The noise from the traffic on the busy Marylebone Road was still thrumming in my ears as I strode up York Bridge towards the Inner Circle of Regent's Park. I was approaching the we created in partnership with The Royal Parks when I was stopped in my tracks. Here in the shadow of the BT Tower, was a jay, staring at me from the hedge.
Jays are suposedly elusive, shy birds of woodland. Yet here it was loud and proud.
Special moments are never really far away when you're in London. You may feel insulated from the countyrside, but the countryside has moved in to the Capital. My session in Bushy Park was a good reminder of this. Red deer chewed and calmly watched as I walked past them enroute to our trailer next to the Heron Pond. It was a wet and blustery day, so I didn't get to see many people. Lots of birds and dogs, but few people.
Monitoring of our house sparrow plots is proving quite enlightening. We've had the usual pigeons, crows and gulls recorded in the grass plots. but our nectar and seed rich plots are also attracting a range of finches, thrushes and tits alongside strange arrivals such as snipe. Over winter there won't be as much fieldwork, but the study continues with number crunching and identification of the thousands of insect samples collected over summer.
There's been lots of discussion surrounding sparrowhawks of late. People at events I've been to claim to be seeing more of them. They're right. Sparrowhawk numbers are now returning to levels not seen for years. It's great to see them. Last time sparrowhawks were really common, sparrow numbers were enormous. Since then, house and tree sparrow numbers have fallen, with London losing about two out of every three house sparrows.
Next weekend (5 Dec) we'll be marching to Westminster calling for more global action to address cliamte change. Come and join us at The Wave. Wear something blue, register on our special webpage and we'll ensure you've a blue prop to wave towards the Houses of Parliament as Big Ben strikes three. Size does matter. We need to show there is massive, humongous, nay mammoth public support to encourage politicians to go that extra mile when they meet with other leaders in Copenhagen. Please don't leave it to others to march. That jay, the sparrows, the deer, insects, plants, your fellow Londoners, Europeans and other world residents all deserve a future not blighted by our reliance on carbon or our indifference.
Join us Saturday in our sea of blue minnows, combining to create a blue whale of a day that could be the straw that breaks the back of the camel of climate change.