September birds and moths

In the birding calendar September is in the middle of autumn, most Swifts have left before the month begins and by the end of the month winter birds such as geese begin arriving. The weather has much more of an influence as storms bring in seabirds and easterlies bring in migrants from the continent. This year all that happened in September, and more.

Rainham Marshes

I made ten visits this month including a couple of river-watches when the winds were blowing from the east. They weren't quite strong enough to bring lots of seabirds up the Thames but the 24th was the best. I'd already seen a couple of Sandwich Terns and while I was having lunch and scanning the river I got a phone call to tell me there was a skua on the river. I soon picked it up in flight by the Amazon depot and then it flew across the river and back. I could see it was an Arctic Skua and Dave and Andy also confirmed the ID.

It landed in the middle and spent the next 20 minutes drifting upriver past us and then got up to harass some Herring Gulls before landing again and drifting out of view towards Erith.

Arctic Skua at Rainham

This was my first skua species at Rainham and we'd been talking about skuas earlier so it was a good reward for my efforts. The skua and the tern were both London year ticks.

Waders were still fairly thin on the ground at Rainham apart from Black-tailed Godwits which had increased to a decent sized flock of a couple of hundred but there was no hoped-for Little Stint this month.

Red Kites were regularly seen on the tip and Hobby was present throughout but down to just a singleton in the last week of the month.

Insects have been flying all month with several Clouded Yellows, plenty of Wall Browns and the odd Brown Argus being the most notable.

Clouded Yellow

Dagenham Chase & Beam Valley

I also visited The Chase ten times, mostly trying to catch up with chats/flycatchers. I eventually managed to see an elusive Common Redstart that spent several days hanging around the burnt patch on Fels Field. It was another new bird for the year although I did later hear one at Rainham.

I missed the Whinchats but just about caught up with one of the Stonechats in Fels Field. Otherwise, it's been a quiet autumn at The Chase, not being helped by The Slack being out of action as it dried up in the summer. A few Siskins and Redpolls have flown over, hopefully the vis-mig should pick up in October.

A further eight visits were made to Beam Parklands/Beam Valley CP, some of which were on the way to The Chase. Beam Parklands is still recovering from the large fire in the summer. As yet, I've not found anything of interest at either site this autumn but there's still time.

Brent Reservoir

I've been waiting over two years for a good bird to be found at Brent since I moved and when Ben found a Glossy Ibis - it was Sod's Law that it was during a week long tube strike so I didn't attempt to go on the first day. I did hatch a plan for an alternative route if it stayed another day and with positive news I went the following day.

I took the train from Dagenham Dock to Barking, changed onto the Goblin Line to Gospel Oak and then the North London line to Brondesbury (I really cannot be bothered to learn the new names of the six splits of the Overground). I then got the 32 bus to Staples Corner and cut through East Marsh to the hide, two hours and 20 minutes after leaving home.

After a few minutes searching the ibis suddenly appeared, feeding around Willow Island. I watched it for a while and managed a few distant record shots before leaving for the return journey. As it was a first record for the site, it was also new for my Brent list #211 but I'm going to have to wait a long time at this rate before I can catch up to Leo who's seen the most birds at Brent.

Glossy Ibis, Brent Reservoir

I decided to try a different way home and walked up to Hendon station and luckily just made the Thameslink train which had just arrived. I changed at Farringdon onto the Lizzy line all the way east to Romford where I got a bus home; it ended up being quicker by half an hour. The ibis wasn't seen in the afternoon and presumably went back to the London Wetland Centre where it spent the rest of the month.

Beddington Farmlands

With news of a Grey Phalarope at Beddington, I resorted to TFL's journey planner to plot a route to go on positive news the following morning. So on the 18th I took the tube to Balham via Bank and got a train down to Hackbridge. It was a fairly simple journey considering I was travelling across London. It's just a five minute walk from the station onto the public footpath that runs up the west side of Beddington and a few minutes later I'd reached North Hide.

A couple put me on the Grey Phalarope, it was walking around on the muddy island and was a bit distant but over the course of an hour it eventually came a bit closer.

