Posted by szekiat chan on February 16, 2007 at 11:15 AM
Was just randomly looking for birding sites around london and noticed East India Dock Basins was listed as the only saltmarsh of the LVNR. Anyone here ever been there? I'm not beyond doing a recce trip this weekend especially if the weather is poor, but i'm wondering if there's any worth in lugging 20kg of kit down? Can anyone comment on the site?
regards
szekiat
Posted by Rob Fisher on February 16, 2007 at 11:34 AM
Szekiat,
I'm afriad I don't know about the East India Basins, but have you tried Rainham Marsh?
I'd be interested to know what you think.
Rob
Posted by Mike Smith on February 16, 2007 at 11:36 AM
To be honest I would only expect seeing common seagulls , heron from Regents Park and the odd cormorant at this time of year.
You are probably better off at Regents Park for the Heronry and man habituated wild birds, plus all the pinioned/captive birds from the London zoo overflow collection that abound here
Note Royal Park bye laws, no commercial photography without a license, so any hint of a BIG lens will attract untoward attention from wardens and police.
Posted by szekiat chan on February 16, 2007 at 11:55 AM
without a car, rainham marshes are not the easiest to reach unfortunately. Mike, i've shot extensively at Regent's with the 300-800 without being harassed so it should be fine. Unfortunately, heron flight shots often call for blue skies, a rarity this week. Was looking more for new grounds. A lot of birding books list the docklands as a great place but as photographers, we often know that birding sites do not always make for good photos hence my question..... thanks for the heads up though.
Posted by Mike Smith on February 16, 2007 at 12:10 PM
I think the WWT London Wetland Centre (the old Barn Elms converted bunded reservoirs site) can be reached by public transport (see below), it has quite good hides for winter duck such as pintail once you get away 100yards from the visitor centre trail!, there has been a bittern there this year again, but I don't know if it is photographable
Nearest Underground
Hammersmith Tube
Buses
From Hammersmith Tube take the 283, our specially branded Duck Bus from stand C, which will bring you directly into the centre. Alternatively, buses 33, 72 and 209 stop nearby (alight at the Red Lion Pub). These buses leave Hammersmith bus station from stand B. From Barnes mainline station take bus 33 or 72 or from Barnes Bridge take bus 209
Posted by Chris Lloyd on February 16, 2007 at 12:30 PM
Hi Szekiat,
I went up to East India Dock in the Autumn and I did not see that much there, a few seagulls and that was about it. Mind you, the tide was out and the wind was blowing a gale from what I can remember.
Regards Chris www.c-m-l.com
Posted by szekiat chan on February 16, 2007 at 1:00 PM
thanks once again mike for the tips. I'm actually a very frequent visitor of the LWC as it is a short train ride away for me (from Clapham). I'm just hoping to find more areas to go as the birds tend to be quite far away and the hides really crowded with birders in winter months. I should also point out that i frequent Welsh Harp and Fisher's Green (LVNR) in addition to the royal parks.
Discussion
6 repliesregards
szekiat
I'm afriad I don't know about the East India Basins, but have you tried Rainham Marsh?
I'd be interested to know what you think.
Rob
To be honest I would only expect seeing common seagulls , heron from Regents Park and the odd cormorant at this time of year.
You are probably better off at Regents Park for the Heronry and man habituated wild birds, plus all the pinioned/captive birds from the London zoo overflow collection that abound here
Note Royal Park bye laws, no commercial photography without a license, so any hint of a BIG lens will attract untoward attention from wardens and police.
Nearest Underground
Hammersmith Tube
Buses
From Hammersmith Tube take the 283, our specially branded Duck Bus from stand C, which will bring you directly into the centre. Alternatively, buses 33, 72 and 209 stop nearby (alight at the Red Lion Pub). These buses leave Hammersmith bus station from stand B. From Barnes mainline station take bus 33 or 72 or from Barnes Bridge take bus 209
I went up to East India Dock in the Autumn and I did not see that much there, a few seagulls and that was about it. Mind you, the tide was out and the wind was blowing a gale from what I can remember.
Regards Chris www.c-m-l.com