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Please list sightings in alphabetical order by site. Only report sightings that are of wider interest, rather than listing all common birds. However, DO NOT post details of nesting by scarce breeding birds (those included in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, as amended). Any such reports will be removed. Please submit them instead to the appropriate London Natural History Society bird recorder. ''Note that records submitted here may be added to the LNHS database for use in the London Bird Report; by posting news here you agree to have your records copied by the LNHS recorder. Further information HERE.''

Saturday 7th July 2012

 * Apologies for my post yesterday. 3 kestrel chicks seen flying off the box and back again 08:00. 1 sitting on the top seems very reluctant to go.. Greenwich power station. Amazing to see them flying around the chimney then popping back in to the box. ( Penny Spencer). No need to apologise at all, thank you for adding this excellent sighting and bringing it to our attention (Joe Beale)
 * Brent Reservoir: 5 Common Sands, 2 Green Sands, 3 LRP, Lapwing & juv Shelduck (Brent Birders)
 * Crossness: 8 Black-tailed Godwits and adult Yl Gull on the foreshore, Little Egret, Redshank and 3 Lapwing West Paddock (Richard Bonser).
 * Richmond Park. No sign of Hoopoe in Paddocks despite searching 07.00 - 08.00 (Gordon Shaw) Still no sign up to 11:30 in paddocks and surrounding area, Little owl there, Hobby over pen ponds (JM Snr).
 * Greenwich. All kestrel chicks safely fledged and demonstrating their powers of hovering and swooping.(Penny Spencer)
 * Rainham Marsh: Spoonbill & 2 wood sandpipers (Birdguides).
 * Rotherhithe: 2 Yellow-legged Gulls (near-adult and 2nd-summer) on mud by the Hilton Hotel mid-morning; also 120 Black-h Gulls (no juvs) (Richard Bonser).
 * Ten Acre Wood are: 3 Kestrel (juv with adult female), 12 Stock Doves, 3 Skylark, 7 Meadow Pipits, 4 Swallow, 12 Linnets (3 fledgelings) (Neil Anderson)
 * Yeading Brook Meadows: Sparrowhawk, Kestel, c50 Swift, 6 Skylark (1 recently fledged), 3 Meadow Pipits, singing Lesser Whitethroat, pr Bullfinch, 5 Linnets (Neil Anderson)

Friday 6th July 2012

 * Crayford Marshes: 12 Yellow-legged Gull, 20 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Curlew, 2 Corn Bunting, Little Owl, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 18 Common Tern (including a 1st summer) (Kev Jarvis).
 * Greenwich: 4 young Tawny Owls seen balancing on the edge of nesting box on the chimney of the power station. Observer's name? This sounds like a very unlikely site for Tawny Owls to be nesting, isn't it beside the Thames, well away from any woodland? Are you sure they weren't young Kestrels? (John Archer, LNHS Kent area recorder). Pretty sure they were owls though I did wonder. My binoculars are not brilliant. The power station is near to Greenwich Park and there are a lot of trees near by. They looked too fat and big for kestrels and not really the right shape. (Penny Spencer). A bit late in the year for tawny owlets, where were you viewing from Penny?, I'm in Greenwich tomorrow and I can check it out (Nick Tanner). Just to say I'm pretty sure Kestrels nest at that particular power station site by the river, so possibly it's these? (Joe Beale).
 * Hanwell/Boston Manor (River Brent/Grand Union Canal): x2 pair (m, f) Tufted Duck at different locations along canal with both drakes in eclipse plummage showing very distinctive green sheen to head so I'm guessing both hybrid? - anyone care to comment?, Common Tern, several Common Whitethroat, good numbers of juvenile Long-tailed tit again, 2 Reed Warbler, Water Vole (Rob Mills)
 * Heathrow Airport: Black Redstart (m,f), x2 Goldfinch - I know not an uncommon bird but there's been several around all week and I don't usually see them here (Rob Mills)
 * Holmethorpe Sand Pits: 1 drake Red-crested Pochard on Water Colour Lagoons (WC1) at 7.40am (Graham James via Neil Randon). Still present at 1.00pm at least (Neil Randon).
 * Rainham Marshes: seven Wood Sandpipers on Aveley Pool late afternoon (Birdguides)
 * Richmond Park: Hoopoe Holly Lodge Paddocks till 19.25 when flew out N and lost to view (Mark Watson per FJM). Still being looked for in Bog area N of paddocks. Seen again in & around paddocks till 8.15 but flighty (J.Wilczur et al).
 * Rotherhithe: 2 Egyptian Geese Greenland Dock (Richard Bonser).
 * Ruislip Lido: Common Sandpiper and 3 Little Ringed Plover (Dick Middleton)
 * Trent Park: Chiffchaff(s), 2 Garden Warbler, 3 Goldfinch, Blackcap(s), Kestrel, 3 Mandarin(f), Ringlet, Red Admiral, Marbled White, c12 Large Skipper, c8 Small Skipper, 50+ Meadow Brown. ( Pete Lowman).
 * Tyttenhanger GP: 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Little Ringed Plover (Steve Blake).

