North London Highlights

After a week away in Spain watching Iberian Lynx it was back to the UK for the end of January and start of February. For the new week I decided to concentrate on North London.

Site 21: Bentley Priory, January 30th

This is near the northern terminus of the Jubilee Line at Stanmore although I elected to take a local bus (142) which stops a little close at the Broadway. From there it's a ten minute walk to the Local Nature Reserve of Bentley Priory. I remember my first visit here back in 1985 when I found a pair of Tree Sparrows at Boot Pond which is next to the entrance. Tree Sparrows are not just gone from here but throughout the entire London Area.

I roughly followed the circular route, going past the private deer park then cutting down the hill from the northern part of the path to the lake. The lake only had a small number of ducks but can be reliable for Goosander and sure enough, there was a single drake on the water. It decided to be awkward and perched on the far bank just under the trees so became almost invisible apart from its bright feet. After a while it was joined by a Kingfisher that flew in and landed nearby.

Kingfisher

Redwing

Egyptian Goose

Coot

It's a nice reserve to explore as there's a lot of woodland and open areas of grassland and scrub and I recorded 38 species. Quite a few of these were new ones for me at this site because I haven't been here recently, like Egyptian Goose and even Ring-necked Parakeet.

Rather than complete the loop, I headed back past the lake as I wanted to exit at the western end. Once back at the road I crossed over it to my next site.

Site 22: Harrow Weald Common, January 30th

I've not been year before and didn't even know it existed until I noticed it in the A-Z when looking for somewhere else to visit. It's a narrow patch of woodland that is right of the northern boundary of Greater London. The London Loop footpath goes through this site.

I was quite intrigued by the pub as there used to be one in Willesden with the same name and I always thought it was an odd name for a pub. It appears there are several others in the country, particularly in NW London. I couldn't work out the relevance of the name to the picture of the battle either. The name seems to come from a 17th Century play by Ben Johnson but I can't find out why it became used on pubs. My military history adviser (thanks John!) tells me that the painting depicts a British regiment from the Napoleonic era (early 19th century) although it's unclear what they are actually doing.

Nuthatch

At the western end there are a few ponds and the exit leads to a footpath that heads across a golf course but doesn't got anywhere useful. I walked back past the pub to a car park and a viewpoint looking back down on London. It was a pleasant spot for a picnic and while eating my lunch a Buzzard came out of the common and circled over the hillside.

Sufficiently rested I carried along the road and picked up a bus heading towards Harrow Wealdstone where I knew I could connect to the 182 bus that would take me home.

With yet another series of train strikes this week, I was bit limited on where I could go but decided that I could take the tube to explore a few sites.

Site 23: Grovelands Park, February 1st

This is a ten minute walk from Southgate station on the Piccadilly Line and is somewhere I used to pop into to get my annual fix of Mandarins but I've not been here for a number of years.

The island at the south end of the lake is the best spot for Mandarins

I did an anticlockwise loop of the lake, with a break to explore the woodland and scrub at the northern end. A Water Rail had been found at the NE end of the lake a couple of days earlier but I didn't see it. When I reached the island at the southern end of the lake at the completion of my loop I was in the right place for the Mandarins, although it was looking into the low sunlight.

Mandarins

I walked back up the hill to Southgate station then travelled south a few stops and alighted at Manor House station. Another ten minute walk and I was at my next site.

Site 24: Woodberry Wetlands, February 1st

The only other time I'd been here was to look for a Golden Oriole (which I didn't see) when the site was known by its former name of Stoke Newington Reservoirs. There was no access to either reservoir but you could view the east reservoir from the riverside path. Since then it has been opened up and turned into a local nature reserve. It has a boardwalk running through the reedbed to a popular cafe with outdoor seating overlooking the reservoir. You can then walk around the southern end and return via the old riverside path.

The boardwalk through the reeds

As I walked along the boardwalk a Cetti's Warbler sang from deep in the reeds. I sat down at the cafe and scanned the reservoir. I chatted to a couple of residents about the birds that were here and helped one attach a lanyard to her new pair of bins. A feeder by the cafe attracted Robin, Blue Tit and Dunnock. I then set off to complete a loop of the site which didn't take very long.

Cormorants

Pair of Gadwall

Starling

Once back at the start I cut through the new housing estate although I could have followed a path along the edge of the west reservoir. I crossed over Green Lanes to my third site of the day.

Site 25: Finsbury Park, February 1st

This was my first visit to this park which is a typical Victorian London park. It has a few stands of mature trees and a lake. It's a very popular place but there are quieter areas, particularly at the northern end. 

Looking south towards central London

I had lunch overlooking the lake which had a good number of wildfowl on it including a couple of fully-winged Red-crested Pochards and a very dodgy looking duck.

Canada Goose

Answers on a postcard...

Male Common Pochard

Red-crested Pochard

Male Tufted Duck

I walked down the hill and out of the park to Finsbury Park station which was just a minute away.

On Friday I walked over to Fryent Country Park for a few hours as I fancied a local stroll. There were Song Thrushes singing all over the place and I wonder if some of these are migrants as I've not recorded that many breeding here. I found a trio of Lesser Redpolls feeding in a Silver Birch at the northern end, the first ones I've seen in London this year.

I finished the week off at Rainham Marshes. It was an overcast day and was fairly quiet on the marshes but I did see my first Oystercatcher of the year.

