October 13th 2010

Gants Hill, Roll Gardens:

• Coal Tit in the garden again (4th day )(Alan Thomas)

Knighton Woods:

• popped down briefly at lunchtime to see if any Mandarin had returned to the pond, and was delighted to find 14 (10 males, and 4 females), all making a lot of noise
• 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker
• Tit flock included 4 Nuthatch, 2 Coal Tit, 4+ Goldcrest with the Blue Tits, Great Tits and Long Taield Tits.
• 1 Redwing (DEH)

Valentines Park:

• Valentino is back today! (PHopkins)
• (Valentino is the Mediterranean Gull that spends every winter in Valentines Park after summering in Belgium. Look out for him among the gull flock on or around the boating lake... he has no black wing tips, and 2 rings on his leg!) This is his 11th consecutive winter arrival in the park!
• Also: 3.45-5.30ish: 3 Little Grebe, 3 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Grey Heron on the boating lake,
• 11 Mute Swan (1 pr with 7, 1 additional pair), 5 Egyptian Geese (3 on Lond Water, 2 grazing on the cricket pitch), Canada Geese, 3 Greylag Geese (including 2 hybrid), 3 Pochard, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Coor, Moorhen,
• Black Headed Gulls, 2 Lesser Black Backed Gulls, 1 Common Gull,
• 1 Stock Dove, Feral Pigeons, Woodpigeons, 7 Collared Dove (fish pond island),
• 6 Pied Wagtail on South Parkland field, Grey Wagtail on Cranbrook Cut,
• Wren, Dunnock, Robin, 5 Blackbird, 6 Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush,
• 2 Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, 5 Long Tailed Tit, Jay, Magpies, 6 Jackdaw, Carrion Crows, c50-70 Starlings, 9 House Sparrow along Brisbane Road Hedges, 6 Chaffinch, 4 Greenfinch, 9 Goldfinch, (Mike Condon)

Wanstead Flats:

• (07:00-11:30): After the action of the last week or so a very quiet day - 6 Shoveler (alex, 4m/3f), 5 Gadwall (3m/2f), Teal (TH), Little Grebe,
• Grey Wagtail (Alex - TH), 21 + Meadow Pipit, 3 Pied Wagtail,
• 8+ Song Thrush, 7+ Blackbird, 7 Redwing, 14 Mistle Thrush, many Robin,
• 10 Chaffinch, 5 Linnet, Goldfinch, 4 Greenfinch, 6 Reed Bunting (3 feeding with Mipits east end of Long Wood),
• Also: 4 Skylark, 17 Ring Necked Parakeet, 4 Grey Heron, 2 Cormorant, 3 Chiffchaff, m Blackcap (TH), Goldcrest, juv Sparrowhawk, and other things (NC/Tim Harris)

Wanstead Park:

• Not much better here! 4 calling Goldcrest (cemetry, Heronry, 2 Shoulder of Mutton), 1 Chiffchaff, 3 Coal Tit (2 old sewage works), 20 + Long Tailed Tit, 4 Redwing, 13+ Blackbird, Song Thrush, many Robin, 2 Mistle Thrush, 8 Chaffinch, 3 Linnet, Greenfinch, Reed Bunting, many Dunnock, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, 8 Ring Necked Parakeet, 2 Grey Heron, 16 Tufted Duck (8 Perch, 7 + 1 hybrid Heronry, 1 SoM), f Shoveler, 1 Gadwall, 17 Pochard (Heronry), 8 Little Grebe (6 Heronry, 2 SoM), and others (NC/TH)