Evening Walk in Richmond Park (28 June)
Sandra and I led a successful evening stroll around the centre of Richmond Park for 23 people including several non-members who had seen our publicity in things like the Twickenham News. We gathered at the Pen Ponds kiosk at 7:30pm, having walked in from a variety of gates. Our circular walk took us through the woods down to Upper Pen Pond, over the Causeway and up Sidmouth Slope then across to Sawpit Plantation, up the side of Duchess Wood to the Ballet School then along the path back to the Pen Ponds kiosk for about 10pm. 18 Little Owls were seen including our first one on its usual log in the field behind the kiosk. It was a great relief to find one so quickly and have the pressure of showing everyone a Little Owl taken off!
Of the 18 owls seen the early ones were adults but as it got darker and we approached the Ballet School small families emerged with lots of hissing from the youngsters waiting to be fed. One family of 3 very cute fluffy owlets with their parents on the corner of Spankers Wood were particularly endearing. The youngsters sat close together waiting for the adults to return and feed them although they readily flew/clambered up and down the various piles of logs and stumps they were sitting on and made attempts to catch the many moths and beetles flying past them. Sandra and I led a walk a couple of weeks ago and found adult owls on similar territories but the youngsters were still hissing from their nest holes and not fledged. An owl we have nick-named ‘Roy’ (because he seems to keep spotting it) was sitting on exactly the same branch on the same bush on Sidmouth Slope as last week. ‘Roy’ and the other 3 owls on Sidmouth Slope gave close views while it was still light enough to take photos and see them clearly.
Once we reached Lawn Field the sun had set and an apricot-coloured Gibbous moon (thanks to Molly for the technical term) had risen and we all realised how peaceful the park had become. This was partly because the park road gates close at about 9pm but largely because all the Jackdaws and Ring-necked Parakeets had gone to roost and finally stopped squawking! It was quiet enough to hear the rather simple song of a distant Reed Bunting on the bracken.
As well as owls there were plenty of other birds around, especially on the Ponds. Two Common Terns on nests were being fed small fish by their partners as another preened. Lots of gawky ‘teenage’ Black Headed Gull chicks sat around on the new islands. Best of all Sandra found 2 humbug coloured Great-crested Grebe chicks riding around on their parent’s back near the reed bed. They were evicted by the adult but soon clambered back! The large number of moulting Canada Geese, with a few Egyptian and Greylags, were of interest to people who hadn’t realised why they were all gathered here. They gave a good demonstration of having lost their flight feathers when they were startled and comically had to waddle on mass back to the pond rather than fly. We also had a mini-murmuration of 200+ Starlings coming in to roost in the Sycamore tree on UPP Island.
A Stonechat was a new bird for several and we found a male which we were able to show in our telescopes. A few Green Woodpeckers were seen and heard and a Kestrel was patrolling near the Ballet School. We remarked on the lack of Sand Martins and Swifts but eventually saw 3 Sand Martins high over Pen Plantation and a dozen Swifts over Lawn Field at dusk. A fair-sized bat was seen – bigger than a Pipistrelle but not over water so not a Daubenton’s. Someone thought that it might be a Serotine which apparently like feeding on moths and beetles, particularly chafers, and there were certainly a lot of them around. This is what the Little Owls were hunting. As some of us walked in from Robin Hood Gate we saw Purple Hairstreak butterflies flitting high in an oak tree…hopefully they did not become Owl food.
As we left the park in our various directions the owls were just getting going. Clare and Fiona heard young Kestrels and two Tawnies on their way back to Sheen Gate. One was just outside Sheen Gate and Fiona saw it drop down in a tree. Altogether a good evening with lots to see and good company.
by Rebecca Dunne