Regent's Park/Primrose Hill
From Londonbirders
Map: [1]
For anybody not familiar with these two sites, they are often lumped together because they are adjacent to each other and are separated only by a road. Primrose Hill lies to the north and as the name suggests, is a hill. Its main claim to ornitholgical interest is the fact that it makes an excellent spot to watch visible migration. Nearest tube station is Chalk Farm, which is 5 minutes walk away.
Immediately to the south of this and stretching towards central London almost to Marylebone Road and Baker Street, is Regents Park. This is a very large area, mostly of grassland, including football pitches, small groups/belts of trees and one reasonably sized lake towards the southern portion of the park. Regents Park benefits from having two Royal Parks employees who are also pretty good birders (Tony or Dave if you could add to this page, you would do a better job than I!).
Also for those with an interest in wildfowl identification, the lake holds a fairly extensive collection of birds to practice with. These include Ross's Geese, Black Brant, Pink-footed Geese, Smew, Red-crested Pochard and Ring-necked Duck. The park really comes into its own during periods of migration. Maybe it is because the Park is one of the few sizable areas of green in inner London, or maybe it is because the site gets so much regular coverage, it does turn up some pretty good birds for London every year. Wheatears are one of the obvious birds that are fairly easy to see however a more detailed look can turn more interesting spp. such as Firecrest, Pied Flycatcher and Wood Warbler. A couple of years ago London's second Lesser Scaup was found on the lake (after it had gone missing from Brent Reservoir to the north.
Being an open space in London, the Park does get a lot of joggers/dogwalkers/office workers having lunch. To maximise your chances of seeing decent birds, it is advisable to visit as early as possible before anything unusual has been spooked by the dogwalkers etc. There is a noticeboard near the toilet block at the north-west corner of the lake which will give you details of what birds have been seen recently and exactly where. This will give you an idea of the best areas in which to concentrate your observations. Remember though that birds can and often do turn up anywhere, so I find it a good exercise to keep my eyes and ears open as soon as I enter the Park. In the winter especially, it is not uncommon for records to be of birds flying over, so a basic ability to identify birds on call can be indispensable at this time.
Finally in the breeding season, for the last couple of years, a pair of Peregrines have nested at the top of a tower block to the south. Not only does this make it possible to see this species over the Park, but the RSPB may set up a viewing site so that you know exactly where to look (this year there was even a 'webcam' so you could keep up with events from the safety of your armchair!). If all else fails and after a few hours you still haven't seen anything interesting, fill your time by carefully going through the Gulls. They don't roost here, but probably in one of the Lea Valley Reservoirs, so every day there is the potential for something out of the ordinary to be amongst them. The park is closed at night, but in order to visit, the nearest tubes are: Baker Street to the south-west, Great Portland Street to the south-east, Camden Town and Chalk Farm are both towards the north-east and require a short walk. If I've missed anything important, can someone please add to this page?! Paul White
