23rd June

I had an early morning visit to the park mainly to see how the owls were doing. I then headed off to Suffolk and Lakenheath Fen on my way home I shot over to Kite country. All in all it was an enjoyable days birding.

Regent’s Park

Yellow-legged Gull: An adult was on the main lake.

Kestrel: The pair in area 32 had a bad year, managing to fledge one youngster. Today it was present in Willows running alongside the path in the Wetland Pen. 

Little Owl: The pair and at least 2 owlets were seen.

Reed Warbler: Three males were singing.

Chiffchaff: Two males were singing.

Common Crossbill: One flew SW at 6.00am.

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Little Owl female; I was on foot today, which made it harder to approach the birds. It was best to locate them from a distance and then move a little closer and let her come towards me.

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The owlets were hard to see, as they hid in the Chestnut trees

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Lakenheath Fen

Bittern: one was seen and heard.

Marsh Harrier: there was several pairs seen, with one family interacting with three young.

Hobby: one was seen perched.

Cuckoo: four birds were seen and heard singing and calling.

Golden Oriole: one male and a female were seen, with another male being heard.

Bearded Tit: there were several family groups flitting about in the reed beds.

Cetti’s Warbler: one was heard.

Grasshopper Warbler: one bird was reeling in vegetation close to the path.

6 other species of Warbler were seen.

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Bearded Tit male

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On route in the Baldock to Royston area the species below were seen.

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Yellow Hammer

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Corn Bunting

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Yellow Wagtail

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Meadow Pipit

Then a quick sprint over to the Chilterns and the Kites, luckily for me the sun still kept on showing itself, making the journey worth while.

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Common Buzzard, was the first bird to come close and then came the Red Kites.

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Comments

Marc Heath said…
Great set Tony, those Kite shots are lovely.
Cheers Marc, I can never get enough of them.
How on earth do you know the little owl was a hen?!
BirdingBoy said…
The forth Beardy shot is superb!
Hi Black Rabbit, It is a good to see a new name on my blog. Having observed these birds for several years, I know that the males markings are much more well defined than the female. She also tends to patrol the area closest to the nest site.

Cheers

Tony
Cheers Birding Boy, I was hoping to get a Bearded shot in Norfolk the other weekend, but the weather wasn't on my side.
Alex said…
I've just moved into the area for the start of summer (the next 5 weeks) so I'm hoping to get to the park a couple of times a week.
I've never seen little owls before so I was wondering what part of the park they were in and whether they are easy enough for a novice birder to spot?
I'm currently wandering round flabberghasted by the amazing waterfowl on show!
Hi Alex.

It is good to here that there is someone else birding in the park. You might label yourself a novice, but concentrating on a birds on a so called local patch can pay dividends. It is much easier to build up your knowledge slowly, than as a lot of people do chase rarities. If you email me then I can let you know where best to stand if you want to see the owls.