Country diary 1949: Marvelling at the variety of birds in south London

LONDON: The other day, after an absence of several months, a kingfisher appeared at a pool in the garden of a friend of mine in Dulwich. Where it comes from nobody seems to know; though there are several pools in the neighbourhood, none has a resident kingfisher, and the River Ravensbourne, where a pair has been known to nest, lies two and a half miles to the east, with a considerable built-up area in between. But I never cease to marvel at the variety of birds that are to be seen in the delightfully open stretch of country between Dulwich Village and Sydenham Hill.

Kestrels and sparrowhawks are a frequent sight at all times of the year, and in spring and summer the fields and gardens echo the calls of the cuckoo and all three British species of woodpecker. Jays are, if anything, too common, and last spring I saw hawfinches and wood wrens in a corner of Dulwich Wood. A year ago, according to the latest number of The London Bird Report, a woodcock was seen on the adjoining common, and in the previous summer a family party of shrikes was reported from nearby. And during the past two springs I have seen or heard there not merely willow wrens and blackcaps but a garden warbler, a whitethroat, a redstart, a tree-pipit, and a reed-warbler.