July 31, 2009

July 31st 2009

Gants Hill:
  • Alan & Tajinders Garden
  • Coal Tit - Still present.
  • Juv Great Spotted Woodpecker - Still present.
  • Juvenile Greenfinches - 3 feeding on main feeder.
  • Blue Tits - Lots feeding on various feeders & also seen in tree & shrubs.
  • Chaffinches - c7 seen amongst tree & shrubs & on feeders.

July 30, 2009

July 30th 2009

Gants Hill:
  • Coal Tit - Still ever present.
  • J-Great Spotted Woodpecker - Still present.
  • Blue Tits - lots back & forth too many to get accurate count.
  • House Sparrows - c15 -20 feeding amongst shrubs & feeders.
  • Robins - 3 seen 2 juveniles, 1 adult.
  • Blackbirds - 3 seen in garden.
  • Plus other birds in garden - 6 Chaffinches, 4 Greenfinches, 5 Great tits, 1 Collard Dove, Dunnock & 2 Magpies.
  • Alan & Tajinders garden

Woodford Green:

  • Sandwich Tern over, (KM via ELBF)

July 29, 2009

July 29th 2009

Fairlop Gravel Works:

  • short visit as rained off...
  • 1 Grey Heron
  • 150+ Lapwing
  • 2 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Little Ringed Plover
  • 6 Linnet
  • few hundred Black Headed Gulls, and Lesser Black Backed Gulls
  • 30+ Stock Dove

Gants Hill:

  • Alan & Tajinders garden
  • Coal Tit - Still present.
  • J-Great Spotted Woodpecker - Still present.
  • Long Tailed Tits - Party of nine seen at 6.05am feeding until around 8.00am.
  • Robins - 4 seen two Juveniles & two adults.
  • Blue Tits - Lots seen busy feeding around garden.
  • House Sparrows - quite number feeding from various feeders.

July 28, 2009

July 28th 2009

Gants Hill:
  • Alan & Tajinders garden today
  • Coal Tit - Still present.
  • Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker - Still present.
  • Juvenile Greenfinches - 2 on main feeder.
  • Juvenile Robins - 2 foraging around garden.
  • Blue Tits - quite a number all around garden.

Roding Valley Park:

  • Kingfisher,
  • family of Mute Swans with two juveniles safely fledged (Alan Hobson)

July 27, 2009

July 27th 2009

Hainault Forest CP:
  • along Foxburrows Road
  • 6 Pied Wagtails (at least 2 juveniles)
  • 11 Black Headed Gulls (Tajinder Lachhar)

Gants Hill:

  • Alan & Tajinders garden
  • Coal Tit - Three weeks continuous feeding now in garden.
  • Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker - Again three weeks continuous feeding.
  • Juvenile Greenfinch - One feeding on feeder.
  • Juvenile Robin - A new juvenile seen today around ground feeder.
  • Blue tits - Lots flying around catching insects & feeding on feeders.

Pics - July 27th 2009

Juvenile Wood Pigeon


Long Tailed Tits in the Garden



(taken in Alan & Tajinders Garden, Gants Hill)

July 26, 2009

July 26th 2009

Hainault:



  • my sisters garden in Greenwood Gardens (DEH)
  • 1 Common Tern (presumabley) over
  • 1 Sparrowhawk (over)
  • 1 pair of Dunnock nesting in the hedge (just hatched)
  • Collared Doves displaying

Gants Hill:

  • Alan & Tajinders garden
  • Coal Tit - Still present once again.
  • Great Spotted Woodpecker (juv) - Still present often.
  • Goldfinches - Still present.
  • Plus various other garden birds.
  • Swifts - Lot's over.

