Dartford Warbler (photographer unknown)
Cormorant
The current trend for very few of these relatives of the pelican being seen continued unabated this month. The most were the 4 that coasted over on the 7th.
Grey Heron
A few birds were noted including one seen distantly on the 5th.
Canada Goose
Low numbers were had, though the fields adjacent to Du Cane Road where they often congregate were not extensively checked this month.
Mallard
Our only known record this month was of 5 birds heading north towards the Grand Union Canal on the 9th.
Sparrowhawk
After last month's near daily sightings, October saw a massive decrease in regular visits from these supreme predators. The first bird seen in the month was a female on the 13th. This hawk was seldom seen thereafter.
Hobby
A bird watched heading north from Chats Paddock on the 8th was the latest ever record of this scarce summer visiting falcon.
Kestrel
At least one bird was usually reported daily around the grassland area. Normally, Kestrels are mobbed relentlessly by our resident crows, however, on the 30th one was mobbed by a persistent Black-headed Gull whilst it was hovering barely 5ft over the grassland.
Black-headed Gull
At least 60 were overhead on the 7th and over 80 birds on the 30th.
Common Gull
Very few were noted during the month.
Lesser Black-back
The usual numbers floated overhead during the October mornings with the peak count of 20 on the 14th.
Herring Gull
Following on from September, over 30 were counted on the 1st and a further 20 on the 7th. The peak count was over 35 on the 14th.
Collared Dove
A flock of 5 heading northeast on the 5th was the largest single flock ever witnessed at The Scrubs, plus the first time this dove had been seen since June!
Stock Dove
Sporadic sightings were had of this inconspicuous pigeon during the month starting with a singleton heading over on the 4th followed by another on the 7th. Around 4 birds were with the passing Woodpigeon flocks on the 14th.
Woodpigeon
The autumnal movements of this common pigeon began in earnest on the 8th when at least 350 birds were in the area. The main annual exodus of continental birds across London started late in the month when over 3,000 were counted in streaming flocks that twinkled in the morning sunlight on the 30th.
Rose-ringed Parakeet
The roost at Central Copse has become well known amongst London birders and parakeets alike. On the 9th at least 1,000 left the roost mobbing and being mobbed by crows
Great Spotted Woodpecker
This woodpecker was occasionally seen knocking around The Scrubs (excuse the pun) during the month. Intriguingly, a bird was watched flying very high over the grassland heading southwest on the 5th.
Skylark
Autumn passage started suddenly on the 14th when at least 7 were encountered, mostly overhead. On the 18th a further couple birds were flushed from the grassland.
Woodlark
Another incredible sighting for The Scrubs! Our second ever record of this small woodland lark occurred on the 14th when one headed over from the east circling over the grassland before heading off west. It had a typical broad-winged lark-shape, short tail and strongly undulating flight pattern. These larks are rarely seen away from their Breckland strongholds.
This record was the first since the bird flushed from the grassland on the murky, damp morning of the 4th November 1994.
Sand Martin
At least 2 birds were picked out of a flock of migrating Swallows on the 4th making them the latest ever seen here at Wormwood Scrubs. Despite being seen flying over periodically throughout the summer, they are still very much a scarce bird here.
Swallow
The last of the passage birds came through this month with at least 25 birds involved. The last of these symbols of English rurality were 5 birds that headed south on their way to southern Africa on the 5th.
Meadow Pipit
Our transient population of around 50 birds remained in the grassland area at the beginning of the month dropping to under 30 by the 30th.
Pied Wagtail
We experienced a reasonable passage of these birds during October with the majority passing overhead, no doubt some of them were of the continental race 'White Wagtail' which of course, is not white but does have a grey not black rump.
Whilst we were watching for signs of general visible migration we had several days were up to10 birds flew over. On the 14th at least 20 passed over.
Grey Wagtail
Around 4 birds flew over during the month. The chances are that some of them may be the same mobile local birds.
Yellow Wagtail
Our latest ever report came on the 4th when at least 15 birds flew south over The Scrubs, including one flock containing at least 13 individuals. This was also our largest ever single day count for this attractive bird.
Wren
At least 4 birds were encountered on the 4th.
Dunnock
Lester's Embankment was a hive of activity on the 4th when at least 8 Hedge Accentors (the official alternative name for this species) were counted. Obviously, as with the Wren this was a vast under count.
Robin
This is yet another under recorded species. Despite their obviousness, like the tits, nobody counts them. At least 5 were along Lester's Embankment on the 4th but the truer number for the whole of The Scrubs could be approaching 40 birds.
Stonechat
Our wintering birds usually ranged from one to 3 birds. On the 7th up to 8 roving birds were encountered in the grassland. On other occasions 4 birds were found on the 11th and up to 5 mobile birds were in the grassland on the 30th.
Black Redstart
On the 17th, a pair of these quintessential urban birds were a surprise find around the northwestern end of Lester's Embankment. They were feeding on insects around the hogweed in the company of Stonechats and Meadow Pipits. They were the third ever record for The Scrubs and the second record for this year - following the female found in the spring near Martin Bell's Woods.
Oddly, at The Scrubs this year we have not had a single record of their commoner relatives the Common Redstart.
Northern Wheatear
An elusive bird was seen flying from Lester's Embankment towards Braybrook Street on the 3rd. It was distantly identified, through a telescope, as a male the following day surveying the scene from the top of a bush in the grassland opposite Central Copse.
Song Thrush
Aside from our small and currently mainly invisible residents, a number of extremely flighty migrants arrived to augment their numbers. At least 12 were noticed on the 4th including several associating with the Redwings.
Redwing
Small numbers of this northern winter thrush continued to stream through from the east during October. The 4th was a good day for observing the migration of this small Scandinavian thrush as over 70 were watched congregating on the trees in Central Copse. Most of the birds eventually headed west. A further 70 were counted on the 14th.
What a month September was!
We were still dining out on last month's mega - the Richard's Pipit - well into October. It almost didn't matter if nothing turned up during October as we had had our reward for our weeks of diligence.
But October didn't let us down. We had three amazing birds turn up. Our second ever Woodlark flew over, our third ever Black Redstarts graced Lester's Embankment and perhaps most special was our fourth ever Dartford Warbler that appeared on cue in front of Bird Watching Magazine's editor whilst he was visiting. It was all the more special because he had never seen one before. He consequently waxed lyrical about it in his editor's preface in the November issue (currently available).
Add to all that our latest ever Hobby, Sand Martin and Yellow Wagtail, our biggest ever flocks of Collared Dove, Yellow Wagtail and Jackdaw and the increased occurrences of several other species including Redpolls, Siskins and Chaffinches and October suddenly became one of the best ever for birding at The Scrubs.
We can now go into our annual winter hibernation content and satisfied. Of course we won't though, as we are greedy and we want more!
What has November got in store for us?
Contributors: David Jeffreys, David Lindo, Franko Marovich, Kevin Wilmot et al.
If you have details of any sightings or observations of unusual behaviour please sent them on no matter how trivial they may seem to: david@theurbanbirder.com
Fieldfare
Our first record for the autumn concerned 2 birds that flew over on the 8th. More birds followed during the month with 40 on the 30th being the highest count.
Mistle Thrush
At least 2 birds passed overhead on the 4th and singletons on the 7th, 8th and 30th.
Blackbird
As with the Song Thrushes, our resident birds somewhat disappear at this time of the year. The birds noted were invariably feeding on berries in the bushes along Lester's Embankment. Up to 10 were seen on the 4th.
Blackcap
We had a spate of records related to birds discovered along Lester's Embankment into October that we have never experienced before. However, this may have been due to the general lack of observers in previous Octobers.
A male found on the 17th proved to be the last bird of the autumn.
Lesser Whitethroat
Late birds were discovered along Lester's Embankment on the 3rd when a glorious male was seen. A couple days later at least 2 were at large along the embankment.
Common Whitethroat
A very late bird was found on Lester's Embankment on the 7th. Our latest ever bird was recorded on the 11th October 2003.
Dartford Warbler
Incredibly, a 1st winter bird was found in the bushes along the southern edge of Chats Paddock on the 5th. It was watched in the company of the editor of Birdwatching Magazine and his photographer for around 5 minutes before it slipped into Chats Paddock. Moments later it was heard calling within the paddock but never seen again. A follow up visit the next morning was washed out due to torrential rain.
This was our 4th record in 10 years of this gorse loving southern warbler and the earliest record in London this winter.
