An overdue visit to Kensington Gardens

 

After visiting Richmond Park a couple of days ago, today I was off to another Royal Park, this time it was Kensington Gardens in west London.

Ralph Hancock's daily blog posts from Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park always inspire me (link to Ralphs blog here) and recently he's seen both the resident Tawny and Little Owls. I got my 'deer fix' on Friday so today I was hoping to get my 'owl fix'.

Foolishly I didn't google the park first and when I arrived there were cordons up and notices everywhere warning about the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon......

 

 

Some of the paths I couldn't cross unless I actually jogged along with the runners and zig-zagged my way across........which I did.......twice ! So if anyone saw a red-faced puffing and panting semi-jogging woman dressed all in khaki with binoculars bouncing off her chest and a camera slung over her shoulder with a rucksack on her back, that was me ! I don't 'do' jogging but fair play to everyone I saw running. A lot of money for many well deserved charities was raised today. Just rather you than me !!!

 

By the afternoon though the park was accessible again in all areas.

 

So back to my 'owl fix', did I get it ? Well yes and no. I found both the male and female Little Owl, and the male Tawny Owl, fairly easily. However trying to photograph them was more than a little challenging. On my last few outings the weather has been kind and the light for photography has been great. Today it was mainly overcast so trying to photograph an owl against a white cloudy sky was not good. It didn't help that for most of the day the male Little Owl was partially hidden by branches, the female Little Owl could only be seen from behind and the male Tawny Owl was mostly hidden by leaves. So here's the best of what I could photograph today.........

 

Watching me watching him watching me. Mr Little Owl.

That streaked blob in the middle of the picture is the male Little Owl.

Side angle shot of Mr Little Owl.

This would have been a half decent photo of Mr LO if I hadn't had to lighten it so much !

And believe it or not, that brown blob in the middle of the leaves is the male Tawny Owl.

I got no photos at all of the female Little Owl, the only view I had of her was her back. And there was no sign of the female Tawny Owl, but that's not unusual.

 

I will be paying another visit in December when the leaves have dropped and visibility is much better.

 

Elsewhere around the park I witnessed my first ever views of a marmite Parakeet (you either love them or you hate them) actually on the deck. I have seen them on feeders, on trees, even being fed by hand, but I have never seen one on the ground before.

 

 

Like Cranford Park, Kensington Gardens has a large population of marmite Parakeets, but you get much better views of them at this Royal Park as they so used to us human beans. The one below was picking out the sweet chestnuts from their prickly casings before the fruits could fall to the ground.

 

The Grey Squirrel below was also doing the same.

 

 

Around the leaf litter yard the smaller birds were happily following whoever might have some seeds to feed them with, which made for some lovely close up views.

 

Great Tit

Robin

By the Peter Pan statue area I heard a Kingfisher calling but couldn't locate it.

Cormorants and Black-headed gulls were topping all the posts going across the water.

 

 

There were several Shovellers around but they were too distant for me to photograph, but the Common Pochards were a bit more obliging, especially one of the males.

 

 

One of the drake Mandarin ducks came very close and then started displaying to a nearby female. I love the way they extend their necks so took several photos. I couldn't decide which of the two pictures below I liked the best, so as its my blog I decided to publish both.

 

 

By the Lido café a young Lesser Black-backed Gull was playing with a stick.

 

 

and a pair of Greylag Geese were passing each other a very soggy leaf.

 

So is this behaviour 'playing' or practising for the mating season when birds often present their chosen partners with little 'gifts' ?

 

By the bridge I lost an hour watching a young Great Crested Grebe and an adult bird, fishing for titbits in amongst the weighted down 'cages'. I know from previous visits that these 'cages' are great hiding places for small fishes and crayfishes, but despite observing the two birds for some time I didn't see them catch anything at all.

 

 

So not a bad day really, but I'd have liked better views of the Owls. A trip back when the leaves have fallen will rectify that.

It was nice to see Ralph again. The man is a wealth of information about the birds on his patch and I learn something new every time I have the fortune of chatting with him.

 

Lastly yesterday I popped over to see my Mum, and was gobsmacked to physically see her wince whilst she was reading my last blog post. Apparently my grammar isn't too great, but to be honest I always thought both my grammars were lovely women.

 

Joke.

 

So to satisfy my Mum I've gone through this blog post with a fine eye aided by 'spellcheck'. Hope it meets to everyones satisfaction :)

 



Bellows in the mist at Richmond Park

The title of todays blog is not about John Fews rumbling tummy, it's about the Red Deer at Richmond Park (though Johns rumbles could sometimes be heard above the deers bellows).