Grey Phalarope, Beddington Farmlands

It's been a very long time since I've seen any phalarope in London so it was good to catch up with this bird. It had been blown inland by a storm and two more were on Staines Reservoir. I finished the month on 171 species in London on eBird, higher than any of my previous annual totals and with a quarter of the year left, there's still plenty of opportunity to add to this total.

Southend

I made one trip outside of London this month, into deepest, darkest Essex. I met John and Janet at Upminster and we took the train to Southend. After a look around the seafront where I counted 60 Little Egret, probably the most I've seen in the UK. 

We went onto the pier (it opens at 10.15) and walked down to the end. The wind was NE but too light to bring in much in the way of seabirds but we did see a few Gannets and some early Brent Geese flew past, my first of the autumn and probably the earliest I've ever seen them. 

Southend Pier

A couple of Sandwich Terns flew past and several Med Gulls were around the pier. Turnstones lurked around the picnic tables looking for scraps.

Mediterranean Gull

A marauding Turnstone

Mothing

I managed to run the trap on most nights during the month, the number of species declined as the temperature went down. As the month progressed, autumn fliers started to emerge.

Beaded Chestnut

Black Rustic, AKA Goth

Canary-shouldered Thorn

Cypress Pug

Deep-brown Dart

Double-striped Pug

Lesser Yellow Underwing

Lunar Underwing, this was really common in the second half of September

Marbled Fern

A very tatty Old Lady

Olive-tree Pearl, an immigrant

Rose Tabby

Treble Brown Spot

South of the river

I started off the second half of February with a rare venture into South London. 

Site 29: Putney Heath, February 15th

With recent reports of multiple Firecrests at a site I'd not been to before, it seemed a good place to go. I took the District Line down to East Putney and then it was about a ten minute walk to the Green Man pub which is at the top end of the site.

Green Man pub at the top end of Putney Heath

Here be Firecrests!

Most recent reports of Firecrests were north of the A3 which is one of several roads that cut through the Heath so I only walked this area. There's some really nice habitat here with dense woodland with plenty of undergrowth, especially holly. I wandered around the series of paths for about half an hour when I heard a Firecrest calling. I cut into the woods and had good views of one while another one called nearby.

The Firecrests were too mobile to photograph unlike this Ring-necked Parakeet

Rather than carrying on further south I completed the loop path I was on and headed back to the Green Man and caught a bus to Putney Bridge as I had time to visit another site. The bus stop I wanted was on the middle of the bridge and I walked across the rest of the bridge and down the steps to the Thames Path.

Site 30: Fulham Palace, February 15th

I initially thought I was heading into Bishops Park but that turned out to be at the far end next to Craven Cottage so I wandered along the Thames Path and then into the gardens of Fulham Palace instead, my second new site of the day. I hadn't even heard of this site before but it was a nice little area to wander around.

I spent a while looking over the river where I finally managed to see my first Peregrine of the year. I then followed the paths into the palace grounds. There's several wooded areas and a walled garden.

Fulham Palace grounds

View from Putney Bridge with two species of plane

There was a small flock of Redwings feeding under the trees and I was surprised to locate a Nuthatch calling from the top of a tree by the churchyard. I checked later on eBird and there are other Nuthatch records listed for the site but none for Redwing.

Crow in a London Plane

Nuthatch

Pair of amorous Pigeons

I completed a loop of the site and crossed over the road to Putney Bridge station to get the tube home.

On Friday I did my weekly visit to Rainham. On Serin Mound I found a 1st-winter Caspian Gull which have been pretty scarce along the Lower Thames this winter. As we walked along the riverwall towards the centre there was a mass of Crows mobbing something in the reeds and I suspect that the high tide had displaced a roosting Short-eared Owl from the foreshore which had then been driven down by the Crows.

After much needed coffee and cake at the cafe we walked clockwise around the reserve but it was fairly quiet. At Target Pools all the Lapwing suddenly took off and we could see a Peregrine was the cause of it.

Following a weekend at Brent Res including doing the WeBS Count, I headed back south of the river to visit some more sites. I took an early train from Victoria to Hackbridge station. I turned left and it was a five minute walk down to the park entrance.

Site 31: Beddington Park, February 21st

I've not been to this park before and it seemed worth starting here and then heading northwards. I walked anti-clockwise around the park which has a good series of paths and some decent habitat with the River Wandle running through the middle of it. There's even a bird feeding station along the eastern path.