Thursday 5th July 2012

 * Alexandra Park: 10+ Black-headed Gulls, 2 Common Terns (Bob Watts).
 * Crayford Marshes: 2 Greenshank, 8 Yellow-legged Gull, Little Owl, Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Curlew, 2 Little Egret (Kev Jarvis).
 * East Finchley Allotments: 2 soaring Buzzards over our site. 11am ish (Dawn Painter)
 * East India Dock Basin area: 2 singing Whitethroats (1 in roadside scrub by East India DLR station, the other in wasteland west of Virginia Quay) appear to be new in (and another was audible across the Thames), 3 Sand Martins, 14 Tufted Ducks, 2 Common Terns, singing Reed Warbler, singing Blackcap (John Archer).
 * Ewell Village: Successful breeding by Tufted Duck at Bourne Hall for the first time in many years. At least one fully fledged juvenile present with adults and several very young ducklings still present (Neil Batten).
 * Hampstead Heath: Late afternoon; 2 Common Terns and a Kingfisher on Highgate Ponds, several Blackcap and Chiffchaff around (Chris Bird)
 * Hanwell/Boston Manor (River Brent/Grand Union Canal): 2 Common Tern patrolling canal, several juvenile Blackcaps, good number of juvenile Long-tailed Tit, a number of Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Mallard (f) doing her best to protect her very young brood of 6 from a Lesser Black-backed Gull showing just a little bit too much attention to them, variety of other common species (Rob Mills)
 * Heathrow Airport: Black Redstart (m,f) (Rob Mills).
 * Liverpool Street Station: Honey Buzzard seen soaring over the Gherkin and Heron Tower, and Peregrine Falcon. Both at 10.05am (Tony Clancy and Geoff Crabtree).
 * London Wetland Centre: adult Spoonbill seen from 5.30pm all evening (LWC site).Thank you to user who informed this site, via Birdguides, despite late call to them. (Franko J Maroevic). Searched for Fri am, no luck, gone.
 * Rainham Marshes: Spoonbill adult in morning, still 11.10 at least Aveley Pool (Birdguides).
 * South Norwood Country Park: Turtle Dove over lake at 07:58 (Croydon Birders).
 * South Norwood Lake: 2fem juv Pochard, c20 Swifts, 11 Blackcaps, 8 Chiffchaffs (John Watson & Gavin Hawgood).
 * Staines Reservoir: in the evening, adult Caspian Gull on the E pier of KGVI Res, viewed from the W end of the Staines Res causeway. Same bird as at Q Mary Res on June 24th. Also 14+ Yellow-legged Gulls on the pier. At Staines Res, two Black-necked Grebes and first-summer Common Tern S basin, Goldeneye and near-adult Mediterranean Gull N basin (Rob Innes, Ken Purdey). Lunchtime had c12 YL Gulls & Caspian on KGVI gantry. Also 4 Lapwing & Redshank (S basin), Little Ringed Plover (N basin) (Nigel Sluman)

