Sunday 4 June 2006

Arrandene Open Space, near Mill Hill Park, NW London. RSPB NW London Local Group birdwalk.
A pleasant afternoon walk in an area I've never been to before.
We started by guessing how many birds we would see or hear. I said '35' without having any knowledge of the local area, and was told this was too ambitious. We ended up as a group with 29, which was generally considered a respectable total. Of these, I saw or heard 24.
The total of 29 included: blackcap, chiffchaff, coal tit, green and great spotted woodpeckers, kestrel, swift and a nuthatch, which was the highlight for me. Unfortunately the whitethroat failed to put in an appearance, but you can't have everything.