East India Dock Basin, a Lee Valley Park nature reserve on the opposite side of the river from the Millennium Doom, is a good site for Black Redstarts. They actually tend to favour an inaccessible site adjacent to the reserve so views can be distant. At least one adult male and two females/immatures were present today. One bird was more confiding and was feasting on woodlice in the dockside wall above the River Thames. The bird would drop off the dockside, hover at likely looking nooks-and-crannies, and then briefly cling on to the vertical side and pick out a woodlouse.
There was little in the dock basin apart from 53 Tufted Ducks, a Kingfisher and the usual common waterbirds. The highlight of the day though, was a female Merlin which shot through from the east at 1100h. It alighted for only the briefest moment before heading west. An unusual sight in the city!
Went to Kensington Gardens this morning in the hope of photographing some gulls. When I arrived the light was superb on a pair of Egyptian Geese (an adult and an immature)… but just a few shots in and they suddenly flew off just as they were about to be savaged by a large dog on the rampage. This seems to be a regular thing here – clueless, idiot dog owners! No sign of the recent Med Gull although there were several hundred Black-headed Gulls constantly flying around from one bread source to the next. I later headed across to the Longwater, stopping to watch a gang of four Ring-necked Parakeets mob a Grey Squirrel in a tree top. A group of around 20 wild Shovelers were filter-feeding in a rotating communal circle, must to the amusement of the tourists. A large, waterside tree, now lying in the lake after the New Year storms is attracting the attention of three pairs of Mandarin Ducks.
