Bird-filled London town

London isn't that bad for birding, really. I know that I waffle on about it being the birding abyss, having grown up in rural Cheshire, but today was time to disprove that statement. And in the sunshine too as it turned out.

1st-winter Kittiwake, Crossness 27 Jan 2013

Crossness has been severely underwatched in the last couple of weeks, what with John A in India and Kev J back at Crayford despite the Aleppo-style gun battles. So I decided to get back on it, and it wasn't long before I was in on the action with a nice, though rather lethargic 1st-winter Kittiwake off the golf centre. Normally Kittiwakes on the Thames move straight through, but this youth decided to stay put for all my visit. Loads of other birds in the blustery conditions including a Grey Plover, 3 Yellow-legged Gulls and a couple of hundred Dunlin.

Slavonian Grebe, Littlebrook 27 Jan 2013

Nearby, I had another look at the confiding Slavonian Grebe at Littlebrook in much better light conditions and minus the snow. Good to bump into Kit D, Mick S, James L and Jonathan L amongst others, who were all snapping away with their long lenses. So knowing that my shots would be rather meagre in comparison, I headed back into Central London and to Hyde Park with the warning from Jonathan L that 'you're going to kill somebody this afternoon Rich'.

Bearded Tits, Hyde Park 27 Jan 2013

I didn't by the way. Despite my admittedly short fuse when it comes to the general public, for some reason I didn't get too many questions while I was watching the celebrity Bearded Tits and it was a relatively pleasurable experience in nice, bright sunlight - though those darn reeds were blowing about a bit too much for my liking. 48 Egyptian Geese chilling out by The Lido were good value too.

And to yesterday, with just a couple of spare hours before I had to venture indoors for the remainder of the day - a 2nd-winter Yellow-legged Gull on the beach at Rotherhithe and a couple of friendly Egyptian Geese greeted me as I walked out of my flat.

Messy eater in Rotherhithe 26 Jan 2013