Bird Walks in London

[MyPurpleMartin]

Hello,

I am an American who will be visiting London from July 8 through July 18.

I was wondering if anyone knows of any guided bird walks that will be taking place then in London or it's suburbs.

I am interested in any birds of England, even the common and obvious ones.

Thank you for any info!

- Maryann

[AndyB]

Hi Maryann, someone local might give you some more info on here. But in the meantime, Chris Lamsdell has a helpful website: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/calidris/
Click on "birding sites" for some city centre and outlying areas that can be good for casual birding.

There's also a London Birders yahoo group (http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/londonbirders/) that you might want to join and monitor to see what's going on - it says it welcomes visitor enquiries.

Public transport is great so if you're feeling adventurous you might want to get out of London and visit one of the many RSPB reserves. Birding is pretty big over there.

[gnr479]

Hi Maryann

Where are you planning on staying in London ? as it is a big area and knowing roughly where you intend to stay would help in giving you more information.I live outside the capital but know a good number of west london/Greater london sites that may help as I expect other members know sites that may be of help near your chosen locality.

Best Regards

Glyn Nicholson-Ross

[MyPurpleMartin]

Glyn,

I will be staying in the Baywater area of London (just north of Hyde Park).

Many thanks!

[Colin Key]

Hi Maryann,

Although I have lived in London since 1967 (I still have a house there but spend most of my time in Portugal) I have to admit that I have never done any birding within the city itself. There are some excellent nature reserves within a short distance of the city centre, Rainham Marshes (run by the RSPB) and the Lee Valley Reserve being two that I am familiar with ("Google" them for more info).

You might also take a look at this website if it is guided tours you are interested in: http://www.birdinglondon.co.uk/index2.html

If you are staying in Bayswater (not Baywater) I doubt that you will not see much other than feral pigeons, but a lot of the public parks (including Hyde Park) have a wealth of wildlife, including birds, as long as you get out early before the joggers and dog-walkers!!

Enjoy your stay.

Colin

[KenM]

Maryann Hi,
Having just returned from the NY/Boston parks I would recommend the London Parks..Gt Spotted Wdpcker,Long Tailed Tit,And with a bit of luck Green Wdpcker. especially Hyde Park, St James's, Green Park and of course Battersea Park/ St Pauls for Black Redstart and Peregrine. The Thames with it's numerous bridges is always worth crossing,looking out for Common Tern, House Martin, Grey Wagtail etc.

Regards Ken M

[the urban birder]

Hey Purple Martin, you should get yourself over to Wormwood Scrubs which is less that 2 miles away from Bayswater. Contact me when you get over and I can show you some of the birds that live on my patch like Meadow Pipit, Lesser Whitethroat and Linnet.

[AndyB]

In case anyone's not familiar, here's the urban birder's local patch in an excellent video as seen on TV:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA6edw8aeDA&eurl=http://www.surfbirds.com/video/84.html

and his website (http://www.theurbanbirder.com)

[gnr479]

Hi Maryann

Sorry not posted sooner.Unfortunately you are not in the most birdy part of London,but fortunately there are some sites which you can reach quite easily fom Bayswater useing the tube.Richmond park is an excellent site and is not too far from Richmond tube station.Also Barnes wetlands centre is a bus ride away from Hammersmith station(special bus goes from outside the station).Both these sites will give you a good range of common species and are reasonably easy to get to from Bayswater tube station.If you would like to go out one sunday if you are available to do so email me privately and I should be able to show you some species which are not readily available in the capital.

Best Regards

Glyn