Since I have been told to rest my arthritic hip I can’t get out much,  so here’s a kind of annual report (Autumn 2012 – Autumn 2013) about my local park Dulwich for anyone who’s interested in what goes on there. Dulwich may not have the variety of birds boasted by, say, Hyde Park, but it’s full of birdlife nonetheless

Autumn 2012: Here's a blackbird eating berries near the café end of the bridge:

I also saw redwing around the base of the shrubbery near the café and in a tree near the park entrance, but only got a fuzzy photo.  Ditto for Goldcrest ,which I often see in the winter, and Siskin.

A moorhen looked unusually picturesque…

 

The Canada geese were doing what comes naturally – chasing each other around aggressively…

But I'm also fond of these geese, 'striped' by shadows from the bridge:

 

Winter: December 2012:  A squirrel tucks into conifer berries:

January 2013:  This was a magical day – the lake iced over and there were mallard, shovelers, moorhen and even rats trying to make the best of it:.

 

Spring/Summer 2013:   I’ve been coming here most days for the past year, and can say that the best time so far has been the Spring (2013) when normally shy birds, such as Song Thrush and Jay, were suddenly sitting out in the open.  

 April 2013: The jay simply sat in the tree and looked at us as we photographed it.  A pleasant surprise since in the past I was used to seeing them fly off as soon as I approached..

This is also the only time I've seen a green woodpecker at DP:

Lurve was in the air for the ring-necked parakeets:

Of the migrants, there were chiffchaff and willow warblers, and someone reported a spotted flycatcher, but I didn't get good photos.

May: The Song Thrush spent a considerable amount of time washing itself in the shallow water on the east side of the boardwalk, preening itself in a tree, in preparation as it turned out for a quick session with a female nearby (caught that on video).  Pics of before and after below…

Little grebes put in an appearance in May each year…there was a pair last spring and I didn't think they bred here, until I met someone in the park yesterday who said he had seen grebelets a couple of years ago.

 Finally, the woodpigeons were doing something besides looking a bit dim or grazing:

July: The moorhens and coots are always here and are very prolific.  The tufties don’t seem to breed often but there was a brood earlier this year.  Here are some moorhen and tuftie babies (don’t know if the tuftie babies made it as they suddenly seemed to disappear):

I don't know if they survived, however.  Especially as there was a family of fox cubs nearby:

November 2013:  Return of the shovelers, and a singing robin:

That's enough for now.  I'll do a separate report on the some more of the Dulwich Park birds.