Monthly ornithological summary for: August 2008

Pied Flycatchers - two in Abney Park Cemetery, 12th - 14th;

Marsh Harrier - Hackney Marshes, 23rd;

Spotted Flycatcher - Stoke Newington Reservoirs, 4th;

Hobbys - eight during the month: SNR, 13th, 18th (2), 22nd & 26th, Stamford Hill, 17th, and Abney, 22nd & 24th;

Cormorant - 1st & 17th (SNR) ringed as a chick at Abberton, Essex this spring;

Red-crested Pochards - pair, SNR, 22nd (one remaining to 28th), and three, 30th;

Common Buzzard - Hackney Marshes, 23rd

Less than impressive in terms of the weather (at least in the traditional sense), August was somewhat more satisfying re: the borough's avifauna. Dominated by unsettled conditions and prevailing low pressure systems, the month was less about sky-watching sessions in the sunshine, and more about early mornings at productive sites (especially in north-west of the borough) after overnight cloud and/or rain.

Wildfowl numbers swelled significantly at Stoke Newington Reservoirs by mid-month, with peak counts of 110 Common Pochards and 130 Tufted Ducks; counts remained high, although ebbed slightly towards the end of the month. Single Shovelers returned in the first week, with up to five present by the last; Gadwalls and Mallards usually numbered between 10 and 20 each.

Less common duck species were represented by three Teal, which visited briefly on the morning of the 18th, and the bang-on-cue arrival of Red-crested Pochards - a pair appeared on the 22nd (with the eclipse drake remaining until the 28th), followed by three new birds on the 30th.

Common Terns were recorded in unprecedented numbers this month. Usually present in August, but scraping into double figures at best, the high numbers of July were equalled and then surpassed by mid-month. Between 10 and 15 were the norm until the 17th, when a record count of 41 (25 feeding, plus a flock of 16 visiting briefly before leaving south-west) was made, coinciding with high numbers at many other London sites. 15 to 20 were then the norm (with another high count of 28 on the 21st) until numbers finally ebbed to single figures by the last week. Perhaps the only tempering factor was the absence of a less common congener within the feeding flocks.

Gulls were represented by all the commoner species, with several singles of Common Gull being notable. Waders were predictably hard to come by, with next to no suitable habitat available for migrants; hence, Common Sandpipers were the only species represented. Singles were seen on several dates at both SNR and the River Lea at Hackney Marshes, where a peak of three were recorded on the 3rd.

A colour-ringed Cormorant visited SNR on the 1st and 17th - ringed as a chick in the long-established colony at Abberton Reservoir, Essex, on 27th April this year, constituting the birds first recorded movements beyond its natal site.

Raptors were represented by six species this month. Kestrels and (especially) Sparrowhawks were omnipresent, with both species having locally-fledged young on the wing. The month's only Common Buzzard was over Hackney Marshes on the 23rd, which was the date, and venue, for one of the best sightings of the year so far - a juvenile Marsh Harrier, flying south down the Lea Valley. Perergrines were recorded on two occasions.

Sightings of Hobbys were arguably the real local highlight of the month. After a particularly good run of records during the spring and early summer, August 2008 was the best month ever for records of this always impressive falcon in Hackney, with no less than eight sightings in the borough.

Two came from Abney Park Cemetery on the 22nd and 24th, one from over Stamford Hill on the 17th, and five from the reservoirs - singles on the 13th, 22nd and 26th, with two (play-fighting) on the 18th. The running total for the year so far stands at 14, making the Hobby Hackney's third commonest raptor this year by some distance.

Hirundines maintained a constant presence without being particularly numerous, with Sand Martins and House Martins recorded on most days in single, and irregularly double, figures; Swallows, meanwhile, began to trickle through in the last week of the month. Swifts, likewise, were ubiquitous without especially high counts, and were reduced to odd singles by the end of the month.

The first Wheatears of the autumn were recorded on Hackney Marshes on the 23rd, which was also the date and venue for the season's first three Yellow Wagtails (neither species being easy to catch up with locally).

An early Spotted Flycatcher arrived at the reservoirs on the 4th, surprisingly the month's only record; however, two Pied Flycatchers, discovered in Abney on the 12th, were very much the passerine highlights of the month. Remaining in the canopy until the 14th, the two birds were the first to be recorded in the borough since 2005, and were eventually seen by dozens of visiting birders.

Eight species of warbler were recorded during the month, although in very contrasting numbers. Common Whitethroats - having bred successfully at two sites - were hard to come by, with one at the reservoirs on the 13th and two fresh-in migrants at the same site on the 22nd; Lesser Whitethroats were equally at a premium, with singles at Middlesex Filter Beds on the 3rd and the reservoirs on the 11th. Blackcaps, meanwhile, were hard to avoid, with small numbers recorded on most days at traditional sites.

Reed Warblers appear to have had a successful breeding season at the reservoirs, with double figure counts the norm throughout the month including many juveniles (and birds commonly feeding in trees and scrub around the site); Sedge Warblers, on the other hand, were much morre elusive, with irregular singles at the same site on several occasions. A single Garden Warbler was with a mobile passerine feeding flock in Abney on the 19th.

Phylloscopus warblers are something of a local speciality on migration in early autumn, and this year was no exception. Willow Warbler passage was prolonged and impressive, with the reservoirs once again providing the most attractive habitat. Recorded in single figures on each visit, numbers peaked impressively with 17 on the 11th, 11 on the 15th and 20 on the 23rd.

Abney also attracted good numbers, several birds often being recorded, with peaks of six on the 13th and seven on the 14th; Clissold Park and Middlesex Filter Beds had singles or couples on several dates. Chiffchaffs were less numerous, although regularly recorded; four at the reservoirs, on both the 6th and the 11th, were the best counts.

Single Kingfishers were regularly observed along the New River throughout the month, and Grey Wagtails were in family parties at both the River Lea and the West Reservoir. Stock Doves, Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Long-tailed Tits and Goldcrests are all omnipresent in Abney (and elsewhere), while Little Grebes have bred at both the reservoirs and Clissold Park; the latter site's pair of Canada Geese reared a single chick to fledging, while the success of Clissold's Common Pochard broods remains to be seen.

Send your records and photographs to: info@hackneywildlife.org.uk

Mark Pearson