Saturday, December 4, 2010

Birding in London Parks: Hampton Court, Regents Park, & St. James Park


The Hampton Court grounds were a great place to find waterbirds and non-waterbirds alike, London, UK; 4/5/10.
View of the Hampton Court Grounds from inside the palace, London, UK; 4/5/10.

Last spring while Val and I took a weeklong trip to London, I made point of visiting London Parks that had ponds in hopes of seeing some European waterbirds that might not be common in North America. The best areas that I found in my limitations of time and place were: 1.) the gounds surrounding Hampton Court (Above), 2.) Regents Park (Below top), and 3.) St. James Park (Below bottom).  We were only able to spend a couple of hours in each place.

BIRDS IDENTIFIED
Hampton Court Waterbirds: Egyptian Goose, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan; Non waterbirds: Great Tit, Jackdaw, Ring-necked Parakeet, Eurasian Robin


Regents Park had the most variety of habitat for birds of all species to gather. These Tufted Ducks and  were not intimidated by the huge raptor staue greeting them, London, UK; 4/10/10.

A fountain in Regents Park, London, UK; 4/10/10.

A Bridge over a stream in Regents Park, London, UK; 4/10/10.
Regents Park Waterbirds: Bahama Pintail, Black Swans, Buffleheads, Chloe Wigeon, Shelduck, Grey Heron, Red-breasted Goose, Ross's Goose, Rosybill Pochard, Ruddy Shelduck; Non waterbirds: Eurasian Blackbird, European Robin

St. James Park Waterbirds: Bahama Pintail, Bar-headed Goose, Black Swan, Eurasian Coot, Fulvous Tree Duck, Pochard, Red-breasted Goose, Common Moorhen, Red-crested Pochard, Tufted Duck, Ruddy Duck; Non Waterbirds: British Magpie, Jackdaw
St. James Park with its ponds is another great place for birding, London, UK; 4/8/10.

In the next few posts I will feature the waterbirds that I was able to identify in these three parks.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want to go there....it is just stunning! Wow, loving the color!

~Val said...

That wide angle shot of St. James Park is awesome. Love the reflections.

Hannah said...

I like the picture of the sculpture, for a moment I thought you had captured a duck attack.

Philip Day said...

Local to Hampton Court and with much more time on my hands than usual. First you got some great photos there and you seem to see many more bird varieties that I do. Perhaps the warmer weather will help. I am trying to ID some geese that seem to live in the Hampton Court gardens.

I will update this when I find out what they are.