It's been incredibly quiet recently on Hampstead Heath so I figured it's time to do a roundup of 2020! 105 Species were confirmed seen.
January: January was relatively quiet although there was a few nice birds. Bullfinch was seen twice in the first week of the month at hedge two by Reuben Braddock. Pete Mantle had the only two confirmed Greater Black Backed Gulls and the 1st Red Kite of the year on the 19th over Parliament hill. The only other notable sightings in January are 5 Redpoll on the 11th by Jamie Cedar & 60 Siskin on the 26th at the bird sanctuary by Jamie Cedar & Samuel Levy. Water Rail was seen occasionally through the month but there were sadly no reports of woodcock. 3 Meadow Pipits briefly took up residence near the bird sanctuary for around 2 weeks.
February: The 1st Stonechat of the year was found on the 7th by Pete Mantle and three others were seen throughout the month. 2 Siskin and 2 Lesser Redpoll were in Kenwood briefly on the 19th and the missing pale buzzard was found to be living in the Vale of Health. Three Redpoll were found at the bird sanctuary by Reuben Braddock and wintered until late March. The first Reed Bunting of the year was found feeding at Highgate no1 pond on the 29th as well as a bullfinch at the bottom of hedge 2(probably same as previous bird).
March: Several more Stonechat were seen through the first few days of the month including one individual who spent almost a week by the Model Boating pond. The first Snipe of the year was flushed from the Model Boating pond early in the month and the first woodcock flew past the cafe on the 17th. A 2nd Snipe was seen on the 31st as well as the only Rook of the Spring. Reuben had the only Skylark of the spring.(A flock of 8 Geese flew incredibly high East over Parliament hill not calling early one morning in lockdown March too although I forgot to note which day.)
April: (April & May were insanely busy due to lockdown so difficult birding, Kenwood was closed and less coverage than normal). A pair of Reed Bunting were at the model boating pond on the 1st. And several flocks of common Scoter were heard over Highgate & Tufnell park between 11 and midnight on the 2nd although no one ventured onto the heath to listen. 2 more Snipe went over Parliament hill in the first week of the month. A female Ring Ouzel was on the slope above the running track briefly on the 18th at 6:30am before flying into some gardens and a yellow wagtail landed briefly the following day. On the 22nd Dean had a group 3 large waders circle over Parliament hill around 6am. The best guess would be Whimbrel as Dominic Mitchell recorded at least one bird over his garden around 20 minutes later but it'll be the painful one that got away. Several Wheatear were seen through the month including 4 in one morning by Henry Wyn Jones. The first of 3 singing Lesser Whitethroat seen this Spring was found near the boating pond on the 25th. A brilliant male Whinchat was at hedge 2 on the 29th as well as a the 1st Reed Warbler in pryors field. Several Red Kite, Buzzard and a Hobby were seen through the month.
May: A Hobby circled over the south meadow on the 2nd and the first big arrival of swifts came in too. A Cuckoo was heard very briefly early on the 3rd by Matt Evans. 2 Yellow Wagtail flew over on the 12th and a singing Garden Warbler appeared too. On the 13th a Crossbill flew over Parliament hill. A few Reed Warblers took up residence as did a pair of Common Tern. 2 "possible Black Kites" were reported on birdguides at a date I can't be bothered to find in May as well. An Egret sp flew very high over the hill late in May also.
June: 3 Crossbill flew over on the 2nd and one on the 3rd. Two Buzzard took up residence in Kenwood and a few Hobby were seen.
July: Two flocks of 9 Crossbill flew over on different dates. Significant influx of Crossbill now underway. A group of 6 Siskin also turned up twice. A few Garden Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat appeared at the end of the month. The main highlight of June and July was a very showy pair of Tawny Owl chicks which became fairly popular with local birders but still fairly few people found out and presumably they fledged undisturbed. Other pairs of Sparrowhawk, Tawny Owl & Kestrel also fledged elsewhere on the Heath.
