Battersea February 25th

 

Hi, some very welcome sunshine at last when I visited on Wednesday, makes you feel so much better which reflected on the birds, lots of activity around the Power Station with some already paired and looking for nest sites.

At 16 years of age at least, our female Peregrine is still with us, she took a Feral Pigeon from the Refuse Centre hunting from the north east chimney. She fed on this, had a brief fly around and then settled down to rest, a big meal, unless provoked by Crows she will likely stay there for 5+ hours.

In regard to Crows, one did push its luck too far, going up and mobbing her aloft before she set about it and went after it. A mobbing challenge like this, is possibly down to the fact that she no longer has the male, one of his many responsibilities was to keep Crows away from the territory. Crows are very intelligent birds and will know that the male is not around anymore so will try it on.

The Power Stations other Schedule 1 species were also on show in the sunshine, not only the regular pair in Phase 3/4 but another male singing aloft.
So 3 Black Redstarts on site, fairly early but does show how well all the green roofs are working as well. The male in Phase 3/4 was alarm calling, so no doubt the warmer sunny weather was bringing on early breeding behaviour.

As I have said previously, there are very few places that you can go in London, even the UK, that have both Schedule 1 species together, the Power Station in this is unique, it has been this way since I arrived in 2000.

Both Grey and Pied Wagtails were both also showing breeding behaviour, there are new nest boxes in situ for these, as well as the Black Redstarts, as we know both species breed annually at the Power Station, the nest boxes should give them all a helping hand.

I counted no less than 16 Goldfinches aloft in the Silver Birches, the Feeders as well as the Green Roofs are all playing their part, it is a good sized flock.
Due to having a reliable winter food source, most will stay and breed in the now abundant small trees.

On a couple of the close up Goldfinches, check out the length of the toe nails - impressive!

Unusual bird(s) of the morning will go to Little Egret, outside of London its more common but a bit of a rarity at the Power Station. I got onto 2 together rather late heading down river and then a single heading towards Battersea Park.

A good morning all round, I finished the morning on 28 species, just 2 more species needed to reach 100 for the Life List, hopefully this year!

                                                                  Enough is enough

                                            Will she survive another Spring from challengers?

Battersea Power Station January 18th

The female Peregrine is still with us, she has made a mockery of my predictions in the last couple of years saying that she will soon be replaced.

On other Peregrine sites, due to the singles density in London and outer counties, unpaired/older birds are usually replaced.
It hasn't happened at the Power Station, it is in peregrine terms, a prime London structure so she must still simply be too strong and will not be budged by other intruding females.

In February and March when many unpaired adults, or immatures look for territories, may well test her. Seem to recall saying the same thing last year.


Looking back historically, the pair that were present in the very early years, failed to breed from 2008 until 2012, the female undoubtedly became too old to lay eggs/breed, much the same as what’s happening presently.
The current female took over in the winter of 2011/2012, likely either driving off or even killing the old female, she arrived in adult plumage.
With the male having sadly disappeared last May 2025, it obviously need a new single and hopefully then, a pair.


The Ice Rink has now been dismantled and the ground/grass once again is more accessible to wildlife, Pied and Grey Wagtails were back on it looking for grubs as soon as it was light.

Blue and Great Tits were evident with a couple already showing an interest in nest boxes, as per previous years, I will be cleaning these out in preparation for the 2026 breeding season.

Goldfinches were again evident on the Feeders, these have been an undoubted success given the numbers of Goldies present, a reliable food source gets many of them through the winter, especially older and younger birds.


Phase 4 again proved the hotspot with the resident pair of Black Redstarts very active along with Grey/Pied Wagtails, Robin, Wren, both Great/Blue Tits and Dunnocks.
Nest Boxes are again going up, specifically aimed at Black Redstarts to try and keep them away from Construction.
The fact that this pair of Black Redstarts have wintered shows a really good food source, usually they arrive around early April.

No doubt the Green Roofs are playing their part but also, having seen them at the base of the Feeders, picking off discarded Sunflower hearts from the goldfinches, the feeders are helping also.

