Dawn chorus walk 2018

We had our annual 5.00 am saunter through Peckham Rye Park on the 7th April 2018. The dawn was delightful, no wind, but good sound clarity with a waning moon.
A tawny owl was heard by an early morning dog walker, over on the eastern fringes of the park. Since the beginning of February we have had a resident swan on the lake and recently a pair of Egyptian geese. The usual wild fowl were present: Canada geese, mallard ducks, moorhens, coots and tufted ducks. We choose this time of the year for the walk in order to hear the first Tawny Owl to hear the first migrants, the black caps in particular. It was not until we had disbanded that Tom Stone and I heard and saw a pair of blackcaps by the Oval bed. We saw what we thought was a pipistrelle bat which are fairly common. The robins were singing throughout and the song thrush and blackbirds occasionally. I have heard the mistle thrush every morning since January. It has a short memorable repeated phrase. The greenfinches and great tits had woken but the others from their families had not made an appearance. This Spring is late and the hawthorn is only just coming into leaf; this is when the small birds are starting to build their nests. Overall we had a very pleasant time.
Peter M Frost from Spring 2018