Kestrel overload, and other hormonal birds, at Regents Park

I took myself off to Regents Park today, primarily to see the resident Kestrels. Don't get me wrong, I love my local Cranford Park Kestrels, but they're not that obliging when it comes to trying to photograph them. The Regent Park pair are much more used to people, and their nesting area is fenced off so they often perch very close as if knowing nobody will, or can, walk up to them and disturb them. More about them later.....

 

I've attached a link below to a map of Regents Park, so you can see where I was today. It's such a huge space and yet I only covered a tiny percentage of it.

 

Map of Regents Park

 

Today I entered via Clarence Gate and went over Clarence Bridge.

There were plenty of raging hormones amongst the birds. The female Red-crested Pochard below, was surrounded by males. There are five in my photo, but at one stage she had eleven following her. I swear I've captured her smiling.......well wouldn't you be if you were a single woman with eleven potential suitors ?

 

 

Greylags were chasing off not only other Greylags but also Canada Geese too.

 

 

One of the Herons chose to nest quite low down. This willow nest is only just above head level, so is perfect for getting a photo of the juvenile with one of the parents.

 

 

Tufted Ducks were mating every where I looked.

 

 

Male Common Pochards were chasing away any rivals.

 

 

Great Crested Grebes had completed their nest and were sitting on eggs. The only way I could get a clear photo was by sitting on the floor, much to the amusement of some passerbys.

 

 

Coots were angrily defending territories.

 

 

The Common Pochard below kept swimming right up to me whenever I sat on the ground.

 

 

A tiny Wren was singing its heart out behind me.

 

 

And I got my first Small Tortoiseshell butterfly of the year.

 

 

One of the Egyptian Geese pair have had five goslings. I'm calling this one 'Daisy'

 

 

From there I made my way up to the Longbridge, where back on January 19th I was lucky enough to see a Tawny Owl roosting in the old tree on the right of the bridge. It wasn't there today though.

 

From there I walked around the part of the pond that has the captive ducks. There was a lot of activity in one of the old tree stumps. A Blue Tit, probably a male due to the brightness of his cap, was flying in one hole and reappearing seconds later out of another hole just below. I managed to grab some photos, and it looks either as if he's excavating or grabbing some tiny insects within the trunk.

 

He flew out........

 

He flew in.......

 

He flew out......

 

He flew in......

 

He flew out......

 

Anyway, you get the picture..........

 

So back to the Kestrels. If you take the pathway to the right of the Longbridge, you come across a copse on the left, that is part of the captive duck enclosure. There are two Kestrel boxes there, along with the regular Tit nest boxes. There is also another fenced off area with bramble bushes and a couple of bird feeders. The willows to the left of the Kestrel boxes is where I first saw the resident pair today. It's also where I met and got chatting to, the mysterious 'Birdman of Euston', a name that regularly pops up on the London Birders website (link to London Birders Wiki website). He's not mysterious at all, he's a really nice, genuine and helpful man, and it was a pleasure to chat to him today.

 

The Kestrels are behaving much the same way as my Cranford Park pair are. Any bird that flies across, especially Crows, gets swiftly chased off. At one point this morning the male Kestrel saw off a Herring Gull and Carrion Crow at the same time.

 

 

 

 

The willow tree seemed to be the favoured spot for perching, preening and mating.

 

 

 

 

After each mating (I witnessed nine copulatons today), the male would sit nearby usually with his back to the female, while the female preened. Well wouldn't you preen if you'd just had a pair of talons on your back ?

 

 

Some of the matings I could photograph, and some I couldn't due to the angle the birds were at or the overcast weather (as you can see from one of my photos below)

 

 

 

 

 

The male was much more active than the female. Several times he investigated both of the Kestrel nestboxes. And he seemed less wary of humans. I was able to get within ten feet of him at one point, and he really wasn't put out. As I previously said, the area around the boxes is fenced off, so I guess the Kestrels really do feel safe. It's as if they know that us human beans cannot get to too close.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So a thoroughly enjoyable few hours watching my favourite BOPs. I'll be popping back in a couple of months to see the juveniles.

Brief blog from Cranford Park this afternoon

I fitted in a quick two hour visit to Cranford Park today (and yes that is quick for me considering I often spend between eight-ten hours down there normally).

 

 First port of call was straight to the Kestrels nest tree. I perched on one of the logs nearby and within minutes they mated on a tree just behind the nest tree. Again, like two days ago, it was the male calling that drew my attention to where they were. I hung around for a while until the female flew back to the nest. Half an hour later the male done a food pass. He bought in what looked like a mouse, the female took it from him and flew out of the nest with her 'present' and ate it while the male sat on the branch next to the nest. As they are still actively mating, I'm guessing she hasn't laid any eggs yet, but it shouldn't be long before she does. I've attached a link below to the RSPB site. It's full of interesting facts about Kestrels.

