RobboJan's Naturetrek: An Oasis In The Middle Of The City

The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) London Wetland Centre

Sunday 8^th February 2015

We stayed in The Kew Bridge Travelodge and were greeted on Sunday Morning by a cloudless blue sky and the balmy temperature of 8˚C, a relative heatwave compared to recent temperatures.

I looked out of our bedroom window, we were surrounded by flats of about 7 or 8 storeys with very few trees and already the planes were racked up in the sky queuing to get into Heathrow Airport and in the tree that was opposite our window was bird that I could only see the silhouette of, it was only when it flew off a few minutes later did I see its bright green plumage in the sunlight, it was a Ring Necked Parakeet or more correctly named Rose Ringed Parakeet. I looked to my right up to a flat that was about 5 storeys high I could see two feeders and there were already 3 Ring Necked Parakeets on them and they were later joined by another two. We both watched out of the window as we saw pairs of Parakeets coming and going.

Ring-necked Parakeets

We were fascinated by these birds, yesterday was the first time we had ever seen them in the wild. They are such an exotic bird brightening up a rather drab cityscape with their bright green plumage and vivid red beaks but as we were to find out later, locals have very little love for them but for us we were thrilled to see them. They haven’t arrived in Norfolk yet, although I remember one of my parishioners in Fersfield telling me that they had seen one on a feeder in their garden but the sceptic in me put that down to a Green Woodpecker. They have been reported as far North as Manchester this year.

How did we get them in London? There are several popular urban myths regarding the Parakeets growing in numbers in London: 1. That Jimi Hendrix released a pair in Carnaby Street as a publicity stunt for one of his records. 2. They escaped from Ealing Studios during the filming of a Tarzan movie. 3. That a container of birds fell open at Heathrow Airport and 4. That a large aviary of the birds collapsed in the storm of 1987 releasing a significant number of birds. You pays your money and takes your choice. All I know is that was when I was Policeman in South Norwood in 1985-6 it was well known that there was already a number of these birds roosting in Beckenham. What is less well known is that there is another Parrot, The Monk Parrot (a slightly sturdier bird with a white chest) which is also beginning to form a sizeable population which is now over 200 birds strong. It was recounted to us in a conversation at The Wetlands Centre later that Cockatiels are also beginning to breed in the wild in the capital. I also heard a report that a town in the North West of England has some escapee Blue Throated Macaws living happily in the wild. There are reports of Parakeets living in London and the suburbs as early as the 1890s but these eventually died out and this current boom has occurred since the late 1960s.

At the moment the RSPB report that there are 8,600 breeding pairs of Ring-necked Parakeets in the UK. These birds are a major concern as a threat to the biodiversity of our natural birds they have been reported as destroying whole orchards. Their beaks are so powerful they can cut through normal bird feeders and one of the first things you notice about the bird feeders around the Barnes area is that they look bulletproof!

We have to remember that there are other non-UK breeds of birds that breed in the UK such as Pheasants which are also said to have a detrimental effect on the biodiversity of the UK.

While we were having breakfast, overlooking the Thames we saw many Gulls, Wood Pigeons, Feral Pigeons and a Heron.

After we left the Travelodge we went to the London Wetland Centre which can only be described as an oasis in the middle of the city. We expected it to be busy, after all it was a Sunday, it was a nice day and it was about 8˚ hotter than it has been for a few weeks but it wasn’t too bad and they even had their mobility scooter available, without which I wouldn’t have seen about three quarters of what I did see. It truly is a work of art, the whole way the reserve is laid out is well thought out and it is quite instructional. My only criticism is perhaps that it gives the impression of being well manicured but I am sure that is done for their resident London audience but even saying that there are plenty of wild corners to see. Certainly the staff couldn’t be more helpful.

The Entrance To The London Wetland Centre

Statue Commemorating Sir Peter Scott The Founder Of WWT

The one must see at the reserve is the Peacock Tower Hide which gives you a 360˚ view over the most interesting parts of the reserve, it even has a lift up to the third floor. While we were there a Bittern, 2 Water Rails and a Peregrine (amongst many other birds were seen), you can even see the roof of the Charing Cross Hospital where a pair of Peregrines breed every year (it is a mile away but can clearly be seen through binoculars or a scope). Again my only criticism is that it was very noisy in this hide, despite many signs asking people to be quiet and there is the usual competitiveness which seems to build up when you get lots of birders together. I had to move scopes, twice, from vacant windows which is not easy when you’ve got 2 walking sticks. In fact I had to leave the hide earlier than I wanted to because I found it all a bit too much but that says much more about me than adverse conditions in the hide.

The Peacock Tower Hide

Views From The Top Of The Hide

One couple from Balham stopped and had a chat with me especially about the Parakeets and that their Son was a City Of London Policeman, it’s nice to be treated as a human being when you’re on a mobility scooter.

We went to see the pair of captive Asian Short Clawed Otters they have being fed and I deliberately didn’t park in front of the glass windows so as no to block anyone’s views of the Otters but I knew it was a mistake as soon as people started to turn up. Even though I couldn’t see the Otters people were crushed up against me and I could feel the scooter being pushed this way and that as people were leaning on it and me to get some leverage to get a higher better view. At one point I just closed my eyes and wished the ground would just swallow me up but I knew there was worse to come. After the feeding was over there was no easy way to get off the walkway either backwards or forwards and eventually I was brave enough to go forward but nobody cleared a path for me even though there was plenty of room until a kind passer by asked people to move so I could get by but I was still given some very disdainful looks as if how dare I trespass on their space but then again this is London and things and attitudes are different here. Eventually I got clear but it was such a palava, it makes me feel so reluctant to go anywhere.

Asian Short Clawed Otters

All in all we spent about 4 hours in the centre and on the whole it was an enjoyable experience and I would thoroughly recommend any birder who is in London to visit the centre. We spent an enjoyable last 20 minutes watching some Ring-necked Parakeets in a tree with people standing right underneath them, no more than 3 metres from them.

Ring-necked Parakeets

This is a list of birds we saw at the centre (some are captive birds that are used for education purposes, something the centre does very well):Ring-necked Parakeets, Coots, Moorhens, Mute Swans, Kestrel, Peregrine, Bittern, Tufted Ducks, Great Crested Grebes, Herons, Canada Geese, Shovellers, Lapwings, Black Headed Gulls, Cormorants, Great & Blue Tits, Chaffinches, Robins, Grey Squirrels, Asian Short Clawed Otters, Bewick Swans, Barnacle Geese, Eurasian Lesser White-fronted Geese, Red-chested Geese, Egyptian Geese, Philipine Duck, Mallard Ducks, Greylag Geese, Brent Geese, Pochard, Wigeon, Teal, Canvas Backed Ducks and Screamer Birds. There were many other captive birds but we only saw a few of them.