August :The first signs of Autumn migration arrived on the 7th with a 3 Yellow Wagtails and a Garden Warbler. 3 Pied Flycatcher were found by Reuben on 16th in Kenwood and 2 others were seen throughout the month in the same area. Over 10 Tree Pipit were seen in the last week of the month including 3 or 4 on the ground in Kenwood. A male Common Redstart was in Kenwood on the 24th with the large flock of 50+ Willow Warbler. One Whinchat was in Kenwood on the 28th and the first Teal arrived on the 29th. 2 Snipe were reported flying over on Ebird. One Crossbill flew over on the 27th. Several Siskin were present and flying over on the 31st. Several Wheatear, Spotted Flycatcher (15 or so) and Hobby were seen through the month.
September: Finch and Pipit migration began to pick up with 100 Siskin present in Kenwood on the 8th and 112 Meadow Pipit flying over on the 10th. A Redstart, 3 Whinchat, 3 Wheatear & 4 Spotted Flycatchers were also present around Parliament hill on the 10th. On the 18th a Common Sandpiper flew around one of the Hampstead Ponds. 14 Crossbill flew South in two separate groups on the 22nd. A Firecrest was found by Pete Mantle on the 23rd and showed itself briefly to other observers but not seen since. A frustrating large wader flew over Kenwood obscured by trees that looked like a Redshank or Ruff on the 26th (as well as another small wader species earlier in the day). Several Spotted Flycatcher (15+), Wheatear, House Martin (400+), Lesser Redpoll, Stonechat, Hobby, Yellow Wagtail, Teal, Siskin and other common Migrants were seen throughout the month.
October: There were several records of Crossbill (20 or so),Brambling (10+), Siskin (400+), Redpoll (200+), Redwing (3000+) among other common migrants in October. On the 11th two Snipe & two Rook flew over Parliament hill as well as around 800 Redwing. On the 12th the only Hawfinch of the month flew over. On the 16th a female Marsh Harrier flew over the Kenwood viewpoint in the afternoon. A Golden Plover flew south over parliament hill on the 18th. Several Stonechat and a few Teal were also seen in October. A hundred or so House Martins passed through early in the month as well as one Sand Martin and fifty or so Swallow
November: The first two days of the month produced several Crossbills (14 on the 1st and 1 on the 2nd). A Golden Plover flew north on the 4th and a Stonechat was in Pryors field. On the 7th a Hawfinch flew west over Parliament hill. On the 6th the only Pochard of the year spent one day on the boating and Men's bathing pond. The 1st Water Rail of the winter was seen at the womens pond late in the month. A Woodcock was seen at the end of November
December: 2 Mealy Redpoll were seen by Sam Levy on the 2nd. 2-3 Woodcock, Teal, 80+ Lesser Redpoll were also seen in December. Red Kite was seen on the 31st
105 species were recorded in total in 2020 not including the two wader sp. It was a decent year despite the lockdown which it made it so insanely so busy, better than 2019 in terms of variety (highlights: Rock Pipit, Raven, 3 Ring ouzel & 2 Hawfinch). 2020 brought the first Pied Flycatchers since 1 in 2013 and Crossbills since one in 2016 (to my knowledge) as well the first Golden Plover, Cuckoo and Common Sandpiper for several years. But sadly having failed to ID the few species that were likely outstanding, we've failed to record anything particularly amazing or new for the site this year. However in terms of variety 2020 has been outstanding having got plenty of birds that are normally not seen yearly into a single year.
Because I'm so late in posting this I figured I might as well add January 2021 on here as well
January 2021: 2 Teal were in Kenwood on the 1st and increased to an impressive seven birds later on in the month. A Firecrest was found on the 7th by the stock, this later turned out to be two birds who are still present now. Perhaps even better than Firecrest in terms of local rarity was a pair of Red Crested Pochard which appeared one morning after a big freeze. Another male Red Crested Pochard was also found later in the month at the same time as a water rail. Both very unexpected on a quick routine check of Hampstead no1 pond which has hardly any water rail habitat and backs onto houses and a block of flats! Thats the magic of birding a local pond daily! On the 28th, the first Greater Black Backed Gull for almost exactly a year flew over Parliament hill! Around 100 Lesser Redpoll and Siskin were seen throughout the month. This brings us up to a total of 65 as I'm writing this on the 4th of Feb. Shaping up to be much better than last year!
