General sightings

This page is for more general sightings from in and around London, please feel free to add your sightings. All less common sightings are welcome here, however it is recommended that you use the Latest News page for this! Thank you and enjoy your Birding! Here is a clarification of the two wiki pages. You should use the Latest News page for ''Rare sightings, site records, birds of interest, where as this page should be for more general sightings from around London, however unimportant they may seem, every count is useful to someone. Sorry for the Confusion, I hope this at least clears it up for now. (SL) ''

Monday 3rd October 2016

 * Avenue House Grounds, Finchley (N3): Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tits (heard), Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jay, Woodpigeon, Blackbird, Robin. (Dave W.)
 * Durants Park, Ponders End: Green Woodpecker still resident, Chiff-chaff and Goldcrests with tit flock, Greenfinch, 2 Meadow Pipits over (A.Middleton)
 * Pinner: Red Kite over East Towers. Breeding success of Stock Doves evident, Tawny Owls calling Lloyd Court (Richard Francis).
 * Ruxley GPs (Foots Cray/Chislehurst Permit only): 7 Mute Swan (2 ad 5 juv not raised here), 2 Canada Goose, 4 Mallard, 30+ Gadwall, 2 Shoveler, 2 Pochard (m with f Tufted Duck, f with other Tufties), 60+ Tufted Duck, 4 Little Grebe, 4 Great Crested Grebe, 3+ Cormorant, 3 Little Egret, 3 Grey Heron, 3-6 Common Buzzard (3 seen at once, 4 other occasions of 1 or 2 birds), 3 Water Rail heard, 20+ Moorhen, 150+ Coot, 40+ Black-headed Gull (inc yellow-ringed 2DBP also seen in other locations around Sidcup in last 2 years), ad Common Gull, 5+ Herring Gull inc Caspian lookalike, LBB Gull, Feral Pigeons, 3+ Stock Dove, Woodpigeons, R-n Parakeets, Kingfisher, Green Woodpecker, GSW, 15+ Meadow Pipit mainly N, 1+ Grey Wagtail, Wrens, 3+ Dunnock, 6+ Robin, 3+ Song Thrush, 4+ Blackbird, Cetti's Warbler calling, 10+ Chiffchaff, 2+ Goldcrest, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Magpies, 2+ Jay, 4+ Jackdaw over, 2+ Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, 6+ Goldfinch, 3 Greenfinch, 2+ Bullfinch (Ian Stewart) A full list from a different area for you Samuel, hope it's of interest to you (IS) - Yep it sure is thank you. (SL)

Sunday 2nd October 2016

 * Higham's Park: Wigeon, Teal, 5 Mandarin, 10+ Gadwall, 2 Pochard, 12 Tufted Duck, Kingfisher, Stock Dove, Grey Heron. (Joe Dickens)

Saturday 1st October 2016

 * Higham's Park: Wigeon (site tick), Mandarin, 14 Gadwall, 3 Pochard, 10 Tufted Duck, Kingfisher, Nutatch, 3 Cormorant, 4 Grey Heron, Goldcrest, Stock Dove. (Joe Dickens) - Hi Joe, It's good to see you again : ) (JR). Hi Jon - I'm still going, just in the East of London nowadays checking your Pinner sightings with interest! (JD)
 * Pinner: Unremarkable Stock Dove, Starling, Robin and Dunnock. Equally unremarkable and uninteresting Wood Pigeon. But not to me (Richard Francis)
 * Pinner (HA5): Chiffchaff, 8 House Sparrow, Coal Tit & 4 Goldfinch - not too great today & this sub-dividing of records is driving me up the wall (Jon Ridge).
 * Wood Vale, N10. 7 House Martin, 5 Swallow (S) at 0830. (Matt Evans)

