Stanmore

Thursday 30th March

With the weather forecast predicting a dry morning I decided to take the opportunity to visit a few more sites in the Stanmore area. As I walked through Neasden Rec on my way to the bus stop, I heard my first singing Willow Warbler of the year. The 142 showed up within a minute of arriving at the bus stop and we sped up the Edgware Road, ahead of the rush hour traffic as I'd made an early start. 

I got off at Heathbourne Road and walked along the road of the same name until I found an entrance to my first site of the day.

Site 55: Stanmore Common

I walked past this site two years ago on my way to see the Common Loon at Aldenham and thought it would be worth a visit so better late than never. Weirdly, this site doesn't have a hotspot on eBird but I've suggested one so hopefully it'll be created for others to use in future. I entered along the north side and found a trail that looped around the top end and then I walked down the west side to the main car park. The trails are quite muddy for this time of year but it has been a pretty wet month.

Spot the mistake!

Muddy trail through the woods

A tiny patch of common

Disused footbridge

The trails are marked with posts but I didn't come across a board showing the layout of them until I reached the main car park off Warren Lane which would be a better starting place. There was a good selection of woodland birds with singing Nuthatch and Treecreeper, two woodpeckers and many Chiffchaffs. The latter have taken over as the most ubiquitous bird from Black-headed Gull as they have now left for their breeding grounds. I didn't see any gulls at all today. 

Just before I arrived a Red Kite (not a Buzzard!) flew over the bus and I saw another one flying around in the top section.

Red Kite

Needless to say, the weather forecast was completely wrong and there was persistent drizzle for most of the morning. I exited onto Warren Lane and walked east, turning into Wood Lane where I found the entrance to the next site.

Site 56: Wood Farm Nature Reserve

This is a recently created nature reserve at the top end of Stanmore Country Park. Unlike the latter which is well wooded, this reserve is mostly open habitat with grassland, ponds and light scrub. It has probably the best view over London, at least on a nice day! and is also a great spot for visible migration. While I sat on a bench drinking coffee a few Meadow Pipits headed northwards despite the weather conditions. 

The pond had a pair of Moorhens on it

View over London; on a nice day you can see the North Downs, 27 miles away

I reckon this would be a great spot to look for raptors flying over in sunny weather, all I managed today was the resident pair of Kestrels.

Kestrel

I followed the path down the hill where it entered the woods of the next site.

Site 57: Stanmore Country Park

The last time I visited this site was in 1985 when I found breeding Tree Pipit and Spotted Flycatcher so it's changed a bit since then! The site is pretty similar to Stanmore Common, being mostly wooded but there are a few open areas. The paths are just as muddy though.

There are a few patches of gorse in the woods

This will be a closed canopy in a few months time

I didn't actually see much at all during my visit, perhaps being later in the morning there wasn't much singing going on. I only managed 15 species although I didn't walk all the way around. There aren't any water features so there's not a great variety of birdlife. It is more open at the southern end.

It was hard to find anything to photograph and this Crow was all I managed

I exited the country park at the southern end onto Kerry Avenue and it's only a couple of minutes walk to Stanmore station. As it was still early, I decided to bypass the station and visit another site. This proved to be much trickier than anticipated as there was no obvious entrance to the park. With hindsight I should have gone along Dalklith Grove.

Site 58: Canons Park

Unlike the three previous sites, this is a typical town park with mown grass and wooded edges as well as a walled garden.

Not sure what species of tree this is but it was dripping in catkins

Walled garden with lifeless pond

Typical London park scene

The council workers were in the park today, blasting the place with their noisy leaf-blowers. They really are a hideous invention (the leaf-blowers, not the council workers) and shouldn't be deployed all year round. I made my way down to the centre of the park to have my lunch at a quieter spot next to a children's playground and the Jubilee Line.

I managed to see 16 species in the park, mostly common birds but also a Nuthatch and a Red Kite that flew over while I was lunching.

Red Kite

I left the park at the southern end onto Donnefield Avenue which ends right by Canons Park tube station so I took the Jubilee Line home. I also managed to go the whole day without seeing any Egyptian Geese!

