I got to London a few days before my meeting began and discovered that there was a wetland park in London that was rated as a very good birding site. Only catch was that it wasn’t really near an underground station…in any case, I took the tube to Hammersmith Station from which it’s about an hour’s walk across Hammersmith Bridge which is closed to traffic. There was a trail called the Thames path which hugs the river all the way down till you get to the wetland park…..it was scenic and offered excellent views along the river with a few birds too…
Old Hammersmith Bridge under repair but open to pedestrians…the signage shows the Thames path along the river till you get to Queen Elizabeth Walk which is about 1.5km away on the rightThe Thames path…plenty of joggers and doggies…A Eurasian wren sang lustilyAcross the river was the magnificent Craven Cottage Stadium, home of Fulham Football ClubYou eventually get to Queen Elizabeth Walk which leads right up to the Visitor Centre of the Wetland CentreAnother bird sang merrily…a dunnockDunnockThe London Wetland CentreThe rather large visitor centre…most wetlands and national parks around the world are free of charge or have a nominal fee…not this one….it cost about 18pounds for admission and I imagine that this would put off some people…..having said that, I would say that the LWC is well set up with good trails and hides. Being a wetland, most of the birds were ducks…and there were actually ducks and water fowl from all over the world…Common goldeneye having a splashCommon goldeneyeJuvenile moorhenpretty bodies of waterI was fortunate enough to meet a couple of other birders who had much local knowledge ….and I was asking them if they had seen the Eurasian bittern that the reception staff told me had been seen the day before…when he answered ‘I’m looking at it right now across the water in the reeds! So well camouflaged, it was a long way away….just managed to get this pictureEurasian bittern…the bird of the London Wetland CentreGreat crested grebe with his breakfastwell constructed hidesa handsome female chaffinchpeaceful water bodiesNorthern Shoveler..malefemale northern shovelerMale wigeon with red brown head and a pale topEuropean greenfinchlovely blue titgreat titmale bufflehead with stunning head colorationfemale buffleheadfemale smew fulvous whistling duckred breasted and barnacle geesered shovelerScauptufted duckwhite faced whistling ducksAnd here’s what made for a perfect day out…after a pretty cold morning’s birding in LWC, I found out about the Red Lion, a historic pub just 5 min walk away…the inside was rustic, charming and even bird themed! Oh and the chicken and leek pie was excellent!
So it was after lunch I had a walk round to the other hide …the peacock hide but didn’t see anything else. Not fancying another long walk back to Hammersmith Station, I found convenient bus stop outside the Red Lion which brought me back to Putney Bridge on route378 to connect back with the underground and back to the warmth of the hotel.
So this was winter birding in London, something I had never thought would be any good but surprisingly it turned out to be an excellent and near perfect day out for the amount of time invested.
The Natural Traveller 