My last outing of the year - winter Thrush-fest at Lake Farm and Cranford Park

I've been laid up with the dreaded Xmas-lurgy-manflu over the last five days, but as today was my last day off work this year, I made the effort to get out and about.

 

With layers of clothes, hat, scarf and gloves on, I waddled up to Lake Farm. During the week my mate Lorraine, had sent me some photos of how flooded the school building site was, and she quipped 'didn't know they were building a swimming pool too'.

 

I was hoping the flooded ground would put paid to any foundations being laid, but today the waters had subsided and a handful of gulls were making the most of the icy puddles left.

 

 

 

Elsewhere on site, it was so cold in the shade that the heavy overnight frost made it seem as

if it had been snowing.

 

 

There weren't many birds around compared to this time last year. December 2012 provided good views of Stonechats, Fieldfares, Meadow Pipits and Reed Buntings.

Today I saw a few Redwings and Song Thrushes, and a solitary Greenfinch.

Redwing

 

Song Thrush all fluffed up amongst the berries.

Conserving energy by just reaching out for a berry.......

and chucking in its beak.

\Dreadful photo but Redwing on the left and Song Thrush on the right

Greenfinch

I walked back into town after an hour, and decided to have a coffee before I headed home. I hadn't had a coffee in the last five days, so the combination of caffeine and fresh air gave me a second burst of energy so I jumped on the bus to Cranford Park.

 

Since the school building works have started at Lake Farm, I've found that I leave there feeling down and irritable. However Cranford Park has the opposite affect on me, it calms and relaxes me.

With a view like below, who can blame me.

 

I found two of the three resident Little Grebes.....

 

 

The huge Yew tree in the graveyard at St Dunstans, has been almost entirely stripped of berries. However the smaller one by the Information Centre is still full, and there was a lot of

activity in and around that area.

I lost count of the number of Redwings and other Thrushes, diving into the thick cover of the Yew.

Redwing

Mistle Thrush

Song Thrush

There were at least ten Mistle Thrushes flying around, chasing each other and making their distinctive dry rattle call. I know there are a few pairs that breed at Cranford Park, but some of the birds I saw today must be north European immigrants being discouraged by the resident birds. The calls were almost alarm like and the behaviour was definitely territorial.

 

Apart from the Crows and Jackdaws, and a few calling Great Spotted Woodpeckers, the other most heard bird call was the good old Ring-necked Parakeets. They too, were intensely chasing each other, especially in the Headland wooded area. I don't normally bother taking photos of the Parakeets anymore, but in todays light, they did look rather splendid.

 

 

So that was my last outing of the year. On the 1st Jan 2014, my blog will be one year old,

so on New Years Eve I will be publishing a '2013 highlights blog' of all my favourite memories and photos of this year. 

Sunday at the London Wetland Centre with the Birthday Girl and special guests, Tom and Charlie

Today was Gina's Birthday, and after much discussion last night, we decided to spend it at the London Wetland Centre. We had to take into consideration several factors:

1) It was Gina's Birthday 

2) I was 'on call' from work 

3) It was Gina's Birthday 

4) the weather forecast was showers and sunshine 

5) It was Gina's Birthday

 

Why does Gina's Birthday warrant three mentions ? Because somewhere along the line today, a cheeky alcofrolic drinky had to be included. I also had the work mobile, so a location where I could sit and take notes had to be considered. And finally the weather forecast was showery but with some sunshine. Therefore by elimination, the London Wetland Centre with its hides to shelter in, the benches to sit on and the café to sneakily drink brandy in, was today's choice of venue.

 

There aren't many berry bushes at Barnes, and the few that we saw today were heavily guarded by Blackbirds. The one below was slowly and surely picking off his choice of the ripest ones.

 

 

 

Around the Lagoon Walk, we found a large flock of Goldfinches in pretty much the same place as we saw them last weekend.

 

 

You can tell it's been a mild wet few days, there was a nice little cluster of fungi growing on the bench by the Wader Scrape Hide. Not often you see that in December.

