I only decided late last night where I wanted to go today, and even then, my plans seemed to change as the day went on. Sometimes days like these are the best.
I had already decided to go and visit the Fulham and Barnes Peregrines, Charlie and Tom. I hadn't been to see them for several months (if you want more information on my time with this magnificent pair, please scroll back to my blog posts in June). Charlie is the female, Tom is the male, and their territory is based from Charring Cross Hospital.
The usual view point for the peregrines is from the Margravine Cemetery, which is at the back of the hospital. In June 2012 and June 2013 I was proudly part of the peregrine Fledge Watch team, and during those long days, whether it be rain or sun, we sheltered under the named 'leaky tree'. Sadly due to the Judes storm back in October, the 'leaky tree' is no more. All that remains is a few chopped logs, and the remainder of the tree, which has been uprooted to such an extent, that its almost curved over.
After an initial first scan around all of the hospital, I couldn't find either of the peregrines, but after settling back in the cemetery with a coffee, one of them soon came soaring around and straight onto one of their favourite perches. My first thought was that it was Charlie. The bird was big. But after looking at my photos more closely, it could well be Tom. Hopefully Nathalie M will confirm either way. So a few photos of Charlie / Tom below. I'm not overly bothered who it was I saw, I still have the same feeling when I see one of them, an overwhelming experience of feeling so incredibly honoured to see such a beautiful bird of prey, within an urban area.
The classic 'preen' shot below.......a headless peregrine !!
I left Charlie/Tom and made my way to the London Wetland Centre to meet my good mate, Gina. Walking up to the Peacock Tower I had some lovely views of one of the Green Woodpeckers, but only managed a hastily grabbed photo......
Looking over the Wader Scrape, I spotted a Common Snipe probing out in the open......
The weather was on our side, the skies were blue, the wind was slight and it wasn't even that cold, so I persuaded Gina to come with me to Kensington Gardens. But our short visit to the LWC was made worthwhile by also seeing John, Martin, Gary and Oscar. It really is nice to feel comfortable with good friends. Making our way back along the Lagoon Walk, Gina and I came across a large flock of Goldfinches........
and had some fantastic close up views of Long-tailed Tits........
After a short bus ride, we were at Kensington Gardens. First port of call just had to be the Tawny Owls. I follow Ralph Hancocks blog post daily (link to Ralphs blog), so we knew exactly which tree to look for them.
As expected, the female was on the 'balcony' of her nest tree. The male was nowhere to be seen, so here are a few photos of Mrs Tawny. One photo of her just wouldn't be enough........
Leaving Mrs Tawny in peace, we went to see the most fashionable fish restaurant in the park, the area by the stone bridge. There we found three Great Crested Grebes taking it in turns to dive down to the 'