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London (Inner City) Wildlife
i_b_b_o_r_g
Posts: 18,948
Thought it would be another positive thread to keep the collective pecker up.
Any one interested, or with stories / photos of unusual wild life in London or other inner city areas?
Brother see this Black Capuchin Pigeon in Charlton Park today -
Any one interested, or with stories / photos of unusual wild life in London or other inner city areas?
Brother see this Black Capuchin Pigeon in Charlton Park today -
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Comments
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Very fancy!
I've been hearing chiffchaffs in Maryon Park (I mean, I've been there twice in the last month, but both times I've heard them)3 -
This was a Buzzard spotted over Eltham being attacked by crows4 -
The old buzzards and carrion love a good punch-up with each otherStrasburger said:
This was a Buzzard spotted over Eltham being attacked by crows1 -
Are they a wild species or an ornamental man made variety ......I’m guessing so?i_b_b_o_r_g said:Thought it would be another positive thread to keep the collective pecker up.
Any one interested, or with stories / photos of unusual wild life in London or other inner city areas?
Brother see this Black Capuchin Pigeon in Charlton Park today -
Do they actually breed and flourish in The UK, I have never heard of them, let alone seen one?0 -
That's got to be an escapee, surely.SoundAsa£ said:
Are they a wild species or an ornamental man made variety ......I’m guessing so?i_b_b_o_r_g said:Thought it would be another positive thread to keep the collective pecker up.
Any one interested, or with stories / photos of unusual wild life in London or other inner city areas?
Brother see this Black Capuchin Pigeon in Charlton Park today -
Do they actually breed and flourish in The UK, I have never heard of them, let alone seen one?0 -
Just Googled this.....They are quite a rare fancy variety originating from The Netherlands.
They cannot be found anywhere breeding in the wild therefore a captive species.
As Uboat says, that one must be an escapee.
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Yeah, escaped from a private collection I reckon mate.
Used to be a couple of blokes around Charlton who kept pigeons for racing etc.
I worked for a courier firm down by the Barrier once and was asked to go to the top of Charlton Lane (Just over from Charlton Park) to "collect a pigeon" and take it to another one of our offices in Hartfordshire (I think). We had a bit of a laugh in the office and off I set to collect this pigeon, expecting it to be some sort of cardboard cut out or whatever. Anyway, knocks on the door and a bloke answers with a purpose made box to end up in Sheffield. Apparently, they post em to eachother to be released and timed as part of their training.
Also sure there also used to be a group of pigeon fanciers meet in the Lib with their machines to compare times0 -
Plenty of inner city wildlife to be seen in S.E.161
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If it's wild non-escaped doves you want, this collared pair were recently in our garden4 -
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See buzzards pretty much everyday flying over where I live, and the last couple of days there has been a pair circling much lower than normal. Love seeing the crows buzzing them to protect their nests.Strasburger said:
This was a Buzzard spotted over Eltham being attacked by crows3 -
I have a big hedge and lots of feeders so get plenty of birds in my garden, including great tits and blue tits. There are a pair of collared doves that live nearby and visit every day, one has a damaged neck so easily recognisable. I occasionally see the parakeets that live near Darent Valley Hospital. Plenty of magpies around at the moment, usually waking me up at 5am with their racket, but they don't come into my garden, just annoy me from a distance!
Last week I spotted a bat flying up and down the garden catching insects but this is the first time I've seen one here and haven't spotted it since.
Other than that it's just foxes crapping on the lawn!2 -
I was in the Pret in Eastcheap a while ago when I saw a fox run down Idol Lane. I think he must've lived in the church garden of St Dunstan's in the East ... unless he used to commute in of course
. Either way he was a healthy, fine looking fellow with bushy tail. 3 -
Wilma said:I have a big hedge and lots of feeders so get plenty of birds in my garden, including great tits and blue tits. There are a pair of collared doves that live nearby and visit every day, one has a damaged neck so easily recognisable. I occasionally see the parakeets that live near Darent Valley Hospital. Plenty of magpies around at the moment, usually waking me up at 5am with their racket, but they don't come into my garden, just annoy me from a distance!
Last week I spotted a bat flying up and down the garden catching insects but this is the first time I've seen one here and haven't spotted it since.
Other than that it's just foxes crapping on the lawn!We've got a family living in our eaves - probably half a dozen or so. I'll go out just before sunset and wait for them to start to appear, and then watch them flying around and swooping for insects.Mate of mine bought me a bat detector last year and I use it to check when they are waking up and ready to fly.Amazing creatures.
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You can never grow tired of viewing great tits in all their glory.Wilma said:I have a big hedge and lots of feeders so get plenty of birds in my garden, including great tits and blue tits. There are a pair of collared doves that live nearby and visit every day, one has a damaged neck so easily recognisable. I occasionally see the parakeets that live near Darent Valley Hospital. Plenty of magpies around at the moment, usually waking me up at 5am with their racket, but they don't come into my garden, just annoy me from a distance!
Last week I spotted a bat flying up and down the garden catching insects but this is the first time I've seen one here and haven't spotted it since.
Other than that it's just foxes crapping on the lawn!1 -
We get red kites flying over Barnet these days. Unimaginable a decade ago.9
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Not inner city, but my brother recently provided an escape route for this little Goldcrest who'd somehow flown into his house in Bickley.
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We have Blackbirds nesting in our apple tree, have seen a pair of blue tits a few times as well, they were having a nose around inside our summer house last week. We’ve a Robin who is always about when I’m digging the garden and always have loads of parakeets when the apples are out.We also get frogs In our pond and have a pair of toads living in the bushes behind it.
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Strange Raith, a Goldcrest flew into our house yesterday and stunned himself bouncing off the living room window. I picked him up and took him back out and he flew off unperturbed.4
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That's brilliant. They've been so successful since being reintroduced to the Chilterns not that long ago, but I never realised that had reached the edge of London nowUboat said:We get red kites flying over Barnet these days. Unimaginable a decade ago.1 -
Saw a crow stabbing the shit out of another bird on Wandsworth common yesterday. Like pinned it down and repeatedly pecked for about 4 minutes to make sure the other bird was dead. Before seeing that I kept hearing what sounded like a bird calling in panic. Fucking nuts. Nature, you scary.0
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One of the great pleasures about where I live is driving home along country lanes at night and seeing owls flying by in your headlights.....plenty of beautiful white Barn Owls, absolutely stunning, as well as one or two other smaller varieties.
Some of them get really close, especially spectacular on a snowy moonlit night.5 -
Not inner city but my daughter who lives in Hextable was surprised by a visit from a badger. Picked up on security camera.2
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No picture unfortunately. But I saw a Black Redstart on a "green" lower level flat roof at Canary Wharf once. Quite a sighting as they are a Schedule 1 bird with maybe 50 breeding pairs in the UK. The Canary Wharf roofs are like that to attract them it seems. https://group.canarywharf.com/media/press-releases/rare-birds-flock-to-canary-wharf/6
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We got blackbirds nesting in our Laurel bush mate, hence the reason I couldn't finish pruning it the other week -DaveMehmet said:We have Blackbirds nesting in our apple tree, have seen a pair of blue tits a few times as well, they were having a nose around inside our summer house last week. We’ve a Robin who is always about when I’m digging the garden and always have loads of parakeets when the apples are out.We also get frogs In our pond and have a pair of toads living in the bushes behind it.
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Our pond also attracts loads of dragonflies
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This Robin setup nest in an old barbecue in the garden. Has since raised a chick and now just hanging out in the garden. We also have noticed a pair of Blue Tits nest in a small hole leading to the loft.
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For anyone that does like recording wildlife in their garden, the BTO's Garden Birdwatch scheme has a great youtube playlist on how to identify the common species
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFFgJk1PU_BOPUri1UtjTm3XBu4ALj0uJ
and you can add your sightings to their scientific projects
https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/gbw
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