New challenges

For this year I've decided to stay more local rather than bomb around all over London. I'll still be doing occasional trips across the capital so I've decided to take on two challenges this year: seeing 150 species at Rainham Marshes and photographing 150 species in the London Area (the LNHS recording area which is a 20 mile radius of St Pauls Cathedral).

Rainham Marshes

I clocked up a total of 83 species in January. The highlight was finding a Goshawk which flew out over Winter Pool twice on a hunting loop and then returned to the woodlands. It was seen again later the same day then two weeks later so it must have also been hunting elsewhere as it's not the sort of bird you can easily miss. It's still quite a rare bird in London but probably more numerous than official records show.

Other good birds seen during the month were a single Common Scoter on the Thames, Grey Plover and Ruff. Birds I missed included a Bittern that was seen on a day I was there and a Hen Harrier on a day when I wasn't. Both are scarce visitors at Rainham and may not occur again this year.

Sites visited in January

Aside from my local patches (Rainham Marshes, Dagenham Chase, Beam Valley, Barking Riverside, Becton and a few other parks) I went to Staines Reservoir for the divers, Cheshunt for Bittern, Wanstead for the Fudge, Finchley for Waxwings and had a day in central London in the Royal Parks.

Photos

I managed to photograph 57 birds in January. The weather was often rainy or just grey so it was difficult at times to get decent photos so I'll hope to upgrade some of these in future months.

Greylag Geese, Parsloes Park

Canada Goose, Wanstead Flats

Shelduck, Rainham Marshes

Snoozing Mandarin Duck, Regent's Park

Shoveler, Wanstead Flats

Gadwall, Dagenham Chase

Mallard, Wanstead Flats

Eurasian Teal, Rainham Marshes

Wigeon, Rainham Marshes

Pintail, Rainham Marshes

Red-crested Pochard (with female Mallard), Dagenham Chase

Pochard, Regent's Park

Ferruginous Duck, Wanstead Flats

Common Scoter, Rainham Marshes

Goosander, Cheshunt GPs

Black-necked Grebe, Staines Res

Stock Dove, Kensington Gardens

Woodpigeon, Regent's Park

Moorhen, Regent's Park

Coot, Parsloes Park

Oystercatcher, Becton

Snipe, Rainham Marshes

Lapwing, Rainham Marshes

Curlew, Rainham Marshes

Dunlin, Rainham Marshes

Redshank, Becton

Black-headed Gull, Regent's Park

Herring Gull, Regent's Park

Lesser Black-backed Gull, Regent's Park

Common Gull, Parsloes Park

Black-throated Diver, Staines Res

Great Northern Diver, Staines Res

Cormorant, Kensington Gardens

Bittern, Cheshunt GPs

Grey Heron, Beam Parklands

Little Egret, Beam Parklands

Marsh Harrier, Rainham Marshes

Red Kite, Bretons Park

Green Woodpecker, Dagenham Chase

Kestrel, Rainham Marshes

Peregrine, Becton

Ring-necked Parakeet, Ingrebourne Valley

Jay, Regent's Park

Jackdaw, Dagenham Chase

Carrion Crow, Parsloes Park

Blue Tit, Dagenham Chase

Great Tit, Cheshunt GPs

Starlings, Wanstead Flats

Redwing, Ingrebourne Valley

Fieldfare, Rainham Marshes

Stonechat, Rainham Marshes

Waxwings, Finchley

House Sparrow, Beam Parklands

Grey Wagtail, Rainham Marshes

Pied Wagtail, Becton

Water Pipit, Rainham Marshes

Reed Bunting, Beam Parklands