 

link to RSPB Kestrel facts

 

 I also checked on the Green Woodpecker nest tree. Again within minutes of settling myself on my favourite log, I located the male on the tree as I did two days ago. He seems to be favouring a spot a bit further up than last years nest hole, and whilst I watched he was making good progress on making a new hole. I couldn't see the female at first, then a dog walker passed by and flushed her from a tree to my right. She briefly joined the male before they both flew off into some trees at the back. Green Woodpeckers are only seen in pairs around this time. For the rest of the year they are generally seen alone, but they always know when another is nearby. The woods were full of their distinctive 'yaffle' call today. I'm guess-timating there are at least four pairs active, just in Cranford Woods, let alone by the river or on in the woods the other side of the by-pass.

 

Chancing my luck I went to the spot where a Weasel ran across my foot two days ago. I hung around for at least forty minutes but saw and heard nothing. Just as I was about to leave, I heard a Kingfisher and saw it briefly perch on the other side of the bridge. It was there for just a few seconds before it flew off. That's got me thinking again about where they are coming from. I haven't seen them on the usual stretch of the river between the two bridges, for quite some time now. Today the Kingfisher took off up the river towards the airport, which really surprises me as that stretch turns into a rambling brook with short banks, which doesn't strike me as a prime Kingfisher nesting site.

 

No photos of the Kestrels or Green Woodys today, I was giving my shoulder a break, but I did manage to photograph my first Red Admiral butterfly of the year, plus some fairy-tale like mushrooms.

 

 

 

Three in one day. Kensington Gardens, London Wetland Centre and Cranford CP

I was undecided where to go today. I really wanted to see the newly found Oak Tree Little Owls at Kensington Gardens, but I also wanted to try and photograph the Green Sandpiper at the London Wetland Centre and a part of me was craving to get back to see the Kestrels at Cranford Park.

 So I did all three.

 

At Kensington Gardens, the usual photogenic Herons were posing for photos.

 

 

The male Tawny Owl was snoozing on his balcony. Now the leaves are emerging, it was quite tricky trying to get a focused shot, but no matter how much I shuffled under the tree, the Owl slept through it.

 

 

 

There were lots of Parakeets 'in love' today.

 

 

 

I found a couple of other photographers by the Little Owls tree. We heard one calling a couple of times but couldn't see it at first. I decided to wait it out and found a convenient log to sit on.

My first shield bug of the year joined me, a stunning Hawthorn Shield Bug.

 

 

After waiting patiently for an hour, one of the Little Owls appeared. I managed to fire off a few shots before it disappeared again.

 

 

 

 

 

From there I made my way over to Barnes (the London Wetland Centre). The usual crew were there, Phillip, John C, Therese, Joe, John F and Maryann. They advised the Green Sandpiper was very flighty, and being seen from different places. I had a few looks for it, but didn't succeed.

There was quite a lot of bird behaviour to watch today.

 

The male Teals were chasing each other.

 

 

There are at least four Redshanks on site, and when they weren't feeding, they were also very active chasing each around and calling.

 

 

The Coots were showing territorial behaviour.

 

 

Little Grebes could be heard 'trilling'.

 

 

Shovellers were also chasing away any male that came too close.

 

 

Lapwings were seen regularly flying up to mob Crows.

 

 

I only saw one butterfly today, another Peacock, though others also saw a Comma and Brimstone.

 

 

From there Phillip, Joe and I went to Cranford Park. The Kestrels are getting really possessive over their tree now. We watched the female shoot out of the nest to see off a Woodpigeon that foolishly landed too close. Tony James sent me a text this morning to say he had seen the male deliver food to the female on the nest, so all the signs that she either has already lain eggs, or is about to, look good.

After Phillip and Joe left, I found the male Kestrel perched nearby.

 

 

So all in all, a very pleasant day out though I'll probably pay for it tomorrow with my shoulder, and I did dip on the Green Sandpiper.

Ears pricked and eyes peeled at Cranford Park today.

Although I haven't blogged since 27th February, I have been down to Cranford Park a couple of times to observe the Kestrels without my camera. March is the month they start displaying and mating, and after last year when they abandoned their favoured nest site for another deeper in the woods, I was intrigued to see which nest site they would chose this year. I'd observed them being quite protective over the favoured nest tree a few times last week. Woe betide any Crows or Jackdaws that settled on one of the branches, as out of nowhere one of the Kestrels would swoop in and see them off.