Park Sightings on http://www.regentsparkbirds.co.uk
REGENT'S PARK CHECKLIST
Little Grebe 1 Dunlin 75 Black Redstart 146
Great crested Grebe 2 Jack Snipe 76 Common Redstart 147
Slavonian Grebe 3 Common Snipe 77 Stonechat 148
Black-necked Grebe 4 Woodcock 78 Whinchat 149
Leach’s Petrel 5 Bar-tailed Godwit 79 Northern Wheatear 150
Gannet 6 Black-eared Wheatear 151
Cormorant 7 Whimbrel 80 Ring Ouzel 152
Shag 8 Curlew 81 Blackbird 153
Little Egret 9 Redshank 82 Fieldfare 154
Bittern 10 Spottede Redshank 83 Mistle Thrush 155
Grey Heron 11 Greenshank 84 Redwing 156
Mute Swan 12 Green Sandpiper 85 Song Thrush 157
Whooper Swan 13 Wood Sandpiper 86 Grasshopper Warbler 158
Bewick Swan 14 Common Sandpiper 87 Sedge Warbler 158
White fronted Goose 15 Turnstone 88 Eurasian Reed Warbler 159
Pink footed Goose 16 Arctic Skua 89 Melodious Warbler 160
Grey lag Goose 17 Pomarine Skua 90 Lesser Whitethroat 161
Canada Goose 18 Long-tailed Skua 91 Greater Whitethroat 162
Brent Goose 19 Blackcap 163
Eygptian Goose 20 Mediterranean Gull 92 Garden Warbler 164
Common Shelduck 21 Black-headed Gull 93
Mandarin Duck 22 Little Gull 94
Mallard 23 Common Gull 95 Wood Warbler 165
Eurasian Wigeon 24 Herring Gull 96 Willow Warbler 166
Gadwall 25 Yellow Legged Gull 97
Northern Pintail 26 Lesser Black-backed Gull 98 Chiffchaff 167
Northern Shoveler 27 Great Black-backed Gull 99 Goldcrest 168
Garganey 28 Iceland Gull 100 Firecrest 169
Common Teal 29 Glaucous Gull 101 Spotted Flycatcher 170
Red Crested Pochard 30 Pied Flyctcher 171
Common Pochard 31 Red-breasted Flycatcher 172
Tufted Duck 32 Kittiwake 102 Long-tailed Tit 173
Ring-necked Duck 33 Sandwich Tern 103 Blue Tit 174
Feruginous Duck 34 Common Tern 104 Great Tit 175
Lesser Scaup 35 Arctic Tern 105 Coal Tit 176
Greater Scaup 36 Little Tern 106 Marsh Tit 177
Common Scoter 37 Black Tern 107 Willow Tit 178
Long-tailed Duck 38 Guillemot 108 Nuthatch 179
Common Goldeneye 39 Feral Rock Dove 109 Treecreeper 180
Smew 40 Stock Dove 110 Golden Oriole 181
Red Breasted Merganser 41 Collared Dove 111 Red-backed Shrike 182
Goosander 42 Turtle Dove 112 Great Grey Shrike 183
Ruddy Duck 43 Wood Pigeon 113 Jay 184
Common Buzzard 44 Rose-ringed Parakeet 114 Magpie 185
Honey Buzzard 45 Cuckoo 115 Carrion Crow 186
Red Kite 46 Barn Owl 116 Rook 187
Black Kite 47 Tawny Owl 117 Jackdaw 188
Hen Harrier 48 Little Owl 118
Marsh Harrier 49 Short-eared Owl 119 Starling 189
Montagu’s Harrier 50 Long-eared Owl 120 Waxwing 190
Northern Goshwk 51 Swift 121 House Sparrow 191
Eurasian Sparrowhawk 52 Kingfisher 122 Tree Sparrow 192
Osprey 53 Wryneck 123 Brambling 193
Common Kestrel 54 Lesser Spot'd Woodpecker124 Chaffinch 194
Merlin 55 Great Spot'd Woodpecker 125 Greenfinch 195
Eurasian Hobby 56 Green Woodpecker 126 Goldfinch 196
Red Footed Falcon 57 Woodlark 127 Hawfinch 197
Peregrine Falcon 58 Eurasian Skylark 128 Bullfinch 198
Barn Swallow 129 Crossbill 199
Grey Partridge 59 Red-rumped Swallow 130 Siskin 200
Common Pheasant 60 Sand Martin 131 Serin 201
Water Rail 61 House Martin 132 Lesser Redpoll 202
Corncrake 62 Tree Pipit 133 Meally Redpoll 203
Moorhen 63 Meadow Pipit 134 Linnet 204
Coot 64 Rock Pipit 135 Twite 205
Common Crane 65 Water Pipit 136 Reed Bunting 206
Oystercatcher 66 Richards Pipit 137 Corn Bunting 207
Stone Curlew 67 Yellow Hammer 208
Little Ringed Plover 68 Pied Wagtail 138 Snow Bunting 209
Ringed Plover 69 Grey Wagtail 139 Black-headed Bunting 210
Golden Plover 70 Yellow Wagtail 140
Grey Plover 71 Wren 141
Knot 72 Hedge Accentor 142
Lapwing 73 Robin 143
Ruff 74 Nightingale 144
