Egyptian Goose, Hyde Park
Greylag Geese, Hyde Park
Egyptian Geese, Hyde Park
With an afternoon in London, I decided to visit Hyde Park to find some of the feral duck species found there. Before I reached the Serpantine Lake, I had seen a jay, a goldcrest and several long-tailed tits. The Serpantine Lake itself was absolutely with waterfowl, in particular mute swans, Canada geese and greylag geese. In among these were one species I had hoped to see, the Egyptian goose, a rather bizarre addition to London's avifauna. Hyde Park does not have a bird collection, and these birds have come there by their own accord. They are able to fly and breed in the park, so in spite of it feeling slightly wrong, these birds come from a self-sustaining population of about 75 birds and are thus the 175th addition to my British year list!
Other wildfowl seen were a trio of shovelers, several tufted ducks and pochards and barnacle goose (presumably an escapee from one of the nearby bird collections). There were, however two highlights for me, a peregrine falcon that flew over and a dozen or so ring-necked parakeets, my 176th British bird of the year. Two new additions to my year list (albeit a pair of very feral ones), and two birds very rarely seen back in the west country!
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