Discussion

 * No disrespect intended, but it is difficult & confusing following two pages in tandem - It is as important to understand that a House Sparrow in one of the Royal Parks these days is equal to a Spotted Redshank at Rainham (JR).
 * I agree with JR — creating a personal page for detailed personal records may be a good idea, but I do not see the point of inviting other birders to add their own unremarkable sightings to it (AH)....If some thing has been remarked upon by someone, then it is clearly remarkable to that person and maybe others... maybe you should clarify your comment by stating that whatever you refer to as unremarkable refers to your personal views and anyone else you wish to list, and not make the assumption of implying that any item is widely unremarkable to all.
 * The reason why it is a good idea is so that other people can see what is elsewhere. This doesn't necessarily mean that they need to be rare birds. Birders should be able to put what they want where they want, and if they are invited to another page then allow them to use this other page as it is still useful. All records are useful and the more sightings this page and the other page get the more able we are able to find out distributions throughout London of both rare and common birds. Yes the name is a bit confusing but i don't know how to change it!? (SL)
 * SL - Would it not then be better to have a page with the species lists for each site (both annual and all-time), perhaps with peak counts, rather than a tedious string of daily Blue Tit and Robin records? (TS)
 * Splitting up the sightings into two pages will result in an administration nightmare in terms of processing the data - If for example I record a Red Kite & Sparrowhawk this afternoon, then which page (or pages) should they go on? I rather feel like when I want to add a record to the main page now, that I am in some way trespassing or caught with my hand in the biscuit tin! (JR).
 * It's easy to change your page name, Samuel — go to the page, click on the arrowhead next to "Edit" in the blue box near the top of the page, and then click on "Rename" (AH).
 * Hi AH, I can't actually change the title, so I think the wiki admin needs to do it, if the wiki admin sees this could they please change the page to General sightings. Why is it always something that I do that causes a huge argument, I was happily adding my sightings to here for sometime and then all of a sudden I am asked to make a new page. I make a new page an invite other people to add their sightings. It could be more simple yet I am still writing in this comments. I am sorry to those that have been finding it difficult with two pages. JR if you have a record then add it to [the Latest News] page where as any other sightings should be kept on [this] page unless they are rare. I agree that what I was doing before on this page may seem pointless, but there are reasons behind everything. I think that personally the lastest news page should be for Rare sightings, site records, birds of interest, where as the page that I was asked to create should be for more general sightings from around London, however unimportant they may seem, every count is useful to someone. Sorry for the Confusion. (SL)
 * Samuel, I see that you now hardly add any sightings to Latest News, which is a shame. For example, your Cetti's Warbler in Mill Hill on 23rd September was by no means a “general" sighting and should certainly have been included on Latest News so that other birders (including me, a Mill Hill resident) could have looked for it and also so that it could be picked up for possible inclusion in the annual London Bird Report. (I can’t imagine that the compilers of the report will be interested in trawling through a General Sightings page on the off-chance that they might find something of wide interest amongst all the Robins and Blue Tits.) (AH)
 * Furthermore, Samuel, may I point out, with respect, that, despite your claim above, you were NOT "all of a sudden . . . asked to make a new page". What happened was that the wiki's Administrator politely asked you to comply with the request in the Latest News header paragraph that birders should "only report sightings of wide interest rather than listing all common birds". I then tried to help you by suggesting that if you wished to keep a full record of your own sightings you could set up a personal page. You did so, but now you are now letting us all down by failing to use the Latest News page to report birds of widespread interest, such as your Mill Hill Village Cetti's Warbler. How did we get into this mess? (AH)
 * I think this is all just a misunderstanding on a very large scale. I am not really sure what to do now. (SL)
 * ​Should I add all the reports from this page on to the general page and take out the not so interesting spieces, ie, Robin, Great Tit. If so then I will do this over the weekend and then this page can be deleted!? (SL)
 * Well we all love birding & for now I am adding records to both pages, but it does involve a bit more input & it's much harder to keep track of records - the issue I have is what species go where? - a Linnet or Lesser Redpoll over the garden for example beats a Red Kite over the garden (JR)
 * Maybe two pages is only a good idea if someone somewhere had the time to draw up a what speices goes where map, but until then may it is worth getting rid of this page, after transfering everything on here across to the latest news page. I am sorry to those who are confused or having diffculty. And sorry AH, I completly misunderstood what was meant. I also didn't realise the a Cetti's warbler on Sheep wash pond was acctually that rare, so if i see it again i will record it on the other page. (SL)
 * Hi Samuel, I'm happy to talk to you directly rather than through the wiki. You can find my email address on my Andrew Haynes page. (AH) - Your email doesn't work!?
 * Hi Samuel, the BTO would always appreciate your sightings as they help to build up a wider picture of bird populations of vital worth.  You could register everything you see on Birdtrack and then also put the remarkable sightings on Londonbirders (BJ).
 * Hi Samuel - ditto to BJ's suggestion. That way the records contribute to scientific study. An alternative, to help inform other birders, is to use eBirds. I would not worry about putting a bird down on this page that others would have preferred to see on the latest sightings page. If they miss it, too bad, it's not as though they would have been in a better position had you not bothered to record your sightings at all! Keep enjoying your birding and don't let one or two grumpy people put you off! (Matt Evans).
 * Hopefully this rather sorry incident will be a lesson to us all in relation to just how easily things can spiral completely out of control - at the end of the day, I am just grateful to be able to contribute something to either site, as a world without any birds is very hard to imagine - Well, I'll give Richard the final words : ) (JR).
 * And all the while, the actual birds are totally oblivious to our antics (RF).
 * This subject is now closed - add records wherever you wish (JR).