Valentines Park:

  • A Green Woodpecker
  • Three robins
  • Cormorant
  • Hybrid Carrion-Hooded Crows (I've never seen these until today, checked RSPB book of British Birds and there they were!)
  • Carrion crows
  • Magpies
  • Blackbirds
  • Wood pigeons
  • Coots
  • Canada Geese. (SLCrewe)

Fairlop Waters:

  • No fewer than 8 great crested grebes on the sailing lake, in a group - some clearly young but well grown so not sure how many adults and how many young.
  • Also 1 Common Tern over sailing lake,
  • 2 cormorants and several swifts -
  • 17 Greylag Geese and roughly as many Canada Geese.
  • On angling lake pair of mute swans with 5 cygnets.
  • About 30 starlings in a thicket of trees.
  • Kestrel seen near angling lake.
  • 10 black-headed gulls on golf course.
  • 4 long-tailed tits.
  • Others - blackbirds, coots, moorhens, wood pigeons, magpies, carrion crows, chaffinch, collared dove, tufted duck. (MSeviour)

July 25, 2009

July 25th 2009

Fairlop Gravel Works:



  • 1 Little Egret near the main entrance on the south side (Alan Bell/DEH)
  • 1 juvenile Peregrine feeding on the ground (DEH)
  • c150-200 Lapwing now.
  • 3 Green Sandpiper and 1 Common Sandpiper
  • at least 50 Stock Dove
  • several hundred Black Headed Gulls with smaller numbers of Common Gulls and Lesser Black Backed Gulls
  • Also: Wood Pigeon, Feral Pigeon, Kestrel, Linnet, Mallard, Canada Goose, 2 Little Grebe, Tufted Ducks.
  • Hare!

Hainault:

  • My sisters Garden (Greenwood Gardens) (DEHull)
  • 2 Sparrowhawk (over) - JMak
  • 1 pair of Dunnock nesting in the hedge (just hatched)

Roding Valley Park:

  • near Woodford Bridge
  • 1 Little Egret
  • 1 Grey Heron
  • grat views of a Kingfisher (Peter Warne)

Gants Hill:

  • Alan & Tajinders garden
  • Coal Tit - Still present often.
  • Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker- Still present often.
  • Goldfinches - 2 adults visting regularly.
  • Blue Tits - c15 in tree, shrubs & on feeders.
  • Chaffinches - 7 seen some catching insects in mid air & feeding on feeders.

Wanstead Park:

  • Kingfisher (JP via ELBF)

July 24, 2009

July 24th 2009

Hainault Forest:
  • 2 Pied Wagtials
  • 10 Starlings
  • 3 Black Headed Gulls on grass by Foxburrows Road
  • Green Woodpecker by Visitor Centre (Tajinder Lachhar)

Gants Hill:

  • Alan & Tajinders garden
  • Long Tailed Tits - Small party of six passed through feeding on various feeders for about 10mins.
  • Coal Tit - Still gracing us with it's presence.
  • Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker - Again Still gracing us with it's presence.
  • Goldfinches - 2 adults feeding regularly.
  • Juvenile Greenfinches - Same 3 again on main feeder.
  • Juvenile Woodpigeon - On fence panel between ours and neighbours.
  • House Sparrows - c10 in shrubs and on surrounding feeders.
  • Herring Gull & Lesser Black Backed Gull - Passing around gardens quite low.

July 23, 2009

July 23rd 2009

Gants Hill:
  • Alan & Tajinders garden
  • Coal Tit - Still present regularly.
  • Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker - Still present regularly.
  • Goldfinches - 2 adults appearing regularly.
  • Juvenile Greenfinches - 3 still appearing thus far.

Valentines Park:

  • Green Woodpecker in front of the Mansion House (Tajinder Lachhar)

Barking: (just outside the borough)

  • Sand Martins at the colony (River Roding nr Tesco)
  • Hobby over, very fast - A406

July 22, 2009

July 22nd 2009

Gants Hill:

  • Coal Tit - Feeding regularly through out day.
  • Juveline Great Spotted Woodpecker - Feeding very often through out day.
  • Goldfinches - 2 adults feeding regular now.
  • Juvenile Green Finches - 3 again feeding on main feeder.
  • Grey Heron - Seen at 6.08am flying over gardens towards Woodford avenue.
  • (Alan & Tajinders garden)

Fairlop:

  • male Yellowhammer on a wire on Hainault Road, near Painters Road.