 

At 7am this morning John and I were parked up and out over looking a dip with the mist around us and no sound except the huge bellows from almost invisible Red Deer.

 

 

It was somewhat surreal being able to spot one huge stag and then hearing another one quite close by, then another one and then more bellowing from the depths of the mist on the other side of the dell, all the while trying to adjust your eyesight to the swirling mist.

 

 

 

As the mist finally started to lift and the sun broke through, the light made for some interesting photography.

 

 

The last time I came to Richmond Park over three years ago, I foolishly went alone and promptly fell awkwardly off an anthill, had to drag myself to a log, call an ambulance and then spent the next seven weeks on crutches with damaged knee tendons and an impact bruise that stretched from my ankle all the way up my shin bone. This time I was taking no chances and figured if I fell again at least John would pick me up after laughing his head off.

 

As the mist cleared and all became visible we realised there were at least seven other photographers watching the action from the other side of the dip. It also became clear that all the stags around us were focused on one huge dominant male who had already acquired a small harem of four hinds.

 

 

 

This is what the autumn Red Deer rut is all about. The stags try to gather, and mate with, as may hinds as they can. The first sign of weakness in a stag and another one will challenge the dominant  one and take all of the hinds for his own. Challenges usually involve bellowing, dressing up the antlers with bits of bracken, doing the parallel walk where they march along almost side by side weighing up each others weak spots and then the rut itself where they charge face on to each other with heads bowed low and antlers ready to inflict some serious injury.

 

Well we watched the stags parade their bracken decorated antlers, we watched a few of them do the parallel walk and, of course, we heard them bellowing, but not one rut did we see. Johns theory is that it is unseasonably warm, which made sense later in the day when we went back to see the holding champion had gathered another ten hinds to his harem but was surrounded all round by seven other stags all laying down and snoozing in the afternoon sun. We even saw the champion mate with some of his hinds, but the other stags, although they could see and sense what was going on, continued to lazily watch on.

 

So it will be a late rut this year, if there's one at all. Johns been down to the park several times over the last few weeks and only witnessed one half hearted rut attempt, and other photographers we spoke to today reported the same.

 

So as there was no rut to photograph, and the morning turned out to be clear, dry and sunny, I spent most of my time taking long distance photos, usually hiding behind John or a tree. I'm not saying I'm scared of the deer, more like wary. I'm sure any female would say the same if surrounded by testerone pumped males with big antlers !

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apart from the resident large numbers of Jackdaws, Crows, Starlings and marmite Parakeets (you either love them or you hate them) the only other numerous bird were the Stonechats. Where there was a patch of bracken, there was a Stonechat or two.

 

 

It was a beautiful morning marred only by one light rain shower.

John, as always, provided a large flask of coffee as well as a much appreciated lift to and from Hounslow bus garage (thanks mate x) and my only disappointment of the day was the lack of sightings of Fallow Deer, but another visit will soon rectify that.

 

 So it may have been a day of the 'non-rut' but it was a great day out anyway.

 

 

My long weekend in Rhyl

I had been booked to dog-sit last weekend for my cousins from many months ago, and to be honest the timing could not have been better, although I didn't know that at the time.

When my two favourite cousins announced they were taking their families to Blackpool for the weekend, I offered to dog-sit their little darlings. My cousin David, his wife Joe and their kids Aimee and Jack, own the delightful Buster. My cousin Karen, her hubby Dave and their kids Melissa, Harrison, Michael and Brandon, own the other delightful pooch, Keith.

After my recent 'mini melt down', this little break was exactly what I needed. An evening with my cousins then a few days solitude with two dogs and the sea shore, then another evening with my cousins. Absolute bliss.......

 

 My last visit to Rhyl was back in February (see my blog post from then here) which was just two months after the huge tidal surge in December 2013 that flooded out some of David and Joes neighbours, and many of the coastal roads from the Splash Point area right along the prom and golf course. If you look at my blog post from that visit (link above) you can see the immense destruction that surge caused. Ten months later and for most of the community things are almost back to normal. But the beach itself will never look the same, and the tides that now come in are more destructive than ever before.

 

But back to my weekend......

 

My two 'charges', Buster and Keith, have known each other all of their little lives. I was to stay at Busters abode, with Keith and myself being the 'guests'.

 

I'm an animal lover. Everyone who knows me will tell you that. I love all animals. I love pets. I love dogs. But I have never owned a dog. For the last 15 years I've owned cats. I've rescued cats, re-homed cats, kept a few cats and always been known as a cat person. But this weekend I was going to be looking after two young dogs. It didn't worry me. I could handle it with no problems. Or so I thought..........

 

Buster and Keith had me wrapped around their little fingers from the minute all of my cousins piled into their cars and left........

