Richard's Pipit (photo taken in India)
Cormorant
The usual paltry numbers flapped over our airspace including the occasional sightings of the pale-breasted brown juveniles.
Grey Heron
Single birds were seen on most days during the month.
Little Egret
It was truly a great opener for the month when 3 birds passed over The Scrubs from south of Central Copse and low north on the 2nd. Amazingly, the observers were discussing the likelihood of future records of this gorgeous little heron, given its exponential increase, seconds before the small flock appeared!
These birds represented our 3rd ever record, our 2nd for this year and our 1st multiple record. There will be others, that's for sure!
Mute Swan
An adult circuited the grassland on the 2nd and was seen from Chats Paddock a little later. On the 4th, 4 adults flew majestically over Braybrook Street.
Despite their huge size, swans are infrequently noticed flying over The Scrubs and when they do, you find yourself watching them marvelling at their beauty and grace.
Canada Goose
Following from last month numbers kept their consistency with at least 40 recorded on the 2nd.
Sparrowhawk
As per usual for this time of year, this stealth hunter was noted on a near daily basis with their favourite hunting grounds being in Central Copse and along Lester's Embankment. Of interest was pair watched spiralling up together over Lester's Embankment on the 30th. The size difference was apparent when they were together with the female being nearly a third bigger than the male.
Hobby
There were two records of this magnificent falcon during September. Firstly, was one that swooped in from the south west on the 2nd chasing a finch along Lester's Embankment, before heading north east. The other bird was a juvenile on the 25th seen distantly to the north by Car Giant's roof.
These birds were the first September records since our first ever record in 1993.
Kestrel
Our resident couple (assuming that they are a pair) have been entertaining the dogwalkers and other casual observers during the month as they hover over the grassland in search of their favourite prey - voles. On the 12th 3 were in the air together calling over Chats Paddock.
Snipe
The first bird of the winter was flushed from the grassland for 2 days in a row from the 26th. At least 4 were seen on the 27th including 3 that were caught flying over Chats Paddock.
Black-headed Gull
Below average numbers passed over during the month with few spending time on the football pitches. Around 40 birds were encountered on the 30th.
Common Gull
Very small numbers were noted during the month with 2 birds being the optimum count.
Herring Gull
At least 20 passed over on the 23rd and 30 on the 30th.
Lesser Black-back
Again, no great numbers were reported during September. Around 20 on the 30th was as good as it got.
Woodpigeon
Around 200 were around on the 11th including a melanistic bird on the football pitches.
Stock Dove
There were a few more sightings this month. Their occurrences should increase as we approach winter especially during late October onwards when the hoards of continental Woodpigeons start migrating over. We have found over the years that sometimes quite a few Stock Doves travel with their larger cousins.
Turtle Dove
The only bird of the year flew from the south into Central Copse on the 9th. This migrant's decline has been so steep that when are sighted they are even mentioned on the rare bird pager services. It's such a shame that they run the gauntlet of batteries of guns when the cross the Mediterranean on their way to and from their wintering quarters in sub Saharan Africa.
Rose-ringed Parakeet
At least 700 birds poured out of Central Copse on the 2nd. It's interesting to think that just 12 months ago the peak count was 130. Our plan for one evening in October is to brave the cold and the unsavoury characters and count the birds coming into roost.
Green Woodpecker
The only known record was of a rather pallid looking individual along Lester's Embankment on the 6th. It seems that the best place to see this distinctive and vociferous woodpecker is at neighbouring Kensal Green Cemetery.
Great Spotted Woodpecker
This nationally common woodpecker became very visible this month with up to a couple birds seen on an almost daily basis. On the 10th, 2 were seen along Lester's Embankment including an individual that emerged from the middle of a bush.
House Martin
A record 75 plus birds, including a single flock containing at least 60, headed west over Braybrook Street on the 23rd. The unprecedented numbers were part of a general London-wide movement of swallows and martins that day.
Swallow
We experienced quite a healthy passage during September, probably our best ever, that involved at least 210 birds. It must be mentioned that these figures relate to the birds we see during a couple hours in the morning. They must represent the tip of the iceberg.
At least 120 passed through on the 23rd and a further minimum of 65 on the 25th. For the first time this autumn birds were actually flying south instead of west or even north!
Richard's Pipit
Lightening has struck twice! A single bird was located flying around the grassland with the roving Meadow Pipit flocks at 8am on the 23rd. It was London's 20th ever record in over 100 years and even more incredibly, the 2nd Wormwood Scrubs record of this large enigmatic central Asian pipit, as the first was found on 29th September 1998.
It was a birder's bird however, because even though it was larger than the attendant Meadow Pipits (a tad smaller in body length than a Starling) they look similar to their far commoner cousin and can be quite evasive, not allowing close approach. They do have a very distinctive call that is not dissimilar to a sparrow's chirp.