Chiffchaff
A few individuals continued to persist predominately along Lester's Embankment. Around 9 birds was the maximum count on the 3rd. the last birds of the autumn were the 6 seen on the 13th.
Goldcrest
Our first bird of the winter was seen briefly on Lester's Embankment on the 30th.
Great Tit
As per usual, no counts were made but birds seemed to be especially noticeable in Central Copse, Chats Paddock and Lester's Embankment during October. A conservative estimate would have been around 25 birds.
Blue Tit
At least 20 birds could have been around but no firm counts were made.
Long-tailed Tit
Roving flocks were eagerly sifted through during October for the possibility of finding an interesting warbler latched onto the group - but to no avail. At least 12 birds were discovered calling in Central Copse, including a flock of 6 that launched themselves from Central Copse high over the grassland towards Braybrook Street.
Jay
At least 3 of these colourful crows were seen on the 7th and 14th.
Magpie
At least 30 were seen throughout the month including a flock of around 18 birds that flew into Central Copse on the 4th.
Jackdaw
For some reason, this diminutive crow seems to love Central Copse. Indeed this is the one area in the whole of The Scrubs that you are most likely to hear or see a Jackdaw. A few birds were seen in and around this general area in October with the peak count being around 40 birds on the 14th - our biggest single count ever.
Carrion Crow
The usual mobs of crows were to be found.
Starling
Less of these garrulous birds were seen this month with the peak count being around 100 on the 30th.
House Sparrow
Nearly all our records of these once ubiquitous birds now emanate from seeing them leaving their communal roost in Central Copse. Over 80 were counted on the 7th and 8th. The peak count was over 100 birds on the 11th. No doubt this is a daily event that we normally miss.
Chaffinch
This autumn is looking good for this charming finch. Already we have recorded more birds this month than last October. At least 40 were counted on the 14th.
Linnet
The 10 noticed during September remained in the grassland and on Lester's Embankment during early October at least.
Goldfinch
This delightful finch was in poor numbers at The Scrubs with a paltry 9 noticed on the 8th.
Greenfinch
Small numbers were present during the month and the 20 counted on the 14th was as good as it got. Maybe all our birds are gorging themselves on peanuts and other culinary delights in the neighbouring gardens.
Siskin
At least 10 birds flew west along Lester's Embankment on the 8th and certainly one bird flew west calling over the grassland on the 30th.
Rarely settling, it was a case of identifying small brown blobs flying quickly over our heads. Their small size, yellow wing bars and distinctive whistled call helped to clinch their identity - when seen well. However, most of the 'brown blobs' that headed over our heads remained just that - brown blobs!
Redpoll
Like the Siskin, this is another inconspicuous little brown bird that when seen too late as it disappears into the murky skies has to go down as a unknown little brown job. At least one bird was recognised by call as it headed over in a small flock on the 14th.
Compartments within Wormwood Scrubs
Martin Bell's Wood - formally known as the Southern Paddock is situated on the south eastern corner close to Scrubs Lane.
Scrubs Lane Wood - the strip of woodland on the eastern edge of the site running the length of Scrubs Lane to the east and along the northern edge to Chats Paddock in the west.
Chats Paddock - will also be known as the main lizard habitat.
Lester's Embankment - marks the north western border of the Scrubs and is also referred to as 'the embankment'. Now named after Lester Holloway who in the 80's unsuccessfully campaigned to stop British Rail developing on the Scrubs.
North West Corner - the western edge of the Scrubs.
Braybrook Woods - the woodland strip running along the southern edge from Braybrook Street up to and including outside the prison along the southern parameter.
2007 Year List - thus far
Cormorant, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Greylag, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, Hobby, Kestrel, Moorhen, Lapwing, Grey Plover, Whimbrel, Curlew, Black-headed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-back, Great Black-back, Common Tern, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Collared Dove, Turtle Dove, Cuckoo, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Skylark, Woodlark, House Martin, Swallow, Sand Martin, Richard's Pipit, Tree Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Stonechat, Black Redstart, Northern Wheatear, Whinchat, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Fieldfare, Ring Ouzel, Blackbird, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Dartford Warbler, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Jay, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Rook, Jackdaw, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Linnet, Goldfinch, Siskin, Redpoll, Greenfinch, Bullfinch, Reed Bunting
84 species thus far