 

 

We had only just got onto the first floor of the Peacock Tower when someone called out 'peregrine'. A quick glance to my right and I caught sight of one swooping down low over the water in between the Peacock and Wader Scrape hides. Seconds later another one swooped up from one of the islands. They could be none other than Tom and Charlie, the Fulham and Barnes Peregrines. After last weekend of popping over to see them at their usual nesting site, this time they had come over to see me !! Or was it the Birthday Girl they wanted to surprise ?

 Any way it was all over in seconds. I managed to grab just eight hastily shot photos, and only three came out. After a quick text to Nathalie (Tom and Charlies 'mentor') to let her know where they were, I tried to work out who I had captured in my first photo. As it's a back shot, it's very hard to tell.

 I sent the photo to Nathalie when I got home and even she couldn't say for certain. But you can tell who is who in the second and third shots. Charlie is the majestic large bird on the right of both pics, with Tom on the left hand side.

 

 

 

 

Don't get me wrong, Tom is just as majestic as Charlie, but size wise, Charlie wins every time.

 

Also from the Peacock Tower we caught a very brief glimpse of a Water Rail along the reeds edge, and a very very distant view of a Bittern (well done Martin for spotting that Burt).

 

On the way back to the café there was a solitary male Shoveler in the pond by the bird feeders. There were great numbers of Shovelers all over the site today, but this one was on his own and soon flew off when I expressed too much interest in him.

 

 

After a rather nice lunch (LWC are finally offering jacket potatoes on their menu. About time !)

and a couple of cheeky sneaky large brandy and cokes, we went round to the Wildside.

 

The Birthday Girl and I have a long-standing joke about identifying gulls with all their various winter plumages, so it came as light relief when we straight away saw a couple of Lesser Black-backed amongst the Black-heads on one of the shingle islands viewable from the Wildside Hide.

 

 

And then on the other shingle island we found a Common Gull. Nice to get a size and leg colour comparison against the Black-heads.

 

 

 

On the flooded marshes there were three Herons. It's a crap photo but I just liked the way they looked like they were in some sort of conference.

 

 

In the heated Headley Hide there was no sign of any Bitterns, but a fishing Great Crested Grebe was pointed out to me.

 

Going.........

 

Going..........

 

Gone........

 

A couple of Herons had an altercation, and as they chased each other a Carrion Crow

decided to join in......

 

There wasn't much else to see around the Wildside, and we had been told a Jack Snipe had been visible on and off from the Peacock Tower, so we decided to make the best of the last hour of daylight and trotted off round there.

 

Before we made it, my work phone rang and as we were near to the Wader Scrape hide, we dived in there so I could take some notes. Luckily it was empty, so while I sorted out the work issue, the Birthday Girl scanned the area and soon came up with not one, but two Common Snipe just on the edge of one of the flooded islands nearest to the hide. By this time, that side of the island was in shade, but I managed to grab a few shots before a dabbling Teal spooked the pair of Snipes and all three birds scarpered in different directions.

 

 

 

 

 

So all in all not a bad day. The weather held out and the only time it rained was when I was on the train coming home. We managed to get our alcofrolic drinks, mopped up by a reasonable lunch and, as always, had a good giggle, plus we saw some nice birds with the obvious stars being Tom and Charlie.

So Happy Birthday Gina. Cheers (says me, on my second glass of wine) and here's to many more.

 

P.S - other people of note seen today - Phillip, John, Joe, Martin, Michael, Burty, Nathalie, Maggie, Laurence and one of my blog followers, another John, and his lady friend (sorry I forgot your name !)

 

and a P.P.S from last weekend, I forgot to mention Gill K, a friend I've known for a few years via my Flickr account. Nice to see ya again :)

Peregrine, Snipe, Tawny Owl and Lesser Black-backed gull eating a crayfish. Phew, what a day in West London !

I only decided late last night where I wanted to go today, and even then, my plans seemed to change as the day went on. Sometimes days like these are the best.

