Doing a Hedgehog survey in Pitshanger and capturing a Woodcock in the camera footage. I’d never seen one before as they are shy birds who come out at dusk and hide in leaves/ hedgerows.
Jane Fernley
In the 1980s Red Kites (Milvus milvus) were extinct in England. In 1989 a few young birds from Sweden were released near Stokenchurch, a few miles down the M40. If a Red Kite was spotted in the few years after their reintroduction it was a cause to celebrate, but thirty-four years on they have done so well that they are now a common sight in the borough. It still brings me joy to see one, like this beauty photographed in Hanger Hill Park. One day (perhaps next summer) there may be a confirmed breeding record for this magnificent bird in Ealing.
Nigel Bewley
By far the Beaver project for me. Getting to take part, knowing that they’re here and seeing a bit of their work. We have been waiting a long time for this and it did not disappoint.
Doram Jacoby
I really enjoyed data surveying at Paradise Fields ahead of the Beaver release, photographing insects at Warren Farm, foraging for fungi at Hanger Hill and looking for Glis glis (Edible Dormouse) in Hanwell.
However, I have to go with feeding the Hedgehogs in my Hanwell garden. They’re just so adorable and it’s a privilege to get so close to them.
Victoria Williams
For me 100% following the Hobby family this year, from just before they left the nest for the first time, right up until when they fledged. All in the Hanwell area and of course the Peregrines nearby and Warren Farm! Bliss!
Debbie Bull
Making friends with a family of nuthatches at a time when I was very low. Over a month it went from introduction, the male meeting me at the beginning of the path, feeding out of my hand, to showing me their babies and watching them fly the nest. I still can’t believe it happened. He also would sit on the end of my camera and then hop into the tree hole. Oh, he even answered my phone at one point! Have to say it was an amazing experience and one very special to me which I’ll never forget.
Steve Morey
I am an international student living in Ealing. Osterley Park and alongside the river Brent let me keep up my foraging hobby. Be it Dandelion, Blackberry, Raspberry, Nettle or Yarrow, I had it in abundance. With my luck, I found a huge Chicken-of-woods mushroom while foraging. Nettle soup is considered a superfood, and my wife knows how to make it super delicious. I have also made two bottles of Elderberry and Blackberry wine harvested from the bank of River Brent. Even after I returned to my home country, I will never forget the essence of the wildlife in Ealing.
Saurav Sharma
Every season I have lovely moments to share about birds that visit the Grand Union Canal Gardens. It was autumn when an adorable female Teal/Pintail was welcomed to the gardens. She was so small and friendly that I named her Aubrieta – a small flower. It wasn’t easy for her to get along with the Mallards around, but because she was brave and fast, she kept coming back. Most afternoons she was resting with the Mallards and she always shared her oats and seeds with our friendly and old Coot Enzo. How lovely she was and what wonderful memories she created!
Silvana Hladik
Note from the editor: we’ve racked our brains and asked some experts and this is an unusual bird to identify. If it was genuinely much smaller than the Mallards then it is likely to be a female or juvenile Teal, but it has interesting features, and leg rings indicating it came from a captive collection so it may have hybridised with some other species of duck. A tricky bird to identify with confidence!
On the day of the King’s Coronation in May, my daughter was thrilled to join EWG and release a tiny harvest mouse (which she named “Tickler”) into Paradise Fields. She then discovered Ilyan Vuillard’s wonderfully skilled capture of this moment, beautifully displayed in the Walpole Park photo exhibition organised by EWG. She often talks of the harvest mice and has written about them in her school research about owl habitats. Her experience is just a tiny snapshot of what the group does. Wildlife volunteering by such a friendly community and everyone documenting it is so inspiring.
Claire Easter
