Battersea Power Station

 

June 19th




Lots of broods of young birds around, especially juvenile Goldfinches and Blue/Great Tits, I would suspect using the nest boxes around the Estate. All will be revealed when I check them in the late Autumn.
Good also to see Grey Wagtail young along the river with a singing Wren nearby, usually pretty skulky, this one was out on show going for it.

The male Black Redstart was heard singing early a.m around Switch House East Gardens, it was later seen dropping down to the Phase 3 area.

A male Sparrowhawk was also seen ghosting through the trees.

I finished the morning on 28 species, with the coming of the Autumn we should get a few more migrants going through.

In regard to the Peregrines, despite arriving early a.m, I didn't see one for quite a while on this visit, the Falcon eventually arriving.

I am expecting the female to change, at a minimum of 14/15 years of age, likely more, she is holding on well. However, having looked at the recorded camera footage, there is now no sign of the Tiercel in all of June, only the Falcon. He doesn’t access the nest box as much as the female, but he often does display to her regularly even this late in breeding.

Hopefully better news on the Peregrines in July, will the male show, the female at 14+, just how long can she hang on?

She arrived in the winter of 2011/2012 as an adult, she is ringed and has certain facial characteristics, so I know there has been no change.

Having last bred in 2021, we will see what 2026 brings.

Knowing how much established pairs often get challenged and checked out by intruders, especially in London, with its density of single peregrines on the outskirts and outer counties, she has done a remarkable job hanging on this long.

Kestrels - Sparrowhawk

The last and latest of the Kestrels were ringed last week by Shaun, 5 chicks in all, as before it’s been a bit of a barmy year, 2 nest sites were a month behind compared to 2024 ringing.

One pair adopted a Barn Owl box after seemingly ousting the male Barn Owl from the roost box, due to them laying late, it seems they lost their own Kestrel Box to a pair of Stock Doves. Out of sync, possibly weather related, they then laid later, unable presumably to oust the Stock Doves, as there 2 young were to far advanced, so they then set their eyes on the Barn Owl Box.

The 2nd pair of Kestrels were again a month behind and Shaun again ringed these, 2 chicks again more or less the same size as the others, hardly any difference between both broods.

                                                         2 of the 3 in the Barn Owl Box

                                                                 Fingers crossed for her

I also picked up a female Sparrowhawk on Thursday, she had flown into glass it seems and has sustained a fractured right wing. She is in the best hands with Sue and Tom at the Wildlife Hospital, but at least 4 weeks before she can hopefully be returned.

Lots on the Peregrine front but will post later on this.

Beckton Sewage Works - Latest

 

It’s been an exceptionally busy last couple of months, lots to blog about, getting the time to do it has been another matter.

Peregrine ringing and we are now DNA swabbing has tied up a lot of mine, Shaun and Pauls time, add to this, the ringing of multiple Barn/Little Owl and Kestrel boxes and it has added up to a very busy couple of months. It’s been a topsy turvy year for all of the above species, however I will touch on this on another post.



Beckton – another good year with all of the usual Raptor species again breeding, the Kestrels have fledged 3 chicks from the usual box. Not such a big brood so there is the possibility that the female may be getting a little long in the tooth with a reduced number than normal.

Obviously, speculation, as one or 2 eggs/chicks, could just as well have been predated by Crows, the local unpaired yearling Crows give the Kestrels a torrid time with the usual bully boy stuff.

There is a 2nd pair of Kestrels on the eastern side of the sewage works, a fairly newish pair, plans are afoot to give these their own nest box as well.

Both Common Buzzard and Sparrowhawk nests are marked, difficult to see, but I know where both species keep dropping into.

Also great to report that Raven has bred at the Sewage Works fledging 2 juveniles, a monster of a nest produced 2 of the big Corvids, some of the sticks they used for the nest were enormous.

They are annual and fairly certain they may have bred in previous years, just never able to confirm it with this every increasing Corvid.

However, the best news is that Barn Owls have again bred in 2025 on the Sewage Works, a superb effort by Thames Water, the last breeding being in 2020.

The year list to date stands at 87 so a little way to go to achieve the ‘ton’ which I aim for annually; Autumn migrants will hopefully bolster the numbers.

Skomer Island

 

June 4th 2025



As a surprise for Christine’s 70th birthday, I had organized a week away and one of the things I know, that had always been on her bucket list, was to see Puffins.

Obviously having never been to Skomer Island myself either, it was a fantastic spectacle and experience for both of us and thoroughly lived up to its reputation.

They give you 5 hours a trip, you need it as well, everywhere you walk there are Puffins, as I understand it the official recent count is 43,626.The island itself is 1.5 miles wide and 2 miles long, it’s not always easy walking, rocky here and there and a few good gradients, however worth every step.

The views you get of the colourful Puffins are quite incredible, sometimes down to as little as a meter, Chris absolutely loved it as did I, you get held up so much by watching them, you could easily just stand/sit in one position and watch them for an hour or 2.

A large presence of Great, Lesser Black Backed and Herring Gulls, are a constant threat to them, especially tuned in to mugging Puffins arriving with Sand Eels, they are also constantly checking holes for unwary or exposed chicks. We saw a couple of chicks get dragged out and then swallowed whole.

It is nature however and you will get mortality amongst this many birds, this was also evident in the number of Manx Shearwater remains around the Island. A nocturnal breeding species on Skomer, all the corpses had been picked clean by the Gulls/Corvids. The number of Manx’s breeding on the island is incredible, its estimated to be around 350,000 pairs so there will be mortality, one of the reasons no doubt that they appear nocturnally. They are vulnerable on land to the large Gulls, so understandable that they only appear at night.

In regard to raptors, I recorded a Peregrine and 2 Common Buzzards but managed to avoid seeing a number of Short Eared Owls that breed on the island.

Common Guillemots, Razorbills and Kittiwakes are everywhere on the cliff faces and the noise from this alone puts a smile on your face, visually it is staggering to see the numbers involved.

A fantastic day and we were so lucky with the weather, the previous day had been cancelled unfortunately for many people.

However, the day was Christines and worth every step to see her enjoyment of at last seeing a Puffin.

 

RSPB Minsmere

 

April 25th 2025



It’s been a good few years since I have been here, the last visit could well have been 25+ years ago with Chris and the girls, so a visit was well overdue.
Mart, Lee and yours truly decided on a day out on the 25th, leaving at 3.50a.m to get ‘down’ there for a dawn start.

We used to do these sort of trips regularly, these days, just don’t seem to get the spare time for a day out birding.
However, having undertaken this, enjoying a fantastic day’s birding with my mates, I intend to try and make the time for more trips, thoroughly enjoyed it.

The main area of Birding was the Reserve, but we also took in some of the outer locations for specialist species like Wood Lark, Tree Pipit and Dartford Warbler, all were nailed fortunately.
One species that we did seem to pick up in numbers, seemingly wherever we located to was Nightingale, it’s been a good few years since I have heard/seen that number of birds.

Although the day was based on a good day’s birding, we also had in mind a day list, it keeps you searching that bit harder, and at times, was rewarding with another goodie to add to the List.

In short, we ended the day on 104 species, not too shabby in anyone’s book, missed out on a few certs, like Starling, but gained on other’s putting their ‘ hands/voices up’ to be counted.

Highlights were finding our own Wood Sandpiper on the Reserve, the 3 specialist above and also adding Stone Curlew, see more of these in Spain than I do in the UK.

Bittern was seen by Lee, but myself and Mart had to settle for ‘Boomers’, again good to hear, it certainly carries well.

A good day out with my buddies, hopefully more to come.