Wednesday 4th July 2012

 * Alexandra Park: Little Egret south c1830 (Dominic Mitchell per Bob Watts).
 * Blackheath standard: no sign of rosefinches or any other scarcities, but supermarket car park still present. Also display-flighting Whitethroat and singing Chiffchaff on the Dips (Joe Beale).
 * Catford (River Pool): Grey Heron, Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, 6 Swift, 3 Blackcap (Terry Wilson).
 * Crayford Marshes: 16 Yellow-legged Gull, Green Sandpiper, 2 Corn Bunting, 2 Lesser Whitethroat,16 Common Tern, 6 Oystercatcher. (Kev Jarvis).
 * East India Dock Basin: adult Mediterranean Gull flew upriver at 12.40pm, 2 Common Terns, 17 Tufted Ducks, 4+ Sand Martins, singing Reed Warbler (John Archer).#
 * Greenwich: west Greenwich - 1 House Martin nest with at least 1 young, loooked near fledging. But in east Greenwich a nest occupied last year is empty this time (Joe Beale)
 * Ham Common (Richmond): Egyptian Goose with 5 goslings on the duck pond. (Ian Bradshaw)
 * Nine Elms Sainsbury's: 4 Peregrine (Michael Mac).
 * Pinner: Treecreeper in Woodland at head of Celandine trail. First one I've seen here in over 20 years (Richard Francis)
 * Rotherhithe: 2nd-summer Yellow-legged Gull off Greenland Pier early evng; 2 Egyptian Geese on Greenland Dock (Richard Bonser).
 * Ruislip Lido: 8:00am, Common Sandpiper on beach. Later, 5(five) Oystercatchers on raft, flew off south 8:15pm, Little Egret (Richard Francis)
 * Snaresbrook Crown Court: Buzzard south, Kestrel, juvenile Sparrowhawk (Stuart Fisher)
 * Thorpe Park: Little Egret on Manor Lake. (Kevin Duncan)
 * Tyttenhanger GP, 4 Oystercatcher, 2 Green Sandpiper, 2 Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, 50+ Lapwing. (Steve Blake)

Tuesday 3rd July 2012

 * Battersea Park: 2 Swifts, pr Chiffchaff singing and alarm calling, f Pochard and 2 tiny ducklings, first f Mallard and 4 3wk old ducklings, moulted male Red-crested Pochard (Michael Mac).
 * Blackheath standard: no sign of reported first-summer male Common Rosefinch at M&S car park in a brief search mid-morning. That said, adjacent roads (St Johns Park, Vicarage Ave) have plenty of green space and trees, so it's not an impossible record. Will try again some time (James Lowen). No sign just before 3pm, also checked nearby lanes but just had a brief look. As JL says, plenty of hiding places if it is still around (Joe Beale). No sign in an hour search, including the Vicarage Avenue area, mid-evening (James Lowen)
 * Brookmill Park: 2 Mandarin, Song Thrush, Goldcrest, 3 Blackcap (Conrad Ellam).
 * Cockfosters, (Herts) EN4: Sparrowhawk alighted briefly near garden bird feeders (Bob Husband)
 * Crayford Marshes: 12 Yellow-legged Gull, 3 Corn Bunting, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, Curlew, Dunlin, 12 Common Tern, Little Egret. (Kev Jarvis).
 * Heathrow Airport: Pied Wagtail, 3 Swift very low /rapidly though east to west, Goldfinch an office window tick if I was that way inclined, Black Redstart (m,f) very active today frequently flying back and forth from within the secure zone with purpose (Rob Mills)
 * Ilford Garden: juvenile blackcap being fed by male adult. (Barbara Miller)
 * Margravine Cemetery: 1 juv Goldcrest, 1 Coal Tit with mixed Tit flock (Nathalie Mahieu).
 * St George Wharf Quay, Vauxhall: 2 Heron (H Hardy).
 * Staines Reservoir: Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Common Sandpipers, Redshank, Goldeneye and Black-necked Grebe, all on north basin, also c. 700 Swifts and good numbers of House and Sand Martins (Peter Naylor).
 * Thorney CP: Reed Bunting, 3 Common Whitethroats, 30+ Stock Doves over, 11 Common Terns and 2 chicks - well down on last year, 9 Song Thrush, Jay, Green Woodpecker, Lesser Black-backed Gull, 15 Swift, 3 House Martins, Grey Heron, 2 Greenfinch. (Sue Giddens).

