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!