The SW corner has a landscaped garden

The Wandle flows through the park

A good showing of Snowdrops

Lake at the southern end

It's a nice park to walk around and makes a good accompaniment to the next site.

Pair of Egyptian Geese

Mallard in duckweed

At the completion of the loop there's a signpost pointing the way to the next site.

Site 32: Beddington Farmlands, February 21st

Formerly a waste water treatment facility, the area has incorporated a huge landfill (recently closed) and most controversially, a waste incineration plant, but now it's being morphed into a country park. The first phase of this was to create the new public footpath which runs north alongside the railway and has hides overlooking newly landscaped lakes and meadows. None of the latter existed when I last visited so I was keen to see the transformation. My previous visits have just been the occasional twitches with the last one being for a Crane which was around for a couple of days.

Beddington has always held an uneasy relationship with London birders as it's historically attracted a lot of rare birds and is the best site in South London away from the river for waders. Until a few years ago, it also held London's largest Tree Sparrow colony but they have abandoned the site completely. Access has been the issue with only a limited number of people allowed in and since the incinerator was built the number of permits was cut even further. So it's good that things are now changing and wider access is slowly beginning to happen.

Public hide overlooking South Lake

South Lake

Blossom along the footpath

North Lake

Wet Grasslands with incinerator at the back

The lakes had a good selection of wildfowl while the last hide overlooked more of a scrape that had a lot of gulls and some Lapwing and looks good for passage waders. Cetti's Warbler called from every patch of reed and there were plenty of other birds along the footpath. It was a particularly grey cloudy day so photography was difficult.

Canada Goose

Flock of Pochard

One of seven Shelduck on the lakes

The north end of the footpath joins another path with the option of going west towards Mitcham Junction station but I chose to follow it east along the top edge of the Farmlands and along the side of the tram with a golf course the other side. It comes out at Beddington Lane tram stop where I walked up the road and onto my next site.

The tram runs along the northern edge

Site 33: Mitcham Common, February 21st

Pond on southern section

The common has been quite brutalised in the past with roads being built across it and the SW corner being turned into a golf course. I walked across the small southern section by the pond to the main road and then across to the main part of the common. I think I've been to the common once before, possibly to look for a Great Grey Shrike; needless to say I didn't see it.

I was aiming for the far NW corner so didn't walk a loop although it is possible to do so as there is a path around it. I headed up the hillside and onto the open area where I flushed a small group of Skylarks. 

Open area

Silver Birches

Gorse and rough grass

Lake at north end

As I reached the far end of the open area it then started to look more like a common and reminded me of the heaths in East Anglia. I suspect it's been a long time since Red-backed Shrike and Nightjar bred here but I'm sure they would have done.

The inevitable Egyptian Goose 

Kestrel, now pretty scarce in London

Moorhen

I walked along the northern shore of the lake and then headed out of the common along the main road. I expected to find a bus stop as it was too far to now walk back to the rail station. I soon found one and within a couple of minutes was heading towards Tooting on the 264 bus. I alighted at Tooting Broadway (who remembers Citizen Smith?) but rather than go home by tube I elected to continue with buses and hopped on the 44 which was heading towards Victoria. As it was nearly lunchtime I got off before the end and walked up Beechmore Road to my fourth site of the day.

Site 34: Battersea Park, February 21st

I had lunch on one of the many benches overlooking the lake and then went for a walk around the lake.

The heronry on an island in the lake

The towers of Battersea Power Station peek over the new flats

Similar to Mitcham Common, I think I've visited this park once before but really couldn't remember it. It's a decent park to walk around for a quick visit but is very popular and probably quite busy when the weather's good.

A mob of Coots

Great Crested Grebe

Grey Heron on its nest

Pochard

Shoveler

I left at the NE corner and decided to finish my homeward journey by bus. The first to arrive was going to Marble Arch so I boarded it as it was going in the right direction. I got off at Hyde Park Corner as there was a choice of buses heading my way. I took the 52 which threads its way through Kensington and Notting Hill up towards Willesden and changed onto the 302 in Kensal Rise, making it a total of five buses to get home from Beddington. I did have all afternoon and it was a nice way to see different parts of London so was time well spent.