 

Buster and Keith

More about these little darlings later......

 

At home I have my bird-watching 'patch' which is Cranford Park. When I'm staying at my cousins in Rhyl, I also have my little 'patch' which is from Splash Point, all along the prom, sometimes on to the beach, and up to the sand dunes at the end of the golf course. I don't know how long that walk is, but my legs can tell you now that after walking it twice a day for four days, that it is quite a long way !!

 

Tide out.....

Tide in.....

and the remnant ancient tree stumps and rock pools left behind.

From all my previous visits over the last 5-6 years, I can guarantee there will always be sightings of the following three birds......

 

Turnstones....

 

 

Redshanks...

 

 

and Oystercatchers....

 

 

 Also becoming a familiar sighting is the Little Egret. I never used to see one on the Rhyl shore, but during my last three visits I have always seen at least one. He/she prefers the little rocky pools left behind when the tide goes out. There are two areas of rocky pools that are right by the prom wall, so you just literally lean on the wall and look down. As long as you don't make too much noise or movement, the Little Egret will feed right below you.

 

 

The Curlew is also being seen more and more. I rarely used to see one, but this weekend at least three individual birds were feeding along the shore and in the rocky pools on my usual walk. I still get a buzz of excitement from seeing this large wader. There's something majestic about this bird.

 

 

 

Sandwich Terns are always around during the winter months. I don't know where they breed, but I have seen them at Rhyl during October in previous years and the flock is often a mixture of juvenile and adult birds. They don't come too near to the prom wall, but often settle on one of the many sand banks exposed when the tide goes out. Their loud grating 'kerrick' call is often what first alerts me to them being near. During the winter months they lose most of their black caps, leaving just a band of black around the base of their heads. Fully mature birds have black bills with yellow tips, but juveniles and some younger adults have all black bills.

 

 

 

I used to see Sanderlings on a regular basis then I didn't see them for a couple of years, but there were a few individuals around this weekend. They are comical little birds, almost like wound up clockwork figures as they run around.

 

 

Over the years the number of Ringed Plovers that I see at Rhyl, have dramatically increased. I used to be pleased if I saw one, but this weekend I ended up losing count of how many were around. Like the Turnstones and Little Egret, these gorgeous little birds favour the rocky pools. Sometimes you cant even see them until they move. Their wonderfully marked plumage hides them well amongst the stones.

 

 

 

 

On the prom path itself there were several Pied Wagtails running around, with more flying over.

 

 

I often see Meadow Pipits when I go on my Rhyl 'patch' walk. They flit from the golf course over to the shore. With all the area of ancient tree stumps being exposed by the strong currents, they can also be seen picking their way through the muddy channels left behind.

 

 

Prior to my last two visits I used to only see Stonechats when I went into, and behind, the sand dunes, but back in February and again this weekend, there were several feeding on the scrubby areas on the golf course. One particular female bird gave me some wonderful views as she flitted to and from the golf course and the prom wall.

 

 

On the golf course itself there were several Northern Wheatears. I counted five on Friday, three on Saturday, one on Sunday and three again on Monday. On no occasion were they really close enough to photograph, so you'll have to make do with this distant shot.

 

 

And lastly for the birds, there were the gulls. My identification skills aren't too clever when it comes to gulls. I wouldn't be able to pick out a Yellow-legged amongst the Herring Gulls for instance, but my basic knowledge picked out five individual breeds........

 

The Common Gull

 

 

The Herring Gull

 

and the Lesser Black-backed Gull.

 

There were also big numbers of Black-headed gulls (one of which I've photographed with the Sandwich Terns above), and I spotted at least two Great Black-backed gulls but they were more distant.

 

So that was my long weekend of bird watching. How did the dogs, Buster and Keith, cope with that ? They didn't as I found out the first time I took both them, my bins and my camera out. I couldn't hold my bins or camera steady enough while holding onto two excitable little dogs at the same time. In fact I nearly got a black eye while trying to view a bird through my bins whilst holding on to the leads, as Buster saw a dog he liked the look of he pulled away causing me to whack myself on my nose.

So we came to an arrangement. I'd walk the dogs in the morning, noting where all the birds were, then settle them back at base before venturing out on my own with my bins and camera. It seemed to work well for all of us, except I got better views of the Wheatears when I was with the dogs than when I was on my own. But the dogs certainly kept me entertained. I haven't laughed so much in ages, and our evenings were spent crashed out on the sofa watching TV. Even the lack of sleep (these lovely little dogs barked at every night time noise) didn't put me off.

 

So to end my blog here are some photos of Buster and Keith.

 

Buster

Keith