Friday 30th September 2016

 * Dollis Brook (Holders Hill): 4 Starling, Pied Wagtail, 2 Robin, 2 Moorhen. (Samuel Levy)
 * Dollis Brook (Totteridge Valley): 2 willow warbler heard at 1820. (Samuel Levy)
 * Oakwood Station: 4 Feral Pigeon 2 adults and 2 chicks in nest (NY) (Robert Callf)
 * Pinner (HA5): 3 Swallow & 2 House Martin over south, 134 Ring-necked Parakeet over, 2 Green Woodpecker, 2 Jay, 2 Coal Tit, 8 House Sparrow, 10 Goldfinch & 25 Magpie (Jon Ridge).
 * Ridgeway (Mill Hill): 2 Pied Wagtails, 3 Jackdaw, Goldfinch. (Samuel Levy)

Thursday 29th September 2016

 * Pinner (HA5): 314 Ring-necked Parakeet over, 18 Swallow & 2 Sand Martin south-west-west, House Martin south-east, Grey Wagtail over, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Jay, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit & 30 Goldfinch (Jon Ridge). - The numbers of parakeets seems to be getting even more impressive. How do you count them all??? (SL) Hi Sam - I use a 'click counter' or I'd be lost - they can be very quick moving through & I probably miss quite a few, so it's a bare minimum (JR) That's a good Idea, I might invest in one for when, in spring they head to my house to feed, This May we managed just under 500. (SL) - you can pick a 'click counter ' up on ebay for about £3 - post free (JR). Thank you

Wednesday 28th September 2016

 * Dollis Brook (Holders Hill) 2 Moorhen, 20 Long-tailed Tit. Also (PM) 9 Goldfinch, 3 Collared Dove. (Samuel Levy)
 * Pinner (HA5): 290 Ring-necked Parakeet over, 2 Green Woodpecker, Jay, Pied Wagtail, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Goldfinch & 12 House Sparrow (Jon Ridge).
 * Purfleet: Willow Warbler calling, Great Spotted Woodpecker at railway station (Fraser Simpson)
 * Ridgeway (Mill Hill): Near Engle park, a Sparrowhawk was seen taking out a Collared Dove and near missing an oncoming 240 bus at 07:15. Also 4 Goldfinch (Samuel Levy)

Tuesday 27th September 2016

 * Dollis Brook (Holders Hill): 2 Moorhen. (Samuel Levy) - these last few days have been really poor bird wise as we are in the in-between period, hopefully things will get better soon. (SL)
 * Pinner (HA5): 254 Ring-necked Parakeet over, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, 7 Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, 3 Pied Wagtail & 3 Goldfinch (Jon Ridge).

Monday 26th September 2016

 * Church End, Finchley N3. Six Greenfinches flew over at 17:05, pausing for a breather on a T.V. aerial. (Dave W.)
 * Pinner (HA5): 152 Ring-necked Parakeet over, Grey Wagtail over, 2 Green Woodpecker, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, 2 Jackdaw & 4 Goldfinch (Jon Ridge).

Sunday 25th September 2016

 * Pinner (HA5): 285 Ring-necked Parakeet over (record count here), female Sparrowhawk, Green Woodpecker, 2 Jay, 4 Jackdaw & 7 Goldfinch (Jon Ridge).
 * Totteridge Valley: Pheasant, 4 Robin, 22 Long Tailed Tit, Green Woodpecker, 50+ Jackdaw, 50+ Carrion Crow, 2 Collared Dove, 4 Stock Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker. 2 Flocks of around 50 House Martins came over between 14:00-1500 heading South West, as well as 2 Grey Wagtail on sheep wash pond 18:15 and a flock of 22 Ring-necked parakeet's over at 18:10. Also a Rat, and 2 Rabbits. (Samuel Levy)

Saturday 24th September 2016

 * Pinner (HA5): 203 Ring-necked Parakeet over south-south-east, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Jay, Goldcrest, Coal Tit & 3 Goldfinch (Jon Ridge).
 * West Harrow: 2 Chiffchaff 0735 (Alex Massey)

