Saturday 15 May 2010

Oystercatcher Bird Race Day



I am not happy:-)). I was in the Oystercatcher Bird Race today and we came second. Beddington and David Lindo off the telly (pic 1) teamed up to form TUBBS (The Urban Beddington Birders) and we blinking lost to a North London Team (well it was the London Wildlife Trust so will let them off :-) ).
It was an event launched by Natural England (pic 4) and involved the BBC (video below) to promote London wildlife by travelling on public transport with an Oystercard.

Well i had no idea what an Oystercard was ( I drive everywhere) and becuase I didn't 'swipe in and out' I ended spending twenty quid (I could have got a travel card for £6.30) and then on the way home got in trouble for going into zone 5. So much for that- back in the car next time :-)) Highlight of the day was Tawny Owls in Hyde Park (pic 1), we recorded 86 species (the 'winners' got 90) and covered Beddington Park, Beddington Farmlands, Mitcham Common Gun Site, The London Wetland Centre, Hyde Park and even birded in Covent Garden.



Johnny Allan's (the skipper) here: http://surreybirding.blogspot.com/

5 comments:

Razboynik said...

Great shot of the Tawny Owl.

Mark James Pearson said...

'winners'?! ;)

Peter Alfrey said...

:-)) Should be the thrashers not the winners- you whipped our butts.
Anyway, I'm most satisfied it was the London Widlife Trust that took us down :-))

Des McKenzie, said...

Just for the sake of accuracy, the Tawny Owls are in Kensington Gardens, not Hyde Park ...

Peter Alfrey said...

Cheers Des.
We had Tawny Owl, Mandarin, Red-crested Pochard and Coal Tit as ticks in Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens. Very nice indeed.