I saw a woodpecker today!!!! In E1!!!!

[smmudge]

Saw a woodpecker this morning whilst walking the mutt, heard it banging away and after watching for ages, I saw it.

Plus a gazillion parakeets

I've was talking to this guy who had seen some of those parakeets flying around in South-East London. He called them ring-necked parakeets and when I saw him today he'd seen some more a bit further in. He reckons the parakeet population will boom this summer. The problem is, they have a big parakeet problem in florida (where he's from), where they chew through wires and tiles because they have to keep pecking to keep their beaks short. There's a big pack of parakeets down in Surrey where my parents live, but I have yet to see any in London.

 

[Callie]

Today I saw some birds - groups of roughly 5 parakeets, some canada geeses, no swans?, some coots, some mallards (at least one in flight), i heard lots of wagtails...cant remember where that was though?

I also saw a big fat ratty! he was cute

This was all in Kingston upon Thames

I heard lots of birds in fact - i'm not too good at recognising them just from their song - although there were loads of noisy robins today - perched up high in trees and stuff

 

[scifisam]

There's an RSPB stand that occasionally turns up by the South Bank and lets people look through their binoculars to see (wonderfully clearly) the birds of prey that nest nearby - some of them in the chimneys of the Tate. I saw one of them swoop down and come back up with something or other in its beak.

Shall have to seek out the cemetary you mention.

 

[Callie]

peregrines? thats way cool

 

[scifisam]

It turns out that I must have walked past the cemetary loads of times.

This bit from the website warms my cockles:

In the 1980's the local Council contemplated placing a compulsory purchase order on the site so that it could be redeveloped. The law is that if no internments have taken place for 100 years then a cemetery may have its occupants removed and the site redeveloped - a disaster for London's Jewish Heritage. To protect the site from this vandalism a one off internment was carried out, and in 1990 Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild (1910 - 1990), the third Baron Rothschild, was buried next to his illustrious ancestor. See photo below right. The site is now safe until 2090.

I hope the same might happen at Shoreditch church. There's talk of building a theatre in its 'disused' graveyard, because it's so near the site of the theatre Shakespeare's earliest plays were performed in. I love Shakespeare plays, but we have enough theatres already, and not enough green space. Here's hoping they can bury someone there soon!

 

[scifisam]

peregrines? thats way cool

Yup! Even through binoculars they were way impressive.

 

[Callie]

They can go really fucking fast when they want. I saw some in a very different setting once - hanging around some coastal cliffs in Wales.

I also saw Choughs that day. chough chough chough

 

[scalyboy]

I think we need to start an urban twitching club

Oh yes, yes indeed.

I saw a bittern a couple of weeks ago, over at Barnes, London Wetlands Centre. He/she emerged from the reedbeds and was strutting about in full view, showing off a thick long neck, even started to climb the reeds. Every winter for the last few years, 2 or 3 bitterns have flown in to Barnes from the Continent. They may have gone back by now - last one spotted 16th March. check here

It was a big thrill I can tell you, especially since I have gone to Norfolk, Suffolk marshland areas in search of the enigmatic, elusive BITTERN, and eventually saw one in London...

 

[boohoo]

I heard a woodpecker in Brockwell park the other week but couldn't locate it. You can see a lot of the noisey parakeets there.

 

[Callie]

Oh yes, yes indeed.

I saw a bittern a couple of weeks ago, over at Barnes, London Wetlands Centre. He/she emerged from the reedbeds and was strutting about in full view, showing off a thick long neck, even started to climb the reeds. Every winter for the last few years, 2 or 3 bitterns have flown in to Barnes from the Continent. They may have gone back by now - last one spotted 16th March. check here

It was a big thrill I can tell you, especially since I have gone to Norfolk, Suffolk marshland areas in search of the enigmatic, elusive BITTERN, and eventually saw one in London...

Cool! I should really visit the wetlands centre, need some noculars though

 

[scalyboy]

Cool! I should really visit the wetlands centre, need some noculars though

Yes, you'll need them when you're in the hides. There are some semi-tame ducks & cranes (including some incredibly camp whistling ducks who sounded just like Frankie Howerd -seriously - "Ooooh-oouuh!") who you can get quite close to, but for the real wild birds you'll need binocs.

The real hardcore twitchers there have hi-tech, hi-magnification telescopes on tripods. Some people were kind enough to let me have a look through theirs - saw a woodcock concealed in the reeds, wouldn't have spotted him otherwise. But binoculars will get you to see a fair bit of bird action. They used to rent pairs out at the ticket office at the entance.

 

[Detroit City]

 

[marty21]

i saw a sparrowhawk, in millfields park, clapton just sitting on a tree

 

[GoneCoastal]

Not London but interesting: The Brighton Peregrine Falcons
http://www.regencybrighton.com/birds/webcam/

 

[beeboo]

Woodpeckers can be seen/heard quite often in Dulwich Woods - the noise they make is bizarre - less 'tap-tap-tap' more like 'boiiiiiiiiiing'

 

[Callie]

I heard a yaffle (another name for a woodpecker or the call that they make) whilst out for a walk in Lloyd's park in Croydon yesterday. Didn't really see that many other birdies though.

 

[boohoo]

i saw a sparrowhawk, in millfields park, clapton just sitting on a tree

I've seen a couple of birds of prey flying around Springfield park the other year.

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

we heard some woodpecker(s) this morning when we walked up the new river in stoke newington (couldn't see it/them cos there was too much foliage).

and we also met a bloke who told us that there are lots of migrating birds on their way back from the sahara and some green woodpeckers about as well as the greater spotted ones.

 

[scalyboy]

we heard some woodpecker(s) this morning when we walked up the new river in stoke newington (couldn't see it/them cos there was too much foliage).

and we also met a bloke who told us that there are lots of migrating birds on their way back from the sahara and some green woodpeckers about as well as the greater spotted ones.

I see green woodpeckers fairly often, round here in large grassy areas (and in the cemetery) here in LB Barnet. At first i was surprised that I tended to see them on the ground rather than up a tree - but i have since learned that they feed on worms etc on the grass, and will fly up into trees if startled. They are certainly very cautious, constantly looking up and around, and flying off into a tree if I get anywhere near close. The only exception was an odd one who was beaking around on the bank by the athletics track at Gospel Oak/Hampstead Heath. Didn't seem to mind how close we were.

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

yes, the bloke we met said that they feed more on the ground and said we should come back more often cos we'd probably see some up close.

 

[marty21]

I saw a Raven today, in Hackney, on the marshes, near the Middlesex Filter beds, he was strolling around, all cool like but flew off before I could take a picture