Regent's Park/Primrose Hill

Map:

Guide to birding sites: Regent's Park Bird-Sightings Map

Regent's Park and Primrose Hill, separated only by Prince Albert Road, together form one of London's eight Royal Parks.

Primrose Hill lies to the north, its summit providing a panoramic view of central London. In birding terms it's a good place to watch visible migration; in addition, the short fencerow bordering the fully-enclosed Barrow Hill Reservoir nearby may turn up a surprise (but unfortunately the best habitat is scheduled for removal in 2013 when the Reservoir is rebuilt). The closest tube station is Chalk Farm, a 10-minute walk away.

South of Primrose Hill, stretching towards central London almost to Marylebone Road and Baker Street, is Regent's Park. This is a very large area, mostly of playing fields but with a few small, fenced-off groups of trees that collectively can be quite productive (notably the Old Golf School wildlife pen, the boundary of Leaf Yard Wood, the Cricket and Wetland Pens - plus the open, northwest border of the Rose Wheel in Queen Mary's Gardens and the nearby St John's Lodge garden).

At the Park's southwestern edge is a reasonably-sized boating lake, home to a small breeding colony of Grey Herons and a few pairs of Reed Warblers. For those with an interest in waterfowl identification, the lake's extremities hold captive collections to practise with that include Ross's Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Pintail, Red-crested Pochard, Goldeneye and Smew. Several years ago London's second Lesser Scaup was found on the lake (after it had gone missing from Brent Reservoir to the north). The best vantage-points for seeing wild (and feral) waterbirds are the various footbridges and, especially, the Holme Green shoreline just north of the Bandstand looking northwest across the lake.

The Park really comes into its own during periods of migration. Maybe because the Park is one of the few sizable areas of green in inner London, or because the site gets so much regular coverage, it does turn up some pretty good birds for London every year. Wheatears are one of the obvious birds that are fairly easy to see but a more detailed look can turn up other interesting migrants such as Common Redstart, Whinchat, Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, Firecrest and (more rarely) Wood Warbler and Ring Ouzel.

Being an open space in London, the Park does get a lot of joggers/dogwalkers/office workers having lunch. To maximise your chances of seeing decent birds, it is advisable to visit as early as possible before anything unusual has been spooked. (NB the Park gates - but not those on the Hill - are locked at dusk and, for a few weeks in spring before the clocks switch to British Summer Time, remain so till 5:30am even though dawn has already broken.) In the winter especially, it is not uncommon for records to be of birds flying over so a basic ability to identify them by call can be indispensable.

If all else fails and after a few hours you still haven't seen anything interesting, fill your time by carefully going through the gulls. They don't roost here overnight but probably in one of the Lea Valley Reservoirs instead, so every day there is the potential for something out of the ordinary to be among them.

To visit the Park, the nearest tubes are: Baker Street to the southwest; Regent's Park and Great Portland Street, both to the southeast; Camden Town and Chalk Farm, both to the northeast; and St John's Wood to the northwest.

[Paul White (2006), with additional contributions (2009, 2012).]

Guide to birding sites: Regent's Park Bird-Sightings Map

Regent's Park Patchlist 2008 (122 species):

Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Egyptian Goose, Common Shelduck, Mandarin Duck, Mallard, Gadwall, Eurasian Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Common Teal, Red-crested Pochard, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Greater Scaup, Ruddy Duck, Red Kite, Honey-buzzard, Common Buzzard, Osprey, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine Falcon, Hobby, Merlin, Common Kestrel, Moorhen, Coot, Water Rail, Common Snipe, Woodcock, Whimbrel, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Mediterranean Gull, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Caspian Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Common Tern, Feral Pigeon, Turtle Dove, Collared Dove, Stock Dove, Wood Pigeon, Eurasian Cuckoo, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Tawny Owl, Little Owl, Common Swift, Kingfisher, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Skylark, Woodlark, House Martin, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Water Pipit, Rock Pipit, Tree Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Wren, Dunnock, Blackbird, Ring Ouzel, Fieldfare, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Song Thrush, Nothern Wheatear, Stonechat, Whinchat, Spotted Flycatcher, Pied Flycatcher, Common Redstart, Robin, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Wood Warbler, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Firecrest, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Jay, Magpie, Jackdaw, Crow, Rook, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Brambling, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Common Crossbill, Siskin, Mealy Redpoll, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer.