April 2nd 2010

Fairlop Waters:

• 3 Willow Warbler
• male Wheatear (Alan Bell)
• Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe
• Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Mallard, Tufted Duck
  
• Coot, Moorhen
  
• Black Headed Gull
• Grey Heron
  
• Collared Dove, Feral Pigeon, Wood Pigeon
  
• 2 Pied Wagtail, White Wagtail, Meadow Pipit
• Swallow
  
• Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker
  
• Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Wren
  
• Carrion Crow, Magpie
• Blue Tit, Great Tit
  
• Chiffchaff,
  
• Greenfinch,
  
• House Sparrow, Starling (Tony Leaderman)

South Woodford:

• male Sparrowhawk
  
• 4 Goldcrest (2 pairs)
  
• a male Sparrowhawk has been around for 3 days, though without any attempt to capture smaller birds. It spends quite a long time on the fence every day as a sort of garden ornament, so I had plenty of time to get the digiscope out. As the garden backs onto Gilbert's Slade, it could be that a pair are considering nesting there.
  And today, as soon as he went, two pairs of goldcrests cleaned the insects off a magnolia that is coming into flower. As Chamaecyparis cones are just ripening to an attractive red, gardens may be the best place to see them in the next couple of weeks!
  (Dave Littlejohns)
  

Wanstead Park:

• Sand Martin over Heronry Pond and a Swallow (THarris)
• 3 singing Blackcap, 2 Willow Warbler, 5 Chiffchaff,
  
• 1 Grey Wagtail,
  
• 2 Little Egret in River Roding,
  
• 6 Lesser Redpoll (behind Cemetery),
  
• fem Sparrowhawk,
  
• 9 Linnet,
  
• 8 displaying Jays together,
  
• 4 Fieldfare north west,
  
• 1 Great-crested Grebe,
  
• 9 Stock Doves.
  
• Also 4 Shelduck seen flying south (S Fisher)
• 30 Linnet in the Old Sewage Works (PFerris)
  

Chingford: (just outside the borough)

• female Sparrowhawk eating her kill (Emma Charles)