Ealing

Saturday 25th March

After a week of rainy weather, I decided to spend Saturday visiting some new sites in the Ealing Area. I took the bus to Alperton station and travelled a few stops on the tube to Acton Town. It was then a short walk west along Gunnersbury Lane, across the North Circ and onto Popes Lane where there's an entrance into the park.

Site 51: Gunnersbury Park

This was a brand new site for me and is a large town park situated just north of the M4. I entered at the northeast corner and walked around the boating lake then clockwise around the park.

An upside down map with north at the bottom!

The boating lake has a good selection of wildfowl when there's no boats on it

The east side is a mix of formal gardens and light woodland

Horseshoe Pond with the museum in the background and Orangery on the left

Carrion Crow

Egyptian Goose (rufous morph)

Egyptian Goose (grey morph)

Moorhen

There is another pond in the SW corner which is closed off as it's a private fishery but it can be viewed from the path and is another good place for water-birds. It's possible to exit the park here and is a short walk under the M4 to Kew Bridge but I wanted to exit at the NW corner so walked up the west side of the park. This side is just open playing fields so there's not much habitat here.

Playing fields on west side of park

I came out back onto Popes Lane, turned left and then right up South Ealing Road to rejoin the Piccadilly line at South Ealing station. It was just three stops to Osterley. When you exit the station ignore the sign pointing left to Osterley Park. Instead turn immediately right and there's a footbridge over the tube line leading to Bassett Gardens. Turn right and first left heading north and at the end of the road there's a footpath.

Site 52: Osterley Park

The footpath runs diagonally across a field where it joins the main approach track to the park.

Footpath leading to entrance track

It is a private park so don't arrive before it opens. There's plenty of paths around the site, all of which are well signposted. There was a fun run going on today but they didn't get in my way. I explored the main pair of lakes then walked along the main track along the northern boundary adjacent to the M4. I hadn't visited the park for several decades so there had been plenty of changes to the avifauna, for example a Red Kite flew over the northern track.

Main lake with Osterley Park House in the background

I then went back down to Osterley Park House where there is a cafe and toilets. I took the trail on the south side of the eastern lake which leads to the outer track (Osterley Lane) and followed this south to the exit.

Family of Egyptian Geese

Grey Heron; there is a small heronry in the park

Jackdaws are plentiful

Mute Swan

At the exit I turned left onto Windmill Lane which runs north under the M4. Just after the bridge I discovered a new site which I didn't even know existed.

Site 53: Long Wood

The path runs alongside a brook

It's steep and muddy in places so isn't suitable for everyone

It proved to be a useful path to the next site which was my original intent. However, it's worth the walk as it's a nice stretch of woodland and is probably at its best in spring. I only recorded nine species, the best of which was probably a singing Chiffchaff.

Ring-necked Parakeet.

At the end there were two paths: one going up a slope while the other follows the boundary fence to the next site. 

Site 54: Warren Farm 

I walked up the slope to have a look and it was a horse paddock. A Red Kite flew over and I could hear a Skylark singing. I thought it looked like a good place for a migrant Wheatear and as I looked through my bins there was one there before I even started scanning! It was my first one of the year and was some compensation for not seeing any of the Alpine Swifts.

Wheatear

I walked back down the slope and anticlockwise around the area. My only previous visit was in 2020 when I came to see a Wryneck that spent five days here in autumn. Since then the council have cut all the grass and scrub down. There were two Skylarks singing over the grass but with dogs roaming free across it, I can't see that they will be able to breed here. I suspect this is a deliberate ploy by Ealing Council as they want to develop the site. There is a local campaign to turn the site into a nature reserve.

Open grass looking towards the derelict Sports Centre

It proved to be a bit of a raptor fest with two or three Red Kites, a pair of Common Buzzards and a Kestrel all seen on my walk. 

Red Kite

Common Buzzard

Kestrel

I had lunch by the abandoned sports centre then walked up Windmill Lane to the bus stop and took the 483 to Wembley and then onto the 297. It ended up being a really good walk covering four sites, two of which I hadn't visited before.

