Good place to see parakeets in London?

[actionfinch]

Originally Posted by htcdude

I bet that's the only birdie you got all day!

come to think of it .. yeah it was...

[~T~]

Well I really enjoyed my trip to London this time. I ended up having mostly nature time and as well as a wee trip down to Dorset to Monkey World I checked out Regents Park, Richmond Park and Hampstead Heath and all were excellent in their own way. I didn't see that many birds in Regents and sadly no aesculapian snakes along the canal. I think I was just a bit late in the year even though it was pretty warm (that and I didn't really know the exact sites to be looking for to see them). Apart from the various exotic waterfowl in Regents I did have one native bird first for me which were a flock of long tailed tits, nothing special for most people but we just don't get them where I live (I seen them all over the place after that and now know their call to listen out for them). I was also surprised at the amount of herons round the park and how tame they were, taking slices of bread from peoples hands .

Richmond Park was obviously something else, it's huuuuge. Apart from the obvious draw of the deer I had 2 more firsts within 5 minutes of entering the park, green woodpecker and nuthatch (but was unable to get a picture of them). I was actually surprised at just how many GW's I saw but every time I went to snap a pic someones dog seemed to be running past to spook them And yes I got my parakeet fix and once the novelty wore off quickly realised just how annoying they are I also snapped a pic of a loud little grasshopper/cricket that I'll need get ID'd in the bug section.

Hampstead Heath is only a 15 min or so walk from my brothers place and again I was amazed at just how big it is and saw loads of birds (in fact as was mentioned in this thread they were most abundant and easy to photograph round the ponds). Another first for me was the humble jay, again we just don't get them round about Glasgow with only occasional sightings reported. I was a tad miffed that I just couldn't get a decent pic of them though. I also saw some kind of grebe but I'm rubbish with waterfowl so will need to get it ID'd.

Thanks for all the tips and advice as well as the LOL's. I'm looking forward to another visit although I've been told by various friends that next time there will be less nature time and more boozing time

[Deb London]

Very pleased you seem to have enjoyed yourself ~T~. I have never been to Richmond Park even though I live relatively near.

Glad you got to see the Parakeets, and now you realise why some people are just not that keen.

[htcdude]

Good to hear you enjoyed yourself, yes Richmond Park is massive, yes there are lots of Green Woodpeckers, and yes the parakeets get on your nerves after a while

Nige