Daily sightings
Monthly Ornithological Summaries
Common Redstarts - Stoke Newington Reservoirs, 1st & 2nd (two) and 7th (one); Sandwich Terns - two over SNR, 1st; Pied Flycatchers - one at SNR 1st & 2nd; one at SNR, 7th; Little Egret - one over SNR, 2nd; Tree Pipit - one at SNR, 2nd;
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Welcome to the latest sightings page. You'll find details of latest sightings in the Borough, updated daily, below - click on the photos to view a larger image. Monthly ornithological summaries can be found via the links on the left, and new sections involving other flora and fauna will be appearing on this page soon.
Please send all sightings and photographs to info@hackneywildlife.org.uk, with your name and email address or phone number. In line with standardised recording methods, all records are observer credited and are supplied to the relevant organisations where applicable.
Monthly ornithological summary for: March 2010
BITTERNS - Stoke Newington Reservoirs, one on 1st, one on 13th;
Red Kite - Stoke Newington Reservoirs, 23rd;
Common Buzzards - Stoke Newington Reservoirs, one on 2nd, one on 13th, one on 16th; Haggerston, one on 15th;
Yellow-legged Gulls - two at Stoke Newington Reservoirs, 9th;
Pheasant - males in E8 (11th) and Britannia Leisure Centre (13th).
A fairly typical March by most accounts, with a mix of late winter / early spring weather and a scattering of good records, most notably of the reptilian reed-dwelling variety.....
The month began in fine style with a suspicious shape half-way up a clump of reeds on the western bank of the East Res, soon confirmed as our third Bittern of the winter. The bird stayed for much of the day, allowing a trickle of visitors to enjoy its activities around the reservoir perimeter. A high count of four Chiffchaffs were at Middlesex Filter Beds on the same day.
The rest of the first week was notable for the first Common Buzzard of the month over SNR, at least five Water Rails at the same site, odd Skylarks over, and several Blackcaps and the odd Chiffchaff in Abney Park Cemetery (as well as two Lesser Redpolls there on the 2nd).
A thorough trawl through the impressive pre-roost gull gatherings at SNR was rewarded by two Yellow-legged Gulls on the 9th, and the East Res amazingly produced a fourth Bittern of the season on the 13th - an incredible run of records for such an urban site with a tiny reedbed. The same day saw the male Brambling back at the feeders in Clissold Park, and another - in song - back at the feeders in the LWT garden at the East Res.
Pheasants are a true rarity locally (not surprisingly), and we recieved word of not one but two during the period - one at Britannia Leisure Centre on the 13th, and one in a Clapton garden on the 11th. Several more Buzzards followed, with an end-of-month tally of at least four.
Small numbers of migrants overhead included Lapwings, Linnets, Jackdaws, Redwings and Starlings, and the first of several Great Black-backed Gulls dropped in at the reservoirs; the male Brambling continued to sing on and off in the LWT garden til late in the month.
Early migrants were far from it this March, with the first Sand Martins welcomed back on the 18th this year, and Swallows just scraped into the month on the 30th (both at the reservoirs). Finally, the year's first Red Kite drifted over the Obs platform at the same site on the 23rd.
Mark Pearson