Mill Hill & Central London

I decided to start the week at Totteridge so took a local bus (302) to Mill Hill and then changed onto the 240 to the Ridgeway where a public footpath starts by the RC primary school.

Site 35, Totteridge Valley, February 27th

There's quite a lot of access points for this area and most people start on the Finchley side but it's easier for me to approach from Mill Hill. It also gives better view over the farms. I followed the footpath all the way up to the northern boundary, then along the road to a large pond (Long Pond) where another footpath begins which heads back south. Towards the top end I saw a Red Kite flying around and there were three Mandarins on the pond.

Mandarins

Footpath runs through Belmont Farm

Long Pond alongside Totteridge Common road

Second footpath looking south

View towards central London

As I was walking down I came across a large mixed flock of Redwings and Fieldfares. I also heard the hefty 'cronk' of a Raven and quickly found it flying away from me up the valley. In the fields were a couple of Lapwing.

Lapwing

About halfway down the hill there's a path that runs eastwards so I followed that all the way to Darlands Lake. From there you can carry on and explore the east side and end up at Totteridge or Woodside Park but as I wanted to finish up at Mill Hill, I retraced my steps back to the footpath then followed it south.

Darlands Lake

The path goes past Folly Farm and a nursery and then you can walk back to the Ridgeway and catch the 240 back to Mill Hill. Instead I walked along the road and turned into Milespit Hill. I eventually found a footpath which leads into the next site.

Site 36, Arrandene Open Space, February 27th

This was a new site for me and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It was more wooded than I anticipated with several paths running through it. I more or less followed paths that would cut across the middle and take me to the west side. I found a nice flock of Siskins that started singing after a short rain shower.

Arrandene Open Space

Siskin

I exited the area on the west side and crossed over Wise Lane to my third site of the day.

Site 37: Mill Hill Park, February 27th

I hadn't thought about visiting this area until I could see it but a quick check on the map also revealed it was the quickest way to walk back to Mill Hill. It's much more of a town park than Arrandene and is mostly open grass with trees along the edge so there's limited birdlife here.

Jackdaws

Mill Hill Park

I walked along by the tennis courts where a flock of Jackdaws were feeding on the grass and over to the northwest corner where I climbed the fence to exit the park where the subway was. This leads to the top of the Broadway where I popped into Costa before getting the bus back home.

For a change I didn't see Egyptian Geese at any of these sites and also didn't see a House Sparrow all day.

Two days later I headed into Central London to visit some more sites. I took the 332 bus for a change down to Cricklewood, then changed onto the 16 and alighted at Marble Arch.

Site 38: Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, March 1st

I entered Hyde Park at the northeast corner and randomly followed paths heading south until I reached The Serpentine. 

Hyde Park

View from Speakers Corner looking south

The Serpentine

I then went around the edge and up the other side to the bridge and crossed over into Kensington Gardens. Here, the lake is called The Long Water and I walked up towards the Peter Pan statue then cut westwards. I explored the copses in vain for Little Owl, then went down to the Round Pond and exited the park at the southwest corner into Kensington.

Black-headed Gull

Common Gull

Immature Herring Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Stock Dove

Round Pond

I walked along the busy Kensington High Street until I found Holland Walk, from which there's an entrance into the next site.

Site 39: Holland Park, March 1st

This was actually my first visit here. It's considerably smaller than Hyde Park but also has a lot fewer people in it so was nicer to walk around. I walked up the steps to Holland House and followed the trails around various gardens. These are typically free of dogs and cycles so are pleasant to walk around.

Formal gardens around Holland House

Holland Park

Holland House

Kyoto Garden

At this point my camera battery died so I had to use my phone to finish off. The park is quite wooded in the northern section with a few ornamental ponds. In Kyoto Garden there was a Peacock displaying to a bunch of feral Pigeons and a Grey Heron walked across the path in front of me.

Peacock and Pigeons

Peacock in full display

Grey Heron

I followed the trails around and exited at the School Entrance back onto Holland Walk and followed it north where it terminates at Notting Hill. It was then just a five minute walk to the bus stop where I boarded the number 52.

After a visit to Rainham Marshes on Thursday where I finally managed to see the Barn Owl this year, I went up the Lea Valley on Friday. I met my friends at Liverpool Street station and took the train to Rye House where it's then a ten minute walk to Rye Meads RSPB. Although it's my first visit there this year, it doesn't count as one of my 100 sites as it's outside of Greater London.

It was a cold, grey day but we still managed to record 54 species. I was hoping to have another day without an Egyptian Goose but one put in an appearance by the old manor house on the way back to the station. Probably the best bird of the day was a Peregrine atop a pylon on the reserve.

The inevitable Egyptian Goose

Magpie with pet Muntjac

Peregrine