Friday 12th October

After a busy few weeks it felt great to finally get back out in the Park again. With a light mist covering the park, conditions were cool and damp, and visibility was somewhat limited.

After hearing reports of Redwing in the county for the past couple of weeks it was nice to observe them in the park this morning. At least 30 birds were seen, with most birds flying over giving themselves away with there ‘seep seep’ calls. 4 Green Woodpecker were seen, and only 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker was noted, at least 3 Goldcrests were heard, 1 Coal Tit sang from a Yew along Laurel Walk, 2 Bullfinches were heard, 2 Treecreepers were heard by the Weir, 3 Nuthatches called, a Song Thrush was singing by the footbridge, 1 Grey Wagtail called as it flew over, 7 Jays were noted, and 1 Stock Dove was seen. However the highlight of the walk was a group of 9 Lesser Redpolls feeding in the wet woodland along the Len - the first for the year. They tended to hang around in the Alders by a large London Plane tree, next the footpath, for most of the visit giving good views. I presume that these birds must be part of the recent arrival of migrants that have been recorded in the southeast of the country lately, notably in the London parks.

On the Lake there were at least 8 Mute Swans, 2 Cormorants, exactly 100 Canada Geese, and 6 Shoveler – 3 of both gender, there were also countless Mallards, Coots and Moorhens. The gull flock on the Lake consisted of 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, at least 60 Back-headed Gulls, and 9 Common Gulls. A Grey Heron fished along the Len.

Also of note were several Rabbits, a sad sight of a dead young Fox, and there was a clear increase in Blackbird numbers.