August 6th 2010

Fairlop Waters:

• Oh, the Mute Swans have a cygnet after all, but they had wondered from the lagoon to the fishing lake with it!
• new brood of Mallard on the fishing lake
• 2 Broods of Tufted Ducks, 1 female with 4 ducklings on the boating lake, and 1 female with 4 newborn ducklings on the scrape
• c20 Swallow and c10 Sand Martin feeding on the lake just before dusk
• Great Crested Grebe (boating lake), Little Grebe (scrape)
• 3 Green Sandpiper (scrape), several Grey Heron there too
• 1 Lapwing on the island (DEH)

Gants Hill, Roll Gardens:

• Sparrowhawk - Seen at 10.25am in our tree very briefly then it flew awaywith nothing.
• Great Spotted Woodpecker (AThomas)

Wanstead Flats:

• (15:30-19:00): c.100 Black-headed Gull (including two roosts), 2 Common Gull, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull (juv),
• 2 Sparrowhawk (over cemetry to south), Kestrel (Still hunting at 21:00 in the gloom),
• 9 Swift (south), 5 House Martin,
• 3 Collared Dove, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Carrion Crow, Magpie, c. 20 Jackdaw, Jay, Starling (c. 150), Moorhen, Coot, juv Little Grebe, Mallard, Shoveler, Canada Goose, Mute Swan family, 2 Robin, 3 Mistle Thrush, Great Tit, Blue Tit, 3 Chiffchaff, 3 Whitethroat, 3 Green Woodpecker, 2 Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Wren, 2 Cormorant and no Skylark, Meadow Pipit,or even a Blackbird and all-in-all a lack of small things (Nick Croft).

Wanstead Park:

• (19:00-21:00): Hobby calling over Reservoir Wood, then 4 over Heronry at 20:30 (presumably ad and juv), 3 Sparrowhawk (1 ad + 2 juv SoM), c .40 Black-headed Gull (including two roosts), 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, 3-5 Sand Martin, 5 House Martin, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Jackdaw, Jay, Starling, Moorhen, Coot, 5 juv Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Mallard, Canada Goose, 2 Mute Swan families, Robin, Blackbird, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit (parties in Bush Wood, SoM, Perch, and at the old sewage works), 3 Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, 2 Green Woodpecker, 2 Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Wren, Cormorant, 2 Grey Heron, and Dunnock (Nick Croft).

Woodford Green, Keynsham Avenue: (just outside the borough)

• 10 Ring Necked Parakeet (Ann Westland)