Hawkmoths, local birding & Southwark parks

It's been a month since my last post but I have been out and about almost every day since then. The birding season has slowly transitioned into proper autumn with passerines clearly on their way towards Africa.

July 28th: Orsett Fen

I took a couple of friends out to show them this walk. We started at Ockenden station and headed out east towards the Mardyke Valley. Along the track John found a large hawkmoth caterpillar which we assumed was Privet. When I got home I checked and it didn't match so a quick post to the Essex Moth group on Facebook came back with the right ID: Convolvulus Hawk-moth, a real rarity in the London Area.

Convolvulus Hawk-moth caterpillar

We also saw a Hummingbird Hawk-moth that dashed off before I could get get a photo to complete a two Hawk-moth morning. There were plenty of butterflies on the wing as well including Wall Brown which is just holding on in the extreme eastern part of the London Area.

Wall Brown

Although it was generally a quiet time for birds, the highlight was hearing so many Yellowhammers singing, we had ten on our walk. The Mardyke Valley is probably the best place in the London Area for these declining farmland buntings that were once common. We finished the six mile walk on 42 species and took the bus back to the station.

Barking Riverside

As this site is in walking distance, I've been visiting it weekly now that migration is in full swing. It is best done on a rising tide when there's plenty of mud exposed for waders and there's a chance of birds coming up the Thames. I've still not had many waders yet but did add Lapwing on July 22nd and Dunlin on August 5th. On the river my best bird was Sandwich Tern on the former date. I've also added Yellow and Grey Wagtails but am still hoping to get some chats.

Beam Valley

My closest patch is just a ten minute walk away so is another place I try and visit weekly. I've seen six new birds here since the middle of July although one of them was only Egyptian Goose which can be found on almost every green space in London now. Other additions include Sparrowhawk, Green Woodpecker and Black-headed Gull, the latter being absent during the breeding season.

Dagenham Chase

My visits have increased to twice-weekly now as the migration season has picked up. Last week I added five patch ticks. That included three Tawny Owls calling during a bat walk and one day when I saw Water Rail, Sedge Warbler and found a smart Wood Sandpiper on August 19th, my best find on the patch so far. It had the decency to hang around so all the regulars have now caught up with it and it's still there today.

Wood Sandpiper

Rainham Marshes

I'm still going to Rainham at least once a week but it's been fairly quiet over the last month apart from my most recent visit on August 18th when I met up with John & Janet for our regular Friday visit. I'd already been on the riverwall for a couple of hours but hadn't seen much when they arrived. We elected to go around the reserve as I'd checked Aveley Bay for waders and there weren't many. Whilst having coffee and cake we missed a Common Scoter that flew up river. At Butts Hide we saw one of the Great Egrets - up to four have been around but for a tall, white bird they're very good at hiding up.

We left through the turnstile to have a look at the river and I picked up the Common Scoter  distantly off the yacht club. We had distant views of a Black Tern flying down towards the QE2 bridge so walked along for better views and luckily a much closer one flew past us. There were several reports across London that day so it was good to catch up with them.

I also managed to visit two new sites during this period, both in Southwark.

Site 88: Southwark Park, August 16th

Although my primary reason for visiting here was to lead a bat walk, I found time to get in a short birding walk beforehand although early evening isn't the best time of day. The park is a short walk from either Canada Water or Surrey Quays station and there are multiple entrances from all sides.

It's possible to do a loop of the park which will take in the lake but be sure to also walk through the Ada Saltan rose garden which can have migrants. At all times be very aware of cyclists speeding through the park. This is an old Victorian-era park so there are many mature trees.

I only recorded ten birds during my short visit but the site total on eBird is 62. The evening bat walk produced multiple sightings of Common and Soprano Pipistrelles and we recorded a Brown Long-eared Bat for the third year in a row.

Egyptian Goose

Brood of Tufted Ducks

Site 89: Burgess Park, August 22nd

I hadn't planned to visit this park as it's not near me but I was meeting friends for dinner in the Elephant and Castle area so decided to pop in for a late afternoon visit. It's easily accessible by bus from the tube/train stations at Elephant or by foot as I walked back there afterwards. The park stretches east from the Walworth Road and there are multiple egress points.

Clearly, someone wasn't too keen on the streets of London!

I walked a loop of the park, along the wooded southern edge, around the lake and back along the northern side with its artificial hills. Being a hot, sunny afternoon in August, the park was exceptionally busy and the cyclists and e-scooterists made it feel like a stroll around Silverstone circuit on F1 race day! The wooded edges were much quieter and there are obvious trails here. I didn't see any migrants but there is clearly potential here for birds as long as you can put up with the ever-present stench of marijuana!

The wooded southern edge

A mosaic celebrating Camberwell's only claim to fame

View depicting a typical grotty block of flats and The Shard behind the park

The 'hills' along the northern edge

Easy to see where the expression 'as bald as a Coot' comes from

Cormorant

Crow

Great Crested Grebe

Greylag Goose

I did manage one trip outside London during this period, to Blue House Farm in Essex. I'd not been before but it's very easy to get there, being just a short walk from North Fambridge station (trains from Liverpool St or Stratford). There had been a couple of Montagu's Harriers lingering here and we were fortunate enough to locate one, although it was too distant for any photos. The site is a good mix of farmland and coastal marshes so I may try another visit in winter.

More Dagenham parks and a Dartford

In my continuing exploration of the Dagenham area, I'm starting to realise how green it actually is as I keep finding more parks.

Site 82: Mardyke Open Space, June 24th

I was determined to find out what the large brownfield site was next to Beam Parklands that I accidently discovered last month so I headed over that way again. Access is via a footbridge over the River Beam and a footpath leads up to the site which has the shape of an old landfill to it. Last time I walked up to the top but today I walked a lower path that encircles most of the site. I went anti-clockwise and found another path that led down to a fenced-off park. There are a couple of large gaps in the fence which the locals are using to get from the park to the hill. I've no idea who made the gaps or if access to the hill is permitted or not.

Mown path leading from flats

Sweet Pea growing on lower slope

I discovered the park on the 'legal' side of the fence is called Mardyke Open Space so I walked around it before returning to the fence. The Mardyke in the name is not related to the stream that flows into the Thames at Purfleet and there is a nearby road called Lower Mardyke Avenue but I couldn't find any associated watercourse when I searched online later. There does appear to be the remnants of a brook flowing along the east side of the hill but I couldn't find it marked on a map. Another mystery.

Looking down the slope with Mardyke OS at the bottom

Note one of the gaps in the fence

The official Open Space doesn't have a lot of birdlife in it although there are some scrubby areas in the centre and a strip of woodland along the border.

House Sparrow

Magpie

Once back through the fence I continued circumnavigating the hill. Skylarks were singing constantly and are obviously breeding there. The hill is covered in grasses and wildflowers and was heaving with butterflies, especially Essex Skippers.

Essex Skippers

Reed Bunting

I later accidentally discovered the name of the 'hill' while searching for WeBS sites on the BTO site. It's called Mardyke Farm Landfill. It will be interesting to see if anything happens to this site in the future. 

Site 83: Central Park, Dagenham, June 26th

Confusingly, it's listed on eBird as Central Park, Romford but there is another place called Central Park that's closer to Romford in the London Borough of Havering so I'm sticking with name I've used above. I went past this park on the bus last week on my way to buy some plants for my pond so I thought I'd return and explore it. It's only a short journey on the 175 to Wood Lane at Becontree Heath (any heathland seems to be long gone) which is on the north side of the park. What I didn't realise is that Barking & Dagenham council are doing major works in the park and half of it is fenced off. I don't know exactly what they're doing as there's no notices up nor anything on their website.

The start of the woodland walk

A lot of the park is fenced off

I started off walking down the west side by the fire station which is signposted as a woodland walk. It's not very well maintained as there a couple of fallen trees across the path but they were passable. I then cut east past the rugby ground, along the fences until I eventually found the path which I was looking for. It's well hidden because of the fences but runs down the east side and leads out to Fels Field, part of Eastbrookend Country Park (AKA Dagenham Chase). I did record 22 species of birds in the park including two woodpeckers and three warblers but I won't be returning until the fences are down.

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Linnet

Site 84: Oystercatcher Park, July 2nd

I was actually looking for Ripple NR but found this oasis instead. It's a new greenspace by Barking Riverside with access from Choats Road by the junction with Northgate Road. It's only a tiny area with a reed covered marsh in the middle surrounded by a path that goes around it and then an outer edge of trees and shrubs.

Railway bridge of the new extension to Barking Riverside on the Goblin Line

I only recorded 11 species on the single circuit that I walked but it did include four warblers.

Greenfinch

I finished by going up a set of steps at the end onto Fielders Crescent until I found the entrance to Footpath 47 and walked back along Barking Riverside. Most bizarrely, I then found a singing Dartford Warbler. While winter records are to be expected along the Lower Thames they are still quite rare so what this one was doing here in the middle of summer is anybody's guess.

Dartford Warbler