Monkey Hadley Common, known locally as Hadley Woods, is an area of public woodland and village green in north London. Here it is on Google Maps:

Hadley Woods can be broadly split into three areas:

• The woodland on both sides of the railway tracks
• Beech Hill Lake, known locally as Jack's Lake
• The common in Monkey Hadley village

There's also an area of meadowland at the northern boundary of the woods, which is owned by Hadley Wood Golf Club, but is publicly accessible. You can easily find this by going north-west from the lake. The meadow is not technically part of Hadley Woods, but is included here because it forms a seamless part of a walk (and because some birds are only usually found here).

For a small area of woodland, these different habitats mean you can find a good variety of wildlife. As well as the birds, there are muntjac deer living in the woods, butterflies in the meadow and grass snakes hidden in the undergrowth. And squirrels. Lots of squirrels.

Let's talk about birds though.

The woodland is home to woodpeckers and the usual suspects for inside Greater London: robins, wrens etc. The woodland on the eastern side of the railway tracks generally has better variety than the western side. The lake has ducks, geese and frequent visitors such as terns and gulls. The meadow is where you can spot raptors and, in the spring, whitethroats. The common in the village is fairly sparse most days, but can be a good place to spot birds from the nearby town.

Ok, so what are the things you need to know? It's a decent size, taking about 40 minutes to walk the full length. In winter, big areas turn into a bog, so probably not worth coming unless your dog is into this (the bird survey will continue regardless). Should you come here looking for rare birds? Absolutely not, unless you really need a Grey Wagtail for your list. But there are birds, so if you're here, there's often something to see.