River Brent

With decent weather forecast for a change, I decided I'd follow the River Brent eastwards and visit a few sites along the way. I started off walking along the south side of Brent Reservoir (Neasden Rec) to Staples Corner. I then crossed over the Edgware Road and followed the footpath to the next site.

Site 46: River Brent at Brent Cross, March 19th

This section of the river runs between the North Circular Road and Brent Cross Shopping Centre. It's been horribly canalised and contains many shopping trollies but even so, is still a productive spot. I often have a look around here when I pop into the shops.

Cormorant waiting for John Lewis to open

Early on Sunday morning was a good time to visit as the birds have the place to themselves before the shopping centre opens. I saw 20 species in just 22 minutes including a surprise Gadwall on the river. This weekend has seen a big influx of Chiffchaffs into the country so hearing one singing in the scrub by the river wasn't so much of a surprise. Today seemed to be the start of the Meadow Pipit migration over London and I saw one fly north.

Cormorant

Little Egret

I actually saw the Little Egret feeding in the river on my way back but have included it here anyway. At the eastern end there's a subway under Hendon Way and then it's a five minute walk to the next site via Shirehall Lane. 

Site 47: Hendon Park

This site, along with all of the following sites, were ones I've never visited before. I entered at the southern tip.

Memo to Barnet Council - your signs need cleaning!

The park's western boundary is the Northern Line

The best habitat is on the western edge

Looking south towards Hampstead Heath

I walked up the western side where another Chiffchaff was singing and then across the park and down to the SE corner. For a smallish park with no water features there were quite a few birds around, I saw 22 species in just under half an hour. Three Meadow Pipits flew over confirming that today was a good 'vismig' day and a Nuthatch called at the top of the park.

Female Blackbird

Woodpigeon

I exited back onto Shirehall Road and then down Brent Street. Just before the junction with the North Circular, there's a path that runs east along the River Brent.

Site 48: Brent Park

The path follows the river and widens out where it then goes around a large pond. There's a lot of mature trees and is a hidden gem, mostly only known to locals. The south side runs along the North Circular so it's probably a bit noisy during the rush hour. It was my favourite new place that I visited today.

At the entrance off Brent Street

There's a lot of non-native flora like this bamboo

Decoy Pond

It took just over half-an-hour to walk around although I could have spent longer here. I saw 26 species, a total boosted by the number of waterbirds present, including the only Egyptian Geese of the day. There was another singing Chiffchaff, this time joined by a Blackcap.

Coot

Gadwall

Mallard

Tufted Duck

Egyptian Geese

Chiffchaff

Ring-necked Parakeet

Back at Brent Street there's a bus stop and I could have taken the 83 home but I checked the map and wasn't far from another park so decided to explore it. I took the footbridge over the North Circular, along Golders Green Road and into Princes Park Avenue.

Site 49: Princes Park (Golders Green)

This is only a little park and took ten minutes to walk around it. 

The building houses a coffee shop but it was closed

A footpath runs all the way around the park

I wasn't expecting much but a Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker showed there was sufficient habitat here. However, there wasn't a lot to photograph.

Crow

I walked the short distance along the North Circular back to Brent Cross Shopping Centre as I knew there was another park there. As I crossed over the River Brent I saw a Little Egret feeding in the river. I went up the Hendon Way to find it but realised later I could have accessed it via the car park at the rear of the shopping centre.

Site 50: Sturgess Park

This is a tiny park that took me all of three minutes to walk round. It doesn't have a lot to offer compared to the river at the front of the shopping centre.

The only decent habitat is the trees on the outer edge

Another Woodpigeon

I only managed nine species, all of which are very common. I walked out of the southern exit, around the shopping centre and got the 182 bus home. My morning's walk across six sites amassed a total of 48 species, quite impressive considering several sites were just small parks.

I've now managed to achieve half of my target already, with 50 sites visited before the end of March. Now that spring has officially started, I expect to be concentrating on visiting my favourite sites rather than lots of new ones so it will take me longer to do the second fifty.