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Monday 25 March 2019

Beckton Sewage Works






Late March



Now more or less into spring, thoughts now turn to breeding for a lot of species, some have already started on site and the pair of Kestrels are looking like they are going to breed again shortly.

The female is staying very close to the nest box so hopefully they may lay soon, the books say mid April but on behaviour I would say it will be this month, suspect like Peregrines they are likely earlier down ‘south’.




Pair - male in the box



Another species that is breeding on site is Ring Necked Parakeet, they have taken over an old Green Woodpecker hole and are breeding inside, they are quite aggressive as well.

An introduced species, the story goes back to the African Queen with Bogart and Hepburn, apparently lots escaped and they colonised from that, possibly myth but you never know.

Unfortunately they take nest holes from both Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blue, Great, Coal Tit along with Nuthatch and Starling, all native species so not good, they divide opinion but the fact that they are here is not good for native species.


Male guarding the nest hole

Mean looking birds, Peregrines love them

Elsewhere the pair of Common Buzzards are still very active, one particularly so which looks like the male being smaller, as yet I have not seen them in any of the Crow nests but hopefully they will soon.
Goldcrests are on site, 2 pair in their respective Fir trees and are singing already as are Chiffchaffs, Cetti’s Warblers seem to be all over the site.

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