Battersea Power Station July 2026

July is always a bit of a quiet month with birds, migrants mostly start to move  August onwards, consequently I was not expecting a high species count, however good to see many juveniles around.

Setting myself up on the Coaling Jetty looking down river, virtually the first wildlife seen was a Grey Seal, very distant but the unmistakable head shape was a give-away, this is the 3rd Grey Seal I have seen at the Power Station over the years.

There used to be a big male around Chelsea Harbour a few years back, I suspect it's even possible the same beastie not being that far up river.

A good start to the morning as I then set about locating the Peregrines, the male(ABB) was very evident still at roost in the early hour, however the female was nowhere to be seen.

I left him in peace whilst I checked the Northern Park and Switch House East Gardens amongst others, good to note previously from the gardening team, that one of the nest boxes had a family of Blue Tits in it. I dare say this was the family seen up there later.

Looking down on Phase 3/4,I immediately located the pair of Black Redstarts on the Rock Pile, an elusive species as we know, they are very much at home on the Rocks with all its nooks and crannies.

Eventually the female Peregrine arrived with prey, which immediately stopped the male from actively hunting.

There then followed a number of chases after feeding, as she tried to cache the prey somewhere he would not locate it, eventually the pressure paying off as he claimed his share.

Still on 99 species for the life list - the 100th is out there somewhere.

                                                              Male after a Feral Pigeon

Pair of Black Redstarts