Hyde Park

On a bright sunny day in March Keith and I travelled up to Central London to explore the birds of Hyde Park

We started at the Parade Ground. A group of Redwing and a single Fieldfare had been reported here but we were unable to locate them. We did find a couple of Stock Doves, together with a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls, some Egyptian Geese and a flock of Starlings, who looked resplendent in their sparkling plumage.

We then made our way across the park to the Serpentine / Long Water where the road bridge crosses it. On the way we heard a Green woodpecker and were able to locate it in a nearby tree. It was one of a good number we were to hear across the park ding the day.

The usual water birds were present on the Serpentine: Mute Swan, Coot, Egyptian Goose, Tufted Duck and Black-headed Gulls

After a lunch stop at the Lido, we returned back under the Bridge to continue along the edge of The Long Water.

The path here follows the edge of the Long water on one side and has a number of enclosures which are good for woodland birds. In the latter we had good views of Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits together with Blackbirds, Jays, Magpies and Crows. On the water were Lesser Black-backed, Herring, Common and Black-headed Gulls, Cormorants, Mute Swans, Mallard, Shoveler, Coot, Moorhen, Egyptian, Canada and Greylag Geese together with a single Pochard.

At the top of the Long Water is the Italian Garden

Here we turned west to walk into Kensington Gardens and explore some of the wooded areas. we finally caught up with a small flock of Redwing. It will not be long before these attractive Thrushes will be flying north to their breeding sites.

Our plan was to visit a Little Owl nest that I knew of. Sadly the Little Owls were not showing although we learned from a passer-by that they had both been sitting out on their tree earlier in the day. We then set off for a Tawny Owl Tree we had been alerted about, but again had no luck finding an Owl sitting out.

After a tea break at the Clock Tower we made our way around the Round Pond (Coots, Mute Swans and some more Common Gulls) to check the Little Owl Tree again but again they were not showing.