Iberian Lynx Quest

January 2023: Lynx Quest (Episode 2)

After failing to see Iberian Lynx on a previous trip six years ago, we elected to give it another go and the four of us booked onto a six day long Naturetrek trip. With an early morning flight from Stansted on a Sunday morning we decided to take the easy option and book a hotel room for Saturday night. We met up at Liverpool St station in the early afternoon for the train. Engineering works on the line meant there was no express train and we had to decant at Bishops Stortford for a short coach transfer to the airport. We had booked into the Radisson Blu hotel as it was just a short walk to the terminal. We had dinner in the hotel and a relaxing evening.

Day 1: Sunday 22nd January

We checked out at 6.30 and headed over to the baggage drop-off desks. Once through security there was time for a sit-down breakfast in one of the restaurants before boarding our RyanAir flight to Seville. We met one of the leaders, Taea, and some of our fellow participants as we were queuing up. We left half an hour late but made up a little time and we landed in bright sunshine at 1pm in slightly warmer temperatures than in the UK. We were met by the main leader, Byron, and all of us piled into two minivans and were soon on our way to the Coto Donana. We stopped off for a late lunch where we had our first views of birds that were going to become regular companions during our trip: Black Redstart and Iberian Magpie.

We carried on to the town of El Rocio where our hotel was. The town was straight out of the Wild West with wide sandy tracks instead of roads and the main means of transportation for locals was the horse and many houses had a stable at the back. Even the bar across the road had a frame for tying up horses.

El Rocio Main Street

Our hotel

The bar by our hotel

Our interest though was avian, as the hotel backed onto a large lagoon and we were soon scoping Flamingos, Spoonbills, Stilts, Ibises and a Swamphen.

Black-winged Stilt

Glossy Ibis

Greater Flamingos with a drake Pintail

After sundown we met up at the hotel bar for drinks and then dinner.

Restaurant & Bar

Day 2: Monday 23rd

After breakfast we were met by one of the local wardens and boarded 4x4 vans for our first attempt to find the Lynx. The favoured area began just outside of town and we drove up and down this stretch several times.

Stone Pines

Although we didn’t see any cats there were plenty of birds around such as Iberian Green Woodpecker, Iberian Grey Shrike, Little Owl and Thekla’s Lark. We went for a walk about and saw Hoopoe, Booted Eagle and Black-winged Kite.

Little Owls

In the afternoon we went to a different area which should normally be a marsh at this time of the year but there hadn’t been much rain this winter. Along the way we stopped for a roosting Barn Owl and then saw hundreds of Cranes flying over.

Common Cranes

White Stork

We went into the visitor centre to scan the lagoon for wetland birds in the hope of Marbled Teal but they weren’t visible. We received word that another group had seen a Lynx but it had gone to ground by the time we arrived.

Day 3: Tuesday 24th

The morning was a rerun of yesterday, driving around but failing to see any Lynx. It’s really a matter of luck as there’s so much cover with limited viewing. We went back to the hotel to pack up and had a last look over at the lagoon before lunch and then a long drive to Andujar. This is up in the mountains and was the same area we had been to before to look for Lynx. At our accommodation, which was a group of self-catering cabins, we had a short wander around the grounds and saw two Hawfinches flying over.

Spotless Starlings

Day 4: Wednesday 25th

As we waited outside the restaurant for the doors to open we were joined by the local cats that were looking for titbits as well as warmth, as the early morning temperature was below freezing. After breakfast we headed into the hills to look for Lynx. This involved a different strategy to earlier in the week. We stood by the roadside and scanned the hillsides looking for movement.

Here be Lynxes...

There were various other groups and individuals up and down the road and we kept an eye on them as well. It also gave us time to look for birds and we soon picked up Griffon and Cinereous Vultures and Spanish Eagle up in the skies plus Rock Bunting, Little Owl and Blue Rock Thrush.

Spanish Eagle

Cinereous Vulture

Rock Bunting

Male Blue Rock Thrush

There were other mammals to see including a little group of Mouflon and two Spanish Ibex including one male with a hefty set of horns. At other times we also saw Wild Boar, Red Deer, Fallow Deer and plenty of Rabbits, the preferred prey for Iberian Lynx.

Mouflon

Spanish Ibex

We walked down the road to a picnic site overlooking a reservoir for lunch where there was also Crested Tit.

Mountain reservoir

The rest of the afternoon was spent along the road until Byron got a message and we all piled into the vans and sped up the road. As we piled out again and joined a large twitch an Iberian Lynx sauntered out from behind a close bush and walked up the hill a little way and then sat directly behind another bush. We could just about see it preening behind the bush but it didn’t want to come out. Eventually a Magpie flew down and landed nearby which made the Lynx emerge from cover. It looked down the hillside at us then slowly made its way up and out of view.

Iberian Lynx

Back on the road, everyone was happy, having now seen this rare and elusive cat. There was a lot of celebrating in the bar later in the evening.

Day 5: Thursday 26th

We started the morning at a different spot, down by a dam to look for Otter in the river.

There were a few different birds around like the flock of Rock Sparrows that flew over. Later, we returned to the same stretch of road as yesterday and began our vigil again. There was a lot of Lynx activity throughout the day with several being seen, although not everyone saw all of them. We all saw distant views of a female with her 18 month old youngster and some of us saw another male running up the hillside.

Black Redstart

Day 6: Friday 27th

Our last day began back at the river but there was still no sign of the Otter, although there were several Firecrests around and a flock of Iberian Magpies raiding the picnic area.

Iberian Magpie

All too soon it was time to head back to our rooms for final packing and then lunch. We drove back to Seville airport for our 17:40 flight back to Stansted and then the train back into London and home.