29 species recorded which is a good start to the year.

 

Beckton Sewage Works

Jan 1st 2026



I kicked off the new year with a visit to Beckton on the 1st, a very cold morning but good to be out nonetheless in the sunshine.

Looking round to start the year list off, I caught up with all the usual wader suspects on the mud, Curlew, Redshank, Black Tailed Godwit and Common Sandpiper.

Accessing the entrance track, bright sunshine had brought out many Chiffchaffs looking for flies etc on the outlet walls. Added to this were various Wagtails, Long Tailed Tits and even a Goldcrest.

Heading down to the Nature Reserve, I had all the Christmas food leftovers in the car, in this cold, birds really suffer as we know, even as I put it down Robins, Great and Blue Tits were turning up next to me in the bushes.

Old and even young birds will often succumb to the minus temperatures overnight, if they can't build up enough body fat during the day.

Moving on, lots of Meadow Pipits around on the frozen ground and both Common Buzzard and Kestrels were also seen.



I visited again on Jan 4th and added a few others, Wigeon likely the best bird as its hard to get here.

From the 2 visits I finished on 55 species, the total for 2025 was 98 so a ways to go yet, April onwards will see the arrival of the summer migrants which will bolster the numbers, hopefully 100 species will be achievable this year.

                                       Taken at night, birds flying across the face of the moon

                                              Common Buzzard getting the Crow treatment

                                                                 Common Sandpiper

                                                                  Green Sandpiper

                                                             Unfortunate Grey Heron

Filming with a Legend

 

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope you had a great Christmas break.

On May 15th 2025 my good buddies Paul Hawkins, Shaun Harvey and myself were lucky enough to film alongside Sir David Attenborough at the Houses of Parliament, a once in a lifetime experience that none of us will ever forget. Such a privilege to see the great man at work, incredibly knowledgeable as you would expect and such a presence.

Amongst other wildlife filmed it shows Sir David, a long time hero of mine and no doubt many others, narrating on Parliaments Peregrines. In particular, with excellent footage all round, it shows him featuring with one of the 4 chicks. An incredible professional as ever even at his age – 99 ! , the whole scene was all done in one take!

The clip with the chick and him talking to it in his distinctive voice, especially when it looked up, absolutely put a smile on everybody’s face in the room.

It was shown on New Years Day and called Wild London, it is now available on iPlayer.

Also with us that day was Tom Maher from Parliament. Tom’s been managing the peregrine project since they first arrived in 2008, and I know it was a pretty special experience for him, too. His dedication has been a huge part of the birds’ success over the years.

All was undertaken and covered under Schedule 1 licence, and with the agreement of NaturalEngland/BTO, whom I was in contact with. This was to ensure that no extra stress occurred, to chicks or adults, and the process was all undertaken as quickly and efficiently as possible.

As it happened, neither adult were aware of the colour ringing process of the 4 chicks, although they had the Riverside Tower nest site in view at all times, the chicks were unseen as both were resting up behind on Central Spire.

Last year, as well as their BTO metal and white colour ring, all 4 chicks were swabbed for DNA, myself, Paul and Shaun have been doing this at every Peregrine nest site.

DNA logging is to combat Wildlife Crime, the idea being a massive UK database is being created, to eventually register all peregrine nests/sites, so that if any illegal activity comes to light, the DNA data will prove origins and if a wild bird or not.

In the footage, you’ll see one of them getting stuck below the nest site. Juveniles have a knack for getting into trouble after they leave the nest—getting trapped or even falling prey to predators.

To wrap up, it was an incredible day, though there were a few stressful moments for all of us just hoping everything would come together. After all, you’re working with nature, and things don’t always go to plan!

Note to self: smile more!

                                                            Paul and Shaun swabbing

Paul, Shaun, Sir David, myself and Tom

                                                                          Swabbing

                                                                 Getting ready to film

                                                 Sir David's Chick coming down for ringing

                                                               The great man at work