Osterley Park (16 November 2022)

After a damp and distinctly unpromising start to the day, the clouds had parted to reveal a glorious November morning by the time 10 of us assembled at the main gates of Osterley. As we walked up the driveway, we soon heard a characteristic rattle as a mistle thrush flew rapidly away from us, while a red kite soared high up in the distance. Further along we saw a great spotted woodpecker, also flying away from us, and a pair of coal tits among other tits on the bird feeder in the cottage garden.

Next, we headed to the car park, where the three mistle thrush, great spotted woodpecker and small flock of redwing seen during a recce for the walk, all obstinately failed to appear. Water birds seen on the Middle Lake included a little grebe and several great crested grebes, one of which was showing early signs of display behaviour. As we entered the wooded area at the end of the lake, a goldcrest appeared amongst the branches of the yews, and a tit flock moved through, giving us excellent views of long-tailed and coal tits. A kestrel flew overhead and a nuthatch called from the trees and was briefly seen.

As all of our party turned out to be National Trust members, we decided to head for the gardens, where we finally caught up with a small flock of redwing. The rest of the woodland circuit was fairly quiet bird-wise, the main highlights being a close view of a red kite above our heads and several very handsome mandarin ducks on the Garden Lake as we headed back to the house.

Overall, a very enjoyable walk, rounded off with a pleasant coffee in the Stables Café. The total number of species seen was 36.

trip report by Clare Million