 

Today I had only just got myself settled on a log when a distinct Kestrel call came up followed swiftly by a Buzzard 'mewing'. Through the branches I could make out the Buzzard being mercilessly mobbed by both the male and female Kestrel. This was the only shot I got of all three birds.

 

 

The Buzzard soon soared away, and the male Kestrel settled just above me watching the skies for any other 'intruders'.

 

 

I waited around for a while to see if there would be any more action, but the male seemed intent on preening, and as it wasn't a very good angle for me to take photos I ambled off to see what else I could find.

 

The old Magnolia by the Haha wall is almost fit to bloom now.

 

 

I saw four varieties of butterfly. Comma, Brimstone, Small White and this obliging Peacock.

 

 

Everywhere, especially in the woods, birds were singing and calling. Robins, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Wrens, Blackbirds, Jays, Marmite Parakeets, Goldcrests, Magpies, Jackdaws, Carrion Crows, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Green Woodpeckers and the tell-tale sign of Spring, lots of ChiffChaffs.

 

 

 

As it was such a gorgeous day I decided to see if any of the regular Woodpecker holes were being checked out. I know its still early, but Woodys often start excavating holes around now.

The first hole I checked was used by Great Spotted Woodpeckers two years ago (they don't use the same nest hole every year, but will go back to it in the second or third year). Sadly this year it looks as if the Marmite Parakeets have beaten the Woodys to it. A sure sign of a nesting Parakeet is one sitting by the hole while the other is probably already on eggs inside.

 

 

I had better luck with one of last years Green Woodpecker nest sites though (Green Woodys are opposite to GS Woodys and do tend to re-use the previous years nest). I found a male about two-three metres below the old nest hole basking in the sun. I perched on a log and waited to see if anything happened. Within half an hour I heard another Green Woody call and located a female on the next tree. My patience was rewarded even more when the male moved up the tree and started examining the old nest hole. No photos of that action as there were too many branches, however I did get a shot while the male was sunning himself below.

 

 

Further on in the woods, a hole that I had never noticed before had been taken by a pair of Marmite Parakeets.

 

 

They both came out and sat next to each other on a branch whilst I was watching them.

 

 

Another six previous Woodpecker holes showed no activity, although one looks like bees have taken up residence. There were an awful lot going in and out.

 

I also went to check out the River Crane. I was hoping that now the water levels were almost normal, that the Little Grebes would be around but despite hanging around for over an hour, there was no sign of them.

 

 Whilst at the river I decided to visit one of my favourite secret hiding places. I'd just got myself settled to have a sneaky fag (don't worry, I am a considerate smoker, I always carry my own ash tray) when I noticed something move on the ground to my right. I just had time to turn my head when a Weasel popped up, ran across my boot, up the bank and disappear into the undergrowth behind me. I didn't even have time to lift my camera, let alone turn it on and focus, it all happened so quickly. From the undergrowth I could hear lots of squeaking, and realising that I may possibly be too near to its lair, I moved back onto the path way. I secreted myself away and waited hopefully for it to re-emerge, and again my patience was rewarded for after twenty minutes, a Weasel re-appeared from the undergrowth and disappeared down by the river bank. Again it all happened too fast for me to get a photo, but I'll certainly be keeping an eye on that area in the future. Weasels don't make their own nests or lairs, they prefer to take over old Rat, Vole or even Rabbit burrows, which would make perfect sense for this area as there are plenty of Rabbits around.  

 

After that burst of excitement I decided to check on the Kestrels one last time before heading home. The afternoon sun was completely against me when I got to the site, but again after some patience, the male flew onto a nearby tree and started 'chirping'. The female replied from an unknown location, then flew straight onto the nest tree and onto the nest itself. She stayed there for a few minutes while the male continued to 'chirp', then came out of the nest and onto the branch.

The male is pictured below calling. I know it's a  dreadful photo, sorry, blame the sun !

 

I was then lucky enough to see something I've only seen once before, and that was the pair mating. My two awful photos below do not do the scene justice ! There were too many branches in the way and the sun was right in my eyes. In the first photo you can see the nest on the right, and the copulating Kestrels are the 'things' on the left. In the second photo I managed to focus more on the Kestrels, but again too many branches in the way and the light was against me.

 

 

 

Despite my terrible photos, I had a very enjoyable day. The weather was pleasant, I was dosed up with codeine for my bad shoulder and there was plenty to observe and listen to.

 

For obvious reasons I've kept exact locations of the Kestrels, Woodpeckers and Weasels secret.