Monday 2nd July 2012

 * Bounds Green: a Hobby flew low over the bowling green & tennis courts at 18:30 (Ian Ellis).
 * Brookmill Park: 2 Mandarin, Blackcap, Song Thrush (Conrad Ellam).
 * Covent Garden: 08.55am Swift (Paul Hyland).
 * Crayford Marshes: 4 Yellow-legged Gull ( three 2nd summer & a near adult), 1st summer Mediterranean Gull, Hobby, 2 Corn Bunting, Lesser Whitethroat, 21 Common Tern, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Little Egret (Kev Jarvis).
 * Crayford Rough: 2 Chiffchaff (heard), 1 Song Thrush (heard), Common Whitethroat (heard), 2 Ring-necked parakeets, 1 Grey Heron (over). Also 4 Pied Wagtail and 1 Mistle Thrush on Hall Place playing fields on other side of the River Cray. (Chris Rose).
 * Crayford, Shearwater Crescent: 2 or 3 House Martin, 15 Swift (over). (Chris Rose).
 * East India Dock Basin: 2 Shelducks, 12+ Tufted Ducks, 1+ Common Tern, Sand Martin (John Archer).
 * Heathrow Airport: Common Buzzard low over airport south to north being mobbed by solitary Carrion Crow, Black Redstart (m) (Rob Mills).
 * St Paul's Cathedral area: Black Redstart feeding high up (Ian Bradshaw)
 * Thames Road Wetland: Reed Warblers, couple of Common Whitethroat (one display flight), 4 Goldfinch, Grey Heron (over), 1 Song Thrush, Chiffchaff nearby. (Chris Rose).

Sunday 1st July 2012

 * Alexandra Park: Pochard Boating Lake with 4? ducklings (Alan Gibson per Bob Watts), also 3 House Martins (Bob Watts).
 * Brent Reservoir: 2 Green Sandpipers, 3 Common Sandpipers & Hobby (Andrew Self & Andrew Verrall)
 * Cranford Country Park: Little Owl 1 adult showing frequently, juvenile seen once, Skylarks seen and heard, juvenile Kestrel, half a dozen juvenile Blackbirds, Jays, Mistle Thrush and the usual constant flyover of Ring-necked Parakeets (Tony James).
 * Hampton: Night Heron (Birdguides) flew SE over A308 by the sewage works at 9.35 am (RBA)
 * Heathrow: male Redstart seen at 5.30am on fencing opposite Airworld by Hatton Cross tube (W.Marks)
 * Horsenden Hill: 1 Red Kite W at 10.10 (Andy Culshaw), 2 juv & 1+ ad Little Owl (AC & David Howdon). Also 8 White-letter Hairstreak.
 * Little Britain (Cowley): pair of Grey Wagtails (Alex Randall).
 * Lonsdale Road Reservoir: probable 1st year Caspian Gull, Pochard (m+f+2 ducklings), Common Tern, House Martin, Swift, Chiffhcaff, Great Spotted Woodpecker (M Bournat)
 * Queen's Wood: 1 or 2 Treecreeper (James Palmer).
 * Rainham Marshes RSPB: 4+ Little Egrets, 3 Shovelers, a family of 3 nearly fledged Lapwing chicks in front of Butts Hide (Ian Bradshaw).
 * Rye Meads RSPB Reserve, Herts: 4 Green Sandpipers, female Gadwall with 5 ducklings (Bob husband, Mike Cawthorne, Robin Morden).
 * Staines Reservoir: 1 ad Mediterranean Gull- over east @ 0707hrs, 1 ad Yellow-legged Gull- on gantry of KGV1 Res. 1 Black-necked Grebe- south basin, 1 Redshank, 2 Common Sandpiper. (Neville Smith, et al)
 * Stoneleigh, Auriol Park: 52 Common Swift mostly drifting WNW in one's and two's, 21 Ring Necked Parakeet, 2 Sparrowhawk, 3 Herring Gull, 2 Lesser Black Backed Gull (Neil Batten)
 * Wanstead Flats: Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaff with young, 6 singing Skylark, 8 + Meadow Pipit, 10 House Martin (Tim Harris/Nick Croft)
 * Wanstead Park: Nuthatch - Reservoir Wood 06-50 (Bob Vaughan), 2 Lesser Whitethroat, CommonTern, 5 Black-headed Gull, 2 Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, m Sparrowhawk ( juv heard), Kingfisher, Little Egret (Nick Croft/Jonathan Lethbridge)

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