July is usually a quiet month here. There is always some hope of getting an unusual bird either through post-breeding dispersal or from an early autumn migrant, but over the years good birds in…

June is always a quiet month here. Birds are busy breeding, so we tend to only see species which breed here or nearby. An exception which becomes more likely towards the end of the month is the ‘…

What does a Conservation Officer do?

Based at Walthamstow Wetlands, a reservoir complex within the lower Lee Valley, I joined the London Wildlife Trust in this role in 2021. To help…

May produced quality birds from the beginning to the end of the month with flocks of both sanderling and turnstone the highlights. In another blaze of colour, the month also saw black terns, black…

A typical May here sees the tail-end of spring migration for the first half of the month, with the second half being more settled with little bird movement and our summer visitors settling down to…

After March's fireworks, April's birding was solid rather than spectacular although a remarkable five Common Redstarts meant there was plenty of colour as well as activity, The month saw…

April is one of the months which is all about migration. Much of the month is very predictable, with the various common passage migrants and returning breeding birds generally arriving within a…

March is always an interesting month here as it sees the start of the spring migration period. Short distance migrants can start to appear in early March, with the first birds from sub-Saharan…

When does spring start? Well, we officially enter spring on the day of the Spring Equinox; due to the position of the Earth’s orbit in relation to the sun…and all that astronomical stuff. But, I…

The first alpine swift since 1980 was the highlight of an exceptional birding month which also saw osprey, marsh harrier, a long-staying kittiwake and a remarkable run of rock pipits. Add in…