This rarity stayed around until the afternoon attracting The Scrubs' first major twitch with birders from all over London coming to see it. Richard's Pipits normally winter in southern Asia but up to 20 plus birds are found in the British Isles every year. According to the Rare Bird Alert website, there had only been one previous report of Richard's Pipit anywhere in the British Isles this autumn so far: in Suffolk on the 11th.
So this year, The Scrubs may have got in ahead of the main sites in the UK where they regularly turn up, Fair Isle and the Isles of Scilly!
Tree Pipit
Our first birds since the 2 spring migrants in April this year flew over on the 3rd. The 3 birds landed in the grassland and when put up again, flew off strongly. Another bird was located calling overhead going south over Chats Paddock on the 22nd, one was flushed from the grassland on the 25th and finally a bird passed overhead on the 30th.
Meadow Pipit
The annual passage started on the 10th when at least 3 flew in from the east, adding to the 5 that had already been flushed that day. The good counts came from the 23rd when at least 75 were buzzing around with a Richard's Pipit in their midst. The best date was the 26th when at least 85 were counted. Numbers tailed off thereafter to an average of around 50 birds until the month's end.
Yellow Wagtail
This one time rarity is now an expected regular spring and autumn migrant and autumn 2007 despite being quieter than last year still resulted in 8 of these attractive long-tailed yellow and green birds being sighted. All September's counts involved birds flying over with 2 over on the 3rd, another on the 5th, 2 on the 12th.
Pied Wagtail
Odd birds were seen during the period, but none of the gatherings that we have become used to for this time of the year have yet materialised. Thankfully, evidence of possible local breeding was obtained when 2 juveniles were discovered in with the ponies on the 9th.
Grey Wagtail
The first of a regular stream of records occurred from the 6th and involved around 8 birds.
Wren
At least 6 were at large along Lester's Embankment and the adjacent bramble patch during the month.
Dunnock
Lester's Embankment and Chats Paddock was this unobtrusive floor-creeping bird's main headquarters this month with at least 10 noticed.
Robin
These little pugnacious birds must have had a good year with as many as 20 of were dotted around the site this month. As usual there were no counts done.
Hallelujah!
Now that's a word that hasn't made it onto any of The Scrubs monthly reports for a few years now. It is a word that goes half way to describing the elation of discovery and the culmination of hours and hours of kicking bushes and looking longingly towards the heavens - with binoculars in hand of course!
And the reasons for our abject jubilation? Well, after a mucky summer this autumn has more than made up for it, even though for numbers 2006 was by far the better year. Our first major find in over 3 years occurred on the 23rd when a rare Richard's Pipit was discovered in the grassland amongst the commoner Meadow Pipits.
This amazing bird draw a crowd of admirers from all over London and reinforced just how special Wormwood Scrubs is for attracting wildlife. The grassland is a very important part of the park and unbelievably, it is unprotected. We hope that the fact that we are finding some interesting species using this habitat and plus it holds a small breeding population of Meadow Pipits might make someone somewhere realise that it needs preserving and to be part of the general local nature reserve.
It looks like October will be shaping up well if it continues in September's vein.
Contributors: David Jeffreys, David Lindo, Franko Marovich, Roy Nuttall 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
Northern Wheatear
Our 2nd bird of the autumn showed up on 12th in the form of a male on the football pitches - one of their favourite haunts at The Scrubs. This autumn has been a very poor showing, the worst in recent years.
Whinchat
After a singleton took up residence towards the end of August for a few days, 7 roaming birds including a poorly marked male were discovered frequenting the grassland on the 3rd. They were a welcomed find. At least 3 of these remained for the next few days. By the 9th only 1 was found staying until the 11th in the hogweed near the bramble patch opposite Lester's Embankment.
Then, on the 25th a first winter/female appeared by the bramble patch opposite Lester's Embankment loosely associating with the Stonechats, its close relation. It stayed until the 29th.
Stonechat
Our small wintering population suddenly arrived on the 17th when a pair of immatures/females took up residence in their traditional area by the bramble patch opposite Lester's Embankment. What they tend to do during the winter is drift around that general area and sometimes morph into 3 birds!
On the 26th a winter plumaged male was hanging around with a migrant Whinchat and on the 30th whilst our usual birds were observed hunting craneflies from the treetops in Central Copse. This was a very unusual location to find these birds that habitually frequent low bushes.
Blackbird
Only 8 birds were noticed on the 25th.
Song Thrush
Our local population slowly began to reappear after hiding away during August.
Redwing
The first birds of the winter flew over from the east on the 29th when upwards of 70 were counted. The next day at least 5 were watched heading west along Lester's Embankment.
Mistle Thrush
There were a few records from the 22nd onwards with 10 birds on the 30th being particularly good.
