More NW London parks

After a couple of days seeing little at Brent Reservoir I decided to visit a few more local sites despite the poor weather. I took the 297 bus to Perivale Library where it was just a couple of minutes walk along Horsenden Lane north over the canal.

Site 42: Horsenden Hill, March 16th

This is a site I usually go to look for butterflies in summer so I wasn't sure what it would be like in winter. As I expected the paths were fairly muddy but doable in walking boots.

View from the hill looking south

There's a good series of paths around this local nature reserve which is mostly woodland, scrub and grassland. I climbed up the hill to the summit and thought it would be a good spot for visible migration except it happened to be drizzling at the time. However, I heard a Skylark calling and shortly, a trio of them flew north, not what I was expecting in this weather.

It stayed overcast and damp throughout my visit so it didn't make photography easy.

Mallards on a pond

Northern Red-breasted European Robin-Flycatcher-Chat

I did a loop around the western section back to the start then took the path that heads NE along the golf course as that's where I wanted to finish. I ended up seeing 21 species, all reasonably common apart from the migrating Skylarks which were a bonus.

I emerged onto Ashness Gardens in Sudbury and from there it was a ten minute walk up to the Harrow Road to the next site.

Site 43: Barham Park, March 14th

I've been passed this park on the bus several times and thought I ought to visit it. It's only a small park with scattered trees but has a good hedgerow along the embankment of the Chiltern Line.

The railway embankment runs along the northern boundary

I managed a respectable total of 18 species including a flock of 50 Redwing which were feeding on the grass near the east exit onto Harrow Road. It was just a short walk to the bus stop where I picked up the 182 home.

Goldfinch on London Plane

Redwing

Woodpigeon. I've never noticed the Spock-like eyebrow before.

With a tube strike limiting my options today, I decided to head up to a couple of sites straddling the A1. I took the 142 bus from near Brent Res up to Edgware and then the 292 past Apex Corner to Scratchwood.

Site 44: Scratchwood Open Space, March 15th

I had only been here once before, in June last year so a return visit was in order. There had been no other visits recorded on eBird since mine which is a shame as it's a nice place to pop in to see a good selection of woodland birds. 

The main rail line runs under the site; in the background is the M1

Pond

A convenient bench along the London Loop path

Gorse among the woodland

I walked the northern loop heading towards the M1, past the railway tunnel and back up to the car park. As I started walking through the first wooded section I inadvertently put up a Woodcock that was roosting under a bush by the path. Given the time of year I suspect it's a migrant on its way back to Northern Europe. There was a lot of woodpecker activity and I heard both Nuthatch and Treecreeper. 

I then took another path south which went down to a pond and then east, following the London Loop path over to an exit along the A1.As I left a Buzzard rose up and started circling overhead.

Buzzard

As I didn't want to cross six lanes of traffic I walked down to the subway which was further than I originally thought then back up the other side to the next site.

The A1 separates the two sites.

Site 45: Moat Mount Open Space, March 15th

I didn't visit this site last time so it was another new one for me. It has the same habitat as Scratchwood and I followed a circular path through Nut Wood (I didn't encounter Rupert Bear and friends) and around a small lake.

the lake held a total of six waterbirds

Moat Mount is a small section of a longer walk

There was a similar selection of woodlands birds to Scratchwood but I didn't see Nuthatch and Treecreeper. There were more birds on the pond with a Grey Heron, two Mallard, two Coot and a Dabchick.

Coot

Little Grebe (Dabchick)

It only took half an hour to walk around and I saw 16 species. My map indicated there was a longer footpath from just off the Stirling Corner roundabout down to Highwood Hill but I didn't see any connection to it on my route. There's a bus stop right by the entrance and I took the 292 to Burnt Oak and 302 home.

June 11-20th: autumn begins

I spent nearly all of this period birding locally at Brent Reservoir. The middle third of June is usually the quietest period of the year bird wise even though I usually record at least 50 species on each visit. It’s just that it’s usually the same 50 species. Although, during this period I did see a Red Kite, presumably an immature bird on its wanders. At least there’s always plenty of insects to look at and amongst the myriad of little critters I discovered, I even managed a few photos of some moths and butterflies.

Clouded Border

Garden Carpet

Small Magpie

Treble Brown Spot

Painted Lady

Black-headed Gulls have started to drift back, just in single figures so far but they did bring in one of this year’s youngsters with them. Lapwings have also become present daily with up to four being seen and I found a Common Sandpiper on the 16th. Any of these could be described as autumn migrants but to me, autumn starts with Green Sandpiper and I saw my first one on Monday 20th.

After a couple of weeks of high summer which included the hottest day of the year so far, it’s good to know that autumn has started. Compared to muggles (non-birders), us birders do have very different seasons, and autumn is by far the longest often stretching into December some years although I usually mark it as over at the end of November.

Actually the first Green Sand was seen at Brent two days earlier but I didn’t see that one as I was elsewhere on the reservoir chatting to friends ahead of a memorial service for Andrew Verrall. There was a good turnout with many of the Brent regulars present and his younger sister, the last survivor of five siblings. The Friends of the Welsh Harp got Barnet Council to put in a bench for AGV (as we often referred to him) and we recanted tales about our late friend.

all three photos by P. Hagglund

Apart from Brent I did manage one away visit. I’d noticed a green space on the map which looked interesting and when I checked eBird there were no sightings listed. This encouraged me to make a visit as it’s not often you get to be the first person to record birds at a site, particularly in London. So, midweek I walked through Brent Res to the Edgware Road and got the 32 bus to Edgware station. There’s two buses from there that go all the way and I hopped on the 292 as it was first to arrive. We headed up the A1 towards Borehamwood and I was the only alightee (usually it’s TfL who make up words like this so I thought I’d get in first!) at Scratchwood Open Space.

If the name sounds familiar it’s because the nearby service station on the M1 was named after it but it’s since been renamed. The site is a nice piece of Middlesex woodland, albeit secondary growth, bordered by the A1 and M1 with farmland along the top edge. There’s a loop path through it but I went off-piste a few times, discovering the start of the Elstree rail tunnel. I found a good selection of woodland birds with several Nuthatches, Treecreepers and Coal Tits and a lot of Great Spotted Woodpeckers. At the end of the loop a Buzzard drifted over. It was a pleasant walk and good to go somewhere different.

Scratchwood

Elstree tunnel under Scratchwood

Above the tunnel looking south

The only problem I now had was how to reach the bus stop which was the other side of six lanes of traffic! I know I didn’t pass any crossings on the bus up so I figured I’d walk up a bit further as there was a roundabout marked on the map. Luckily it had a pedestrian crossing and it was only a short walk to the bus stop. I took a slightly different route home, using three buses which took me right to my local bus stop and in time to watch the conclusion of the Test Match.