All quiet during the festive period

The holidays are always nice and relaxing when spent here in the UK. The birding has, admittedly, been limited, though I did get time to write the gulls section for the 2013 London Bird Report. Anyway, a couple of visits to Burgess Park and around Rotherhithe haven't revealed any cold weather gems, but I'll keep trying. London's at its (mediocre) best when it acts as an 'urban heat island', attracting birds that have been frozen out from elsewhere. It often takes more than just a couple of days, so hopefully by the end of the week things may start to happen. In the meantime, these were the commonest bird I saw today: -

Ring-necked Parakeet Southwark Park 29th December 2014

That's what happens when you stick to urban London I guess. These beasts, and umpteen Egyptian Geese - they're increasing exponentially it seems! No Med Gull at Burgess Park over the past few visits, and the only thing slightly noticeable is an increase in Shoveler numbers, a handful on Burgess Park on 27th and then 18 today at Southwark Park.