The Urban Birder

Sightings

Cormorant

At least four were encountered on the 24th with singletons or duos reported most days.

Grey Heron

A few singles flapped over ponderously during the month.

Mute Swan

There were reports of occasional local birds flying over during the month.

Greylag

We had multiple records this month of this erstwhile scarce visitor; possibly a reflection of their breeding successes at nearby sites like Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens. Birds were seen on four occasions with a peak of four that flew over from the north on the 24th.

Canada Goose

At least four were seen on the 24th.

Egyptian Goose

A pair of these exotic geese headed east on the 14th and were our 2nd record for 2011. But like buses, it seemed that we were destined to encounter more of these colourful goose-ducks and that we did when a lone bird went east, low over the southern edge of the site on the 22nd.

Mallard

These common ducks become incredibly visible during the spring as they indulge in courtship chasing and general flapping around. A couple were seen most days with six on the 27th being the most.

Teal

Incredibly, a pair swiftly flew fairly low over Braybrook Street heading west on the early misty morning on the 16th and became our first ever record of this small dabbling duck.

We have had an excellent eight months for waterfowl at The Scrubs adding no less than five new birds to our site list plus a further four species were recorded again for the first time in several years. Not bad for a site with no standing water. To be fair though, we are surrounded by several watercourses, not least the Thames, so it would only be a matter of time before we would have caught sight of commuting birds. There are not that many regular waterfowl species to look out for now as we are in the realms of expecting a scarce species like a Goldeneye or Pintail to fly over.

Perhaps the most likely scarce duck to appear next will be a Red-crested Pochard as there is a pair that have been lingering for some time on the Grand Union Canal literally a quarter of a mile away.

Common Buzzard

This nationally common raptor is now becoming a far more frequently seen member of The Scrubs predatory avifauna. The two birds watched displaying and drifting north on the afternoon of the 19th constituted our earliest spring records.

Sparrowhawk

This aggressive hawk was surprisingly scarce this month with the first report, of a female, made on the 27th. Conditions were calm and warm on that day, ideal for raptor passage and we were rewarded with a pair of Sparrowhawks soaring on the thermals.

Kestrel

Our first bird for the month was watched soaring on the 27th. Very few, if any sightings, were reported for the remainder of the month.

Peregrine

One was seen from Acton heading towards The Scrubs on the 30th.

Woodcock

One was flushed from the pitch on the southern side of the grassland on the 24th. It headed east low over Central Copse and could not be relocated thereafter.

Snipe

One landed in the northwest corner on the 27th after coming in from the south. It was our first record for 2011.

Black-headed Gull

Reasonable numbers were still lingering at the beginning of the month with over 150 on the pitches on the 2nd. By the 10th numbers were fizzling out. The final hurrah occurred on the 14th when over 150 birds were present. Our birds departed to their breeding grounds a lot earlier this year than in previous years and there were far lower numbers present on the pitches than what we would have usually expected.

Plenty of birds were migrating overhead though throughout the remainder of March with a maximum of over 200 on the morning of the 20th. By the month's end we were hard pressed to find more than 10 birds.

Common Gull

Around 25 were counted on the 2nd and 30 on the 14th. By the 16th there were 50 birds on the pitches easily outnumbering their more common Black-headed cousins. By the 27th only five remained with most of their brethren already migrated to their northern breeding grounds.

Mediterranean Gull

A pale winged second-winter bird flew east over Scrubs Lane Wood on the 24th with a group of Black-headed Gulls.

Herring Gull

Fairly good numbers were in the area during the month even though our figures were are fairly paltry compared to other London sites. At least 45 were around on the 18th and 24th with around 40 overhead on the 20th.

Lesser Black-back

The usual low numbers drifted over with 10 on the 20th and the 24th being the most.

Stock Dove

A lone bird was seen on the 9th and a further three appeared on the 18th.

Woodpigeon

At least 50 were on site during the month with nesting activity observed from several sectors of The Scrubs.

Collared Dove

This is a scarce dove at The Scrubs with only a singleton passing overhead on the 15th.

Rose-ringed Parakeet

At least 600 were noticed flying out of their Central Copse roost. The numbers was dropping during the month as the females were beginning to spend their nights away from the main roosts in the nest holes.

Green Woodpecker

A single bird was noted on the 7th and another was heard distantly on the 24th and 27th.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Birds were seen throughout the month with up to five on the 24th including a displaying pair watched near the northeast corner.

Skylark

A single bird was discovered on the 10th and seen again the following day. By the 14th there were three around including a pair on the football pitches with the gulls. We had a slight fright on the 25th when one male half-heartedly sang in a display flight over the grassland but our hopes of another breeding attempt were quickly dashed when any further nesting activity promptly ceased despite the presence of two birds the following day.

The other records for March included singles seen on the 19th and 28th.