both Myathropa florae 

Myathropa florae with unidentified hoverfly, same below

I walked into a sweet-smelling cloud at one point and realised there must be honeysuckle nearby which I quickly located. It’s a bit like walking along a seaside promenade with the smell of fish ’n’ chips wafting across at every step.

Honeysuckle

Next up was my first Degeer’s Longhorn of the year which now seems to be called Yellow-barred Longhorn Moth – why stick to two words when you can use four instead? I often see swarms of these displaying at the Welsh Harp but this is the first time I’ve seen them here. I’m not sure if anyone has compiled a moth list at Fryent CP. And while on Lepidoptera, the only butterflies I managed to see all morning were two Speckled Woods which was odd as there should be lots on the wing right now. Maybe I haven’t found the best spots yet.

Yellow-barred Longhorn Moth

I found some interesting, but unidentified, yellow flowers. I'm pretty good at finding flowers I can't identify! While looking for bumblebees I found what I think is Bumblebee Hoverfly, a fly that mimics a bumblebee to avoid predation.

Yellow flower sp

Bumblebee Hoverfly

On the woodland path I found a couple of broken eggshells, clear evidence something has bred but I’m not sure what, perhaps Robin and Woodpigeon? 

I emerged out of the woodland back into the sunshine and headed north through the open fields and back past the paddocks. Birdsong has died down a lot and only the occasional Blackcap gave a short burst of song although the Common Whitethroats were still giving it a good go. The hedges were full of families of Blue and Great Tits, the youngsters constantly begging for more caterpillars (at least it’s not McDonalds).

Common Whitethroat

I checked all the ponds on the east side for dragonflies but didn’t see a single one, however one was full of tadpoles.

I crossed over Fryent Way and the verge on the west side had two species of blue flowers that I didn’t recognise although the bumblebees clearly liked them with both Early and Buff-tailed feeding on them.

Blue flowers with Early and Buff-tailed Bumblebees

I visited all the ponds I knew about on the west side and found another one I’d not come across before but there were still no dragonflies.

Pond with fallen tree (White Poplar?)

I walked up to the footbridge over the Jubilee Line where there was a large mass of honeysuckle, then I walked along the tarmac path up to a little bridge which advised me that my regular gait was insufficient so I didn't proceed any further. A juvenile Robin was in the display zone but hadn’t managed to perfect any such Monty Python comedy stepping.

Footbridge over Jubilee Line

More honeysuckle

Juvenile Robin about to goose-step

At the last pond a male Broad-bodied Chaser was holding territory and there were a couple of blue damselflies that were too distant to identify so I headed up towards Barn Hill. Unusually the pond didn’t have any ducks in it (I suspect it had been invaded by hordes of rampaging dogs) but there were a couple of Emperor Dragonflies patrolling it. Unfortunately they didn’t settle at all so I didn’t get any pictures. By now it was gone 11 o’clock so I dropped down the other side and headed off home, just pausing on Blackbird Hill to watch a Mistle Thrush.

The rolling hills of Middlesex

Mistle Thrush

Welsh Harp and Fryent CP - from teacups to statues

On Saturday May 16th, the first weekend after the lockdown restrictions were eased I decided to get up early and go for a long walk over the Welsh Harp and Fryent Country Park. I began at Neasden Rec, watching a pair of foxes take advantage of the continued closure of the sailing base by treating it as their own private playground. Common Terns were patrolling over the reservoir and Swifts scythed through the sky. All that was missing was the sun which had decided to have a lie-in under its fluffy cloud duvet.

Foxes in the sailing base

The cooler conditions did somewhat suppress the dawn chorus but I could still hear Cetti’s Warblers blasting, Reed Warblers chugging, Blackcaps singing heartily, Whitethroats scratching and Chiffchaffs, er, going chiff-chaff. Having made daily walks through this area since lockdown it’s been interesting to watch the vegetation change during the course of spring. Blackthorn blossom was replaced by Hawthorn, umbellifers have started flowering, mostly Cowparsley and I spotted a patch of the purple-blotched stems of Hemlock growing near the North Circular Road. Surprisingly this poisonous plant wasn’t used by one of Neasden’s most infamous residents, the so-called ‘Teacup Poisoner’ who killed four people and harmed many others by lacing their tea with a variety of poisons.

Hemlock

I made my way over to West Hendon Playing Fields which were now starting to be populated by family parties of Starlings, the juveniles uttering their distinctive calls. Cutting through Church Lane Recreation Ground I approved of the wildflower planting done by Brent Council which is very insect friendly. It was too chilly for anything to be flying when I went past so I’ll have to come back at a more suitable time.

Wild flowers in Church Lane Rec

I arrived at Fryent CP just after eight while it was still relatively empty of people. I turned left past the paddocks and up to the wooded Beane Hill where I noticed a Sweet Chestnut tree, the first one I’ve seen locally. I carried on down through the hay meadows which had grown up a lot since my first visit and were looking more suitable for a repeat visit by a Common Quail, one of which was found singing here in 1983. Amongst the buttercups were several purple flowers which were beyond my meagre botany identification skills.

Hay meadows

Purple flower

Sweet Chestnut

I came across a pond that I’d not previously discovered before which looked suitable for a Reed Warbler but there wasn’t one at home. Funnily enough Reed Warbler wasn’t on the list of birds recorded at Fryent CP until I heard one singing in a hedgerow last week. It was presumably a migrant as it was in abnormal habitat.

Pond with Common Reed growing in it

I climbed up the other side to the more open Gotfordes Hill. The cloud was beginning to break up as the sun rose from its long slumber but there were few birds flying over other than the odd gull. I walked anti-clockwise around the perimeter and crossed over the road reaching the northwest corner which abuts the Jubilee Line. From here I headed up the wooded slopes of Barn Hill. A family of Mistle Thrushes were feeding on the ground while a Nuthatch was performing arboreal gymnastics way up in the canopy. I located two active Great Spotted Woodpecker nests so the local birds seem to be having a good breeding season, a bit like Covid-19.

Jubilee Line train heading north to Kingsbury station

Juvenile Mistle Thrush

At the top of the hill a Grey Heron was playing statues in the pond, while among the dozing Mallard I saw a pair of Gadwall, the first ones I’ve seen here. By now it was mid-morning and it had warmed up, bringing a lot more people out so I decided I’d had enough and headed home.

Grey Heron