Blackcap
Numbers hit a massive slump during the month with only a few birds noticed usually along Lester's Embankment. We did better than last September in that individuals were seen on most days. The peak count was of 5 birds on the 12th.
Lesser Whitethroat
Occasional sightings of this handsome warbler were had during the month with at least 1 seen on Lester's Embankment on the 3rd, 5th and the 11th. At least 3 were seen on 12th and 2 on the 30th.
Common Whitethroat
2007 will be remembered as a fairly poor year for this dainty warbler. Last year birds were noticed in small numbers throughout September. This year it seemed as though our birds departed earlier than usual with the last sightings being in the early part of the month. The very last bird to be seen this month was briefly by the bramble patch opposite Lester's Embankment on the 20th.
Sedge Warbler
Early in the month the 3rd bird of the autumn and our latest ever record, hung around until the 6th in the Hogweed by the bramble patch near Lester's Embankment.
Chiffchaff
The usual autumnal build up happened during the month with quite a few migrants passing through. The peak count was some 20 birds discovered on the 10th and the other big count was 18 on the 16th. The Scrubs recorded a healthy passage that even some of our venerable colleagues in Norfolk had to salute whilst they struggled to find any.
Willow Warbler
This bird can be pretty tough to decipher from the very similar looking Chiffchaff especially when given the briefest of views as it flits within the bushes. This probably explains why only 1 bird was recognised with any certainty this month in Chats Paddock on the 3rd.
At The Scrubs, August is usually the peak month for migration for this sleek leaf warbler. However, last month's passage was fairly light when compared with August 2006 when birds were seen regularly throughout the month with up to 10 counted on one morning.
Spotted Flycatcher
Our amazing show of 17 birds last autumn was not repeated as we could only muster a maximum of 5 birds. Only one bird was reported this autumn and it was only a fleeting glimpse on the 4th. This particular bird was seen in flight for literally moments in the north west corner.
Blue Tit
As ever, counts of this very familiar little bird were incomplete during the period, though quite a few were noticed in the roving tit flocks. On the 11th at least 30 birds were watched moving around in the bushes.
Great Tit
On the same day as the big Blue Tit count at least 15 birds were counted in with the other tits. This was probably a massive under count.
Long-tailed Tit
There seems to be one day a month were we attempt to count all the tits on The Scrubs - if you'll excuse the pun! The 11th, the designated day, resulted in at least 25 birds.
Magpie
At least 30 birds were noticed on the 30th with up to 17 watched flying over the grassland in one disjointed flock.
Jay
The annual autumnal movement that began late into August, continued throughout September with on average at least 3 birds seen daily, especially around Lester's Embankment and the northern edge of Scrubs Lane Wood. Up to 7 were seen on the 29th and 30th. Although numbers never approached the highs of last September when at least 13 were counted on one visit.
Jackdaw
At least 5 were in the area on the 12th with a further 3 on the 23rd
Carrion Crow
At least 150 were counted on the 25th. Our chocolate coloured individual was located again on the 9th. It was apparent that old Chocco is quite attached to the prison, rarely straying from the field opposite. Its plumage was of a similar hue to a Steppe Eagle or pallid Nutcracker - if that makes any sense to anyone!
Starling
At least 300 were present on the 23rd but that was abnormally high with around 50 birds being the more usual daily count. Unusually, on the 25th birds were being flushed almost from underfoot from the grassland.
House Sparrow
The Central Copse roost was still being occupied during the month, however we were arriving too late to do proper counts as most of them had flown to Braybrook Street for breakfast by then. Around 30 left the roost on the 29th.
Chaffinch
The first of the winter influx started on the 21st when a singleton was heard calling from the around cottage on Old Oak Common Lane and a male sighted in Central Copse.
Goldfinch
The most seen was around 20 on the 30th.
Greenfinch
About 15 were noticed on the 30th.
Linnet
A small contingent of this small finch remained around the Lester's Embankment and grassland areas during the month with at least 10 encountered with on the 3rd and about 7 on the 23rd. However, they were often nigh invisible when the blended in with the roaming pipits and Goldfinches.
Siskin
This is a real winter finch that is not particularly well known in our area. They are usually noticed flying over maybe once a winter when their flight call can be picked out. Like a small cross between a Goldfinch and Greenfinch they have a penchant for feeding in Spruce, Alder and Birch, tree species that don't exist in any great number here. That probably explains their scarcity.
A flock of around 6 headed over south on the 23rd and a single went over 2 days later.
Bullfinch
After an absence of nearly 4 months a pair were glimpsed for a fraction of a second along Lester's Embankment on 17th. A day later a male was flying around the pitches before dropping into Scrubs Lane Woods. Finally 2 birds were noticed on the 22nd. For the first time, we fear that none of our 2 pairs bred this year.
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, 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, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Jay, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Rook, Jackdaw, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Linnet, Goldfinch, Siskin, Greenfinch, Bullfinch, Reed Bunting