Friday 23rd September 2016

 * Dollis Brook (Holders Hill): 3 Starlings, 2 Ring-necked Parakeets, Jay. (Samuel Levy)
 * Finchley (Garden): Grey Heron over heading southwest at 06:55. (Samuel Levy)
 * Holburn: Grey Wagtail over (Fraser Simpson)
 * Pinner (HA5): 111 Ring-necked Parakeet over, Green Woodpecker, Sparrowhawk, Jay, 2 Swallow west, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit, 5 Goldfinch, singing Goldcrest & 4 Dunnock together on & around the feeding apparatus (Jon Ridge).
 * Rainham: Wheatear on river wall cycle path, Moorhen in channel between Eurostar and c2c lines at railway station (Fraser Simpson)
 * Ridgeway (Mill Hill): Cetti's Warbler and 2 Chiffchaff singing at 07:25 by sheep wash pond, 4 Ring-necked Parakeets, 3 Jays, 15:40 Grey Wagtail on Sheep wash pond. (Samuel Levy)

Thursday 22nd September 2016

 * Dollis Brook ( Holders Hill): Pied Wagtail over heading south, 2 Goldfinch, 6 Starling, Moorhen. (Samuel Levy)
 * Dollis Brook (Totteridge): Wintering gull flock is starting to appear with, 3 Great Black-backed Gull, 5 Herring Gull, 16 Black-headed Gull, 1 Lesser Black-backed gull at 18:45 (Samuel Levy)
 * Rainham: 21 Long-tailed Tit at Rainham West; Cetti's Warbler, 3 Grey Wagtail at railway station (Fraser Simpson)
 * Ridgeway (Millhill): 5 Stock Dove. (Samuel Levy)
 * Stroud Green: 15-20 House Sparrows in tree opposite Tesco Metro on Stroud Green Road, N4 3PX (Chris Farthing)

Wednesday 21st September 2016

 * Rainham: Cetti's Warbler singing at Rainham station/Ferry Lane Industrial Estate (Fraser Simpson)
 * Ridgeway (Mill hill): 6 Pied wagtail, 6 Ring-necked parakeet. 17:45 Grey Wagtail again on sheep wash pond, although took a while to show itself. (Samuel Levy)
 * West Harrow: c90 Ring-necked Parakeet over between 1830-1900, including flock of 50+. Not an LB Harrow record but I am working on it! Thanks to SL for adding this page. (Alex Massey) - you're welcome Alex (SL) The RNP record is certainly breakable & I am ready (JR).

Tuesday 20th September 2016

 * Dollis Brook (Holders hill): 0700 Cormorant over heading north, Robin, Great Tit, 2 Moorhen. (Samuel Levy)
 * Ridgeway (Mill Hill): 1200 Pied Wagtail, 14:45 4 Jay, 16:25 Grey Wagtail on sheep wash pond, Goldfinch, Robin. (Samuel Levy)

Monday 19th September 2016

 * Dollis Brook (Holders Hill): 16:45 50+ House Martins drifting West (Samuel Levy)


 * Mill Hill, Ridgeway: 4 Ring-necked Parakeet, Goldfinch, Collared Dove, 16:20 Grey Wagtail on sheep wash pond (Samuel Levy)

Sunday 18th September 2016

 * RSPB Rainham Marshes: 206 House Martin's, 200+ Starling, 44 Goldfinch, 43 Lapwing, 3 Ring-necked Parakeets, 36 Dunlin, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit, 6 Willow Warblers, 300+ Teal, 26 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Whimbrel, Redshank, 5 Yellow Wagtail, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Cetti's Warbler,188 Greylag Goose, Kingfisher, 6 Snipe, 3 Wigeon, 11 Shoveler, 5 Ruff, 30 Gadwall, 3 Pintail, 5 Pochard, 12 Linnet, 4 Bearded Tit, 2 Hobby, 4 Kestrel, 2 Avocet, Buzzard, Stonechat, whinchat, 2 Wheatear, Curlew, Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting, Greenshank, 12 Ringed Plover. (Samuel Levy)

Saturday 17th September 2016

 * Finchley (Garden): Peregrine Floating North West at 18:05, and Sparrowhawk heading North at 18:15. First ever Garden sighting of a Peregrine and I believe the first for some time in the area! (Samuel Levy) - This species is rapidly expanding its range now - nice work Sam (JR). Hi Samuel, we do get Peregrines over occasionally, usually a few sightings per year over Totteridge Valley area, but still a great garden record for you though! (Ian Ellis)


 * West Finchley tube station: 12 Goldfinch, Goldcrest, Great Tit, 2 Jay (Samuel Levy)