Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens

Website/Map: Parks-Hyde Park ~ Parks-Kensington Gardens

Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens (open dawn to dusk) are located in the heart of Inner London (City of Westminster and Inner London sector) and easily accessible by the many public transport routes that take in the general area. Both sites, though technically seperate, are continuous and are divided by West Carriage Drive (the bridge). The home of the original Crystal Palace, Speakers's Corner, Kensington Palace, the Serpentine Gallery, George Frampton's much loved Peter Pan sculpture, the Albert, Diana and Hudson Memorials, the Speke monument and Physical Energy plus many famous concerts and events. The site (as with many in Inner London) is heavily utilised by the general public and consists of open and amentised grassy areas, dotted with wooded enclosures, more formal areas, small patches of rough grassland, a lake (The Serpentine in Hyde Park and The Longwater in Kensington Gardens) and The Round Pond (also in Kensington Gardens), long known for its model boat sailing on Sundays.

Some decent local birding can be had with a bit of luck and regular watching, and the 625 acres (combined) have had a lengthy (though occasionally patchy) birdwatching history and a species list currently standing at 186. There is no waterfowl collection here though the occasional bird turns up which may have originated from one of the nearby collections (St. James' Park or Regents Park).

Early morning is always best before any disturbance kicks in and interesting local/London species to date have included: Bewick's and Whooper Swan, Garganey, Long-tailed Duck, Common Scoter, Goldeneye, all three sawbills, Red-throated Diver, Red-necked, Slavonian and Black-necked Grebe, Storm and Leach's Petrel, Gannet, Shag, Red Kite, Osprey, Merlin, Peregrine, Water Rail, Corncrake, Avocet, Sanderling, Little Stint, Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Curlew, Greenshank, Green Sandpiper, Arctic Skua, Little, Ring-billed, Yellow-legged, Iceland and Glaucous Gull, Kittiwake, Little and Black Tern, Gullemot, Razorbill, Little Auk, Turtle Dove, Short-eared Owl, Nightjar, Hoopoe, Shore Lark, Woodlark, Blue-headed Wagtail, Nightingale, Grasshopper and Marsh Warbler, Firecrest, Red-backed Shrike, Hooded Crow, Twite and Snow Bunting. The vast majority of these species are unlikely to be encountered on any ad-hoc visit and many of the more intereting records relate to past decades. However, regular watching is the key to finding the more uncommon local birds.

Residents and regulars include the most significant Inner London population of Mute Swan (occasionally numbering 100+), Mandarin, Gadwall, Shoveler, Pochard, Tufted and Ruddy Duck, Little and Great Crested Grebe, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Stock Dove, Ring-necked Parakeet, Tawny Owl, Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song and Mistle Thrush, Goldcrest, Long-tailed and Coal Tit, and Nuthatch and Treecreeper. Migrant breeders include House Martin at the periphery of the site and Blackcap'''.

A fair range of passage migrants can be expected annually such as Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Skylark, the three regular hirundines, Tree and Meadow Pipit, Yellow and White Wagtail, Common Redstart, Northern Wheatear, Fieldfare, Redwing, warblers (including the occasional Wood), Spotted and Pied Flycatcher (the former no longer breeding), Jackdaw, Brambling, Siskin, Lesser Redpoll and Reed Bunting. Furthermore, in some years there are records of species such as Wigeon and Pintail which pose questions regarding origins, some are undoubtedly wild, others less likely to be so. There are also reasonably regular records of Red-crested Pochard which are always considered to be of dubious provenance.

The whole site is a typical, though well-managed, urban park.