 

I had already decided to go and visit the Fulham and Barnes Peregrines, Charlie and Tom. I hadn't been to see them for several months (if you want more information on my time with this magnificent pair, please scroll back to my blog posts in June). Charlie is the female, Tom is the male, and their territory is based from Charring Cross Hospital.

 The usual view point for the peregrines is from the Margravine Cemetery, which is at the back of the hospital. In June 2012 and June 2013 I was proudly part of the peregrine Fledge Watch team, and during those long days, whether it be rain or sun, we sheltered under the named 'leaky tree'. Sadly due to the Judes storm back in October, the 'leaky tree' is no more. All that remains is a few chopped logs, and the remainder of the tree, which has been uprooted to such an extent, that its almost curved over.

 

After an initial first scan around all of the hospital, I couldn't find either of the peregrines, but after settling back in the cemetery with a coffee, one of them soon came soaring around and straight onto one of their favourite perches. My first thought was that it was Charlie. The bird was big. But after looking at my photos more closely, it could well be Tom. Hopefully Nathalie M will confirm either way. So a few photos of Charlie / Tom below. I'm not overly bothered who it was I saw, I still have the same feeling when I see one of them, an overwhelming experience of feeling so incredibly honoured to see such a beautiful bird of prey, within an urban area.

 

 

 

The classic 'preen' shot below.......a headless peregrine !!

 

 

I left Charlie/Tom and made my way to the London Wetland Centre to meet my good mate, Gina. Walking up to the Peacock Tower I had some lovely views of one of the Green Woodpeckers, but only managed a hastily grabbed photo......

 

Looking over the Wader Scrape, I spotted a Common Snipe probing out in the open......

 

 

 

The weather was on our side, the skies were blue, the wind was slight and it wasn't even that cold, so I persuaded Gina to come with me to Kensington Gardens. But our short visit to the LWC was made worthwhile by also seeing John, Martin, Gary and Oscar. It really is nice to feel comfortable with good friends. Making our way back along the Lagoon Walk, Gina and I came across a large flock of Goldfinches........

 

and had some fantastic close up views of Long-tailed Tits........

 

After a short bus ride, we were at Kensington Gardens. First port of call just had to be the Tawny Owls. I follow Ralph Hancocks blog post daily (link to Ralphs blog), so we knew exactly which tree to look for them.

 As expected, the female was on the 'balcony' of her nest tree. The male was nowhere to be seen, so here are a few photos of Mrs Tawny. One photo of her just wouldn't be enough........

 

 

 

 

Leaving Mrs Tawny in peace, we went to see the most fashionable fish restaurant in the park, the area by the stone bridge. There we found three Great Crested Grebes taking it in turns to dive down to the 'cages' to catch their prey. Two of the GCGs were obviously a couple, and they were making threatening displays to the solo bird. A lot of the displays were fairly harmless, and involved the bird laying almost flat across the surface of the water, staring at each other but at the same time, sticking their heads underwater to see if they could get away with making a dive.

 

Whilst we were watching this behaviour, we noticed one of the Coots had tried the same hunting technique. It dived down on to the top of the cages, and after several unsuccessful attempts, it managed to grab a crayfish. This is not one of the native species of crayfish, its an introduced breed, a Turkish.

 My photo is dreadful due to the failing light at that time, Ralph got a much better interpretation of the catch in his blog, from his view at the top of the bridge.......

 

The Coot tried several times to try to find a way of eating the crayfish, but eventually gave up and the dead crayfish was abandoned. Convinced that one of the gulls would clean it up, Gina and I stayed put, but a Lesser Black-backed gull decided to go one better, and appeared with a freshly caught crayfish........It landed on one of the posts, than as if it wanted to give us a show, it swam across to where we were, got out, beat the crayfish against the path and swallowed it whole !!!

 

 

 

 

After the mornings glorious clear weather, the afternoon had turned cloudy and windy, so Gina and I soon retreated to Wholefoods in Kensington. There Gina tried to convert me to beer while we reminisced on our day out. And I was nearly convinced, but after arriving home, I soon had a bottle of Shiraz opened.

 

Changing my name from 'Wino Wendy' to 'Beero Wendy', just doesn't sound right.................