July 21, 2009

July 21st 2009

Gants Hill:

  • Alan & Tajinders garden!
  • Coal Tit - Still present often.
  • Juvenile male Great Spotted Woodpcker - Still present often.
  • Goldfinch - 2 adults present on main feeder.
  • Juvenile Greenfinches - 3 present on main feeder.
  • Blue tits - Lots busy feeding from our various feeders.
  • Swifts - c30 plus over surrounding gardens.

Roding Valley Park:

  • Scrubland near Roding Lane North - fledged Goldfinches (Alan Hobson)

July 20, 2009

July 20th 2009

Roding Valley Park:


  • family of fledged Whitethroat in the Scrubland near Roding Lane North (Alan Hobson)

Gants Hill:

  • Alan & Tajinders garden
  • Coal Tit - Two weeks continuous feeding still present in garden.
  • Juvenile male Great Spotted Woodpecker - Same two weeks & counting still present feeding in garden.
  • Goldfinch - 2 adults feeding twice per day.
  • Juvenile Robin - seen feeding around feeders.
  • Crows & Magpies - Three Crows in territorial dispute with up to eight Magpies in neighbours pear tree.

Wanstead Park:

  • 2 Little Egrets,
  • 2 Common Terns and numbers of House and Sand Martins at Heronry Pond today. (Paul Ferris)

City of London Cemetery: (just outside the borough)

  • a Sparrowhawk complete with nest. (Paul Ferris)

July 19, 2009

July 19th 2009



Gants Hill:

  • Coal Tit - Still present feeding in garden.
  • Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker - Still present feeding in garden.
  • Goldfinch - 2 adults feeding from main feeder.
  • (Alan & Yajinders Garden)

Roding Valley Park:

  • From Woodford Bridge in the direction of Buckhurst Hill (Peter Warne)
  • Cetti's Warbler!
  • Red Legged Partridge!
  • male Kestrel
  • 3 juvenile Goldfinches.

Woodford Bridge:

  • family of fledged Kestrels on Vicarage Road (Alan Hobson!)

July 18, 2009

July 18th 2009

Fairlop Waters:
  • Common Tern over the main lake (Steve Bacon)
Fairlop Gravel Works:
  • 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper
  • Black Tailed Godwit flew over SW at 9am
  • 1 Hobby (over) (Steve Bacon)
Woodford Green:
  • Black Headed Gull flock building up on Broadmead Estate Playing field.
Woodford Bridge:
  • male Kestrel flew out of the Chestnut Tree near Seafarers Chip Shop!

Gants Hill:

  • Coal Tit - Still feeding regularly
  • Juvenile Great Spotter Woodpecker - Still feeding regularly
  • Goldfinch - 2 adults feeding on main feeder.
  • Juvenile Robin pair - Still feeding.
  • Herring Gull - flying over just above our garden this evening.
    Alan & Tajinders garden

Fairlop Waters:

  • 20 House Martins,
  • 4 Green Woodpeckers,
  • 4 Great Crested Grebes,
  • Willow Warbler singing,
  • Reed Warbler,
  • 20 Tufted Ducks,
  • 6 Whitethroat ,
  • a pair of Little Grebes with 2 young,
  • 5 Pied Wagtails (IS via ELBF)
  • Kestrel (Tony Leaderman)

Woodford Green:

  • 12 Crossbills (KM via ELBF)

July 17, 2009

July 17th 2009

Gants Hill:

  • Alan & Tajinders garden
  • Coal Tit - Still present feeding often.
  • Juvenile Great Spoted Woodpecker- Still present feeding often.
  • Goldfinch - 1 adult feeding.
  • Wren - seen foraging amongst twigs and sticks pile eating insects.
  • Collard Doves - two in garden feeding on ground.

Roding Valley Nature Reserve: (just outside the borough)

  • Little Egret;
  • 512 black-headed gulls;
  • 3 common gulls;
  • kingfisher (BJ via ELBF)

July 16, 2009

July 16th 2009

Hainault:

  • Common Tern over Greenwood Gardens, in the direction of Claybury Park (JJM)

City Limits:

  • Yellowhammer singing on a telephone wire just south of the City Limits club, (south of Hainault Forest) (DEH)

South Park Drive, Ilford:

  • 100+ Black Headed Gulls on the South Park Junior School Playing field
  • 200+ Black Headed Gulls and 2 Herring Gulls on the Barking Abbey Playing Fields

Woodford Green:

  • Mistle Thrushes and Goldfinches still singing on Broadmead Estate this morning.

Woodford Bridge:

  • 6 Moorhens on the pond by St. Pauls Church

Gants Hill:

  • Alan & Tajinders garden
  • Coal Tit - Still present and correct feeding
  • Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker- Still present and correct feeding.
  • House Sparrows - Small flock around 20 plus still present...Some dust bathing in next door's garden and also still feeding in ours garden.
  • Juvenile Woodpigeon - Sun bathing on patio.

July 15, 2009

July 15th 2009

Gants Hill:
  • Alan & Tajinders Garden
  • Female Sparrowhawk - Seen first time around gliding looking around surrounding gardens then shortly after diving into our garden tree but not sure if got any bird and then seen again roughly 20 minutes later coming outof trees in surrounding gardens flying off.
  • Coal Tit - Still present.
  • Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker - Still present.
  • House Sparrows - Small flock of 20 plus in shrubs on the feeder and in tree.
  • Juvenile Woodpigeon - Seen in our tree briefly before flying off.
  • Juvenile Female Blackbird - looking for food in garden.
  • Goldfinch - one adult feeding.

July 14, 2009

July 14th 2009

Gants Hill:
  • Alan & Tajinders garden
  • Female Sparrowhawk - seen twice today above garden gliding around looking for prey..."I not sure if it caught anything though"!
  • Coal Tit - feeding regularly throughout day.
  • Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker - feeding regularly throughout day.
  • House Sparrows - mini flock of around roughly 20 or so in tree and shrubs.
  • Blue and Great tits - lots of Blue tits busy feeding and flying around plus 5 Great tits on peanut feeder.
  • Birds in pairs - Collard dove, Dunnock, Juvenile Robin, Goldfinch.
  • Finches - Chaffinch 6 in total and about 5 or more greenfinches on feeder and in tree and shrubs.
  • Starlings - on lawn and feeders, tree / shrubs.

July 13, 2009

July 13th 2009

Woodford Green:
  • Families of Mistle Thrush, and Goldfinch still active on Broadmead Estate
Roding Valley Park:
  • Kingfisher on the River near Woodford Bridge (Alan Hobson)
  • Song Thrush (Alan Hobson)
  • 2 Jays, Song Thrush, Greenfinch near the fishing lake
  • 1 family of Mallard with 4 nearly grown young, and a Coot on the lake
  • 2 Moorhen on the River
Woodford Bridge:
  • family of fledged Blackcap in the scrubland near the M11 (Alan Hobson)
Fairlop: (Webs Count, by Steve Bacon)
  • 1 Common Tern
  • 1 Teal
  • 96 Lapwing, 3 Little Ringed Plover
  • 3 Grey Heron
  • rest of the count coming soon.....
Hainault Forest:
  • Webs Count by Steve Bacon
  • 1 Common Tern
  • rest of the count coming later

Roding Valley Park:

  • 3 Kestrels flying over in the vicinity of Charlie Browns Roundabout (Nigel May)

Gants Hill:

  • Alan & Tajinders Garden
  • Coal Tit - Still present feeding - "It's been one week now since I first sawit in our garden - Hurrah".
  • Great Spotted Woodpecker juvenile - still coming and feeding well.
  • Goldfinch - Two adults feeding. Not sure what's happened to the juvenileshopefully still alive somewhere.
  • Robin juveniles - still present feeding

July 12, 2009

July 12th 2009

Gants Hill:


  • Coal Tit still present and feeding in the garden (Alan Thomas)
  • other birds seen in our garden today:
  • juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker still coming to the garden to feed
  • 1 Adult Goldfinch
  • juvenile Robins
  • Adult Herring Gull (over)
  • 7 Swifts

Marks Gate: (just outside the borough)

  • 2 Kestrels around the roof of he tower block. (DEH/JJM)

Fairlop Waters:

  • Common Sandpiper
  • Common Tern
  • 4 Linnet
  • 2 Willow Warbler, 4 Whitethroat
  • 2 Great Crested Grebe, 2 adult Mute Swans with 4 cygnets
  • 6 Sand Martin, 4 House Martin, 20 Swift , (BJ via ELBF)

Ray Park:

  • near the visitor centre (Tajinder Lachhar)
  • 11 Mistle Thrushes!
  • 1adult Pied Wagtail feeding a young
  • 1 Robin, 1 Blackbird, 2 Swifts,
  • Greenfinch (heard)

Valentines Park:

  • 6 Common Tern on boating lake. (M Sevoir)
  • Grey Heron, Green Woodpecker, 2 Grey Wagtail, Great Crested Grebe,
  • Black-Headed Gulls (25 approx).
  • Mute Swans with 6 cygnets.
  • Plus Mallards, Coots, Moorhens, Blackbirds, Robin, Chaffinches, Tufted Ducks, Wood Pigeons, Magpies, Carrion Crows, Feral Pigeons.

July 11, 2009

July 11th 2009

Gants Hill:
  • In my garden today (Alan Thomas)
  • Coal Tit still lingering...
  • Wren seen moving among the shrubs
  • juveline Great Spotted Woodpecker, juvenile female Blackbird
  • Pair of Robins
  • Goldfinch
  • Swifts over

July 10, 2009

July 10th 2009

Woodford Green:


  • family of 5 Goldfinches on Broadmead Estate (DEH)
  • following are Birds from Peter Warne's Garden today.
  • Juvenile Green Woodpecker on the feeder in our garden today (Peter Warne)
  • 2 Jay
  • 7 Swifts over (2 coming to our roof in the evenings)
  • 4 House Sparrows (fledged)
  • 7 Greenfinch
  • 2 Dunnock
Barking: (just outside the borough)


  • At least 10 Sand Martins near the colony, being troubled by some bwoistrous Black Headed Gulls
Gants Hill:


  • in my garden today (Alan Thomas)
  • Coal Tit still feeding in our garden
  • 2 juvenile Goldfinches feeding, plus 2 adults
  • 2 juveline Robins
  • up to 10 House Sparrows
  • juvenile female Blackbird
  • Blue Tits, and about 10 Starlings.

Barking Park: (just outside the borough)

  • 3 juvenile Egyptian Geese (TY via ELBF)

Wanstead Park:

  • Little Egret (JL via ELBF)

Roding Valley Nature Reserve: (just outside the borough)

  • Little Egret (PV via ELBF)

Hainault:

  • A decent size flock of House Sparrows seen whilst out for after work run! c40-50 in and around mixed privet & hawthorn hedge alongside Fencepiece Road just before Redbridge/Epping Forest Council boundary (Nigel May)

July 09, 2009

July 9th 2009

Gants Hill:
  • Coal Tit on the feeders from 7am for over 2 hours (Alan Thomas)
  • juvenile male Great Spotted Woodpecker still present, appearing a few times each day
  • juvenline Robins, Blackbirds and Goldfinch
  • 2 adult Goldfinches on the Niger Seed Feeder

Barkingside:

  • Sparrowhawk flying over Barnardos at 6.30pm (DEH)

Loxford:

  • 300+ Starlings on my feeders, and in the garden, looking apocolyptic (JMak)
  • remains of a Wood Pigeon on the lawn (probable Sparrowhawk)
Wanstead Park:
  • Little Egret on Heronry Pond (Paul Ferris)



Pics - July 9th 2009

coal tit, blue tit

great spotted woodpecker, blue tit


great spotted woodpecker


coal tit


juvenile blackbird


juvenile goldfinch


Pics from Alan Thomas & Tajinder Lachhar

July 08, 2009

July 8th 2009




Wanstead Park:
  • Little Grebe pair feeding 2 chicks on Heronry Pond (Paul Ferris)
  • Little Grebe pair with 2 chicks on Shoulder of Mutton Pond (riding pillion - see pic)
  • 6 House Martin and 2 Sand Martin over Heronry Pond

Gants Hill:

  • Coal Tit and 3 Blue Tits feeding
  • juveline Great Spotted Woodpecker lingering around (even took a peck at a starling, and removed a few feathers!)
  • juvenile female Blackbird, and an adult female
  • juvenile Robins, with red breast starting to show through.
  • juvenile Goldfinch
  • Also: Dunnock, Magpie, Wood Pigeons, Collard Dove, Greenfinch, Chaffinches. (Alan Thomas)

Aldborough Hatch:

  • Kestrel 'soaring' over St. Peters Church, 7.30pm (Jonathan Makengo)

Barking Abbey Playing Fields, South Park Drive:

  • 10+ Adult Lesser Black Backed Gulls
  • 2 Mistle Thrush

Valentines Park:

  • Grey Wagtail in the mansion car park (Simon Litt, via Tajinder)

July 07, 2009

July 7th 2009

Gants Hill:
  • juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker on our feeder today (Alan Thomas)

July 06, 2009

July 6th 2009

Woodford Green:
  • 1 juvenile Pied Wagtail chasing 2 Mistle Thrushes around the playing field on Broadmead estate this morning.

Gants Hill:

  • In our garden today (Alan Thomas)
  • 1 Coal Tit on the feeders, chased of by a pair of Blue Tits
  • Goldfinch collecting food from the feeders, and flying off presumably nesting nearby
  • Juvenile Robins showing well, every day.
Valentines Park:
  • 2 Common Terns over the boating lake (Simon Litt, via Tajinder)

July 05, 2009

July 5th 2009

Woodford Green:
  • family of fledged Pied Wagtial on Broadmead Estate with at least 3 young.

Barking: (just outside the borough)

  • 10+ Sand Martins at the colony today

July 04, 2009

July 4th 2009

Woodford Green:
  • 1 very tame Mistle Thrush on the railings by Broadmead Estate field, (near the nest site)
  • Another Mistle Thrush perched militantly on one of the log posts outside Broadmead Baptist Church (DEH)
Fairlop Waters:
  • Grasshopper Warbler reeling in the same place it was in April
  • Common Tern over the main lake (Alan Bell)

July 03, 2009

July 3rd 2009

Woodford Bridge:
  • Moorhen brood on the pond outside St. Pauls Church.
Barking Abbey Playing Fields, South Park Drive:
  • Peregrine Falcon (over) (JMakengo)
Barkingside:
  • female Sparrowhawk low accross Clayhall Avenue then perched on a rooftop at 8.05am (Nigel May)
  • Goldfinches in the Ilford County High School grounds

July 2nd 2009

Woodford Green:
  • family of 3 Jackdaws on Broadmead Road

South Park:

  • Grey Wagtail confirmed breeding, and has raised 1 chick on Seven Kings Water nr South Park
  • Goldcrest presumed breeding as seen carrying food. (Richard Leighton)
  • 3 Tufted Duck chicks (at last)
  • Kingfisher

Ilford:

  • Lesser Black Backed Gulls breeding on the roof is Ilford Depot. (Richard Leighton)
Fairlop Waters CP:
  • Common Tern
  • Kestrel
  • Green Woodpecker, Grey Heron, Jay
  • Reed Warbler, Whitethroat, Chiffchaff
  • Linnet
  • Mistle Thrush, (Tony Leaderman)

July 01, 2009

July 1st 2009

Woodford Green:
  • Goldfinches still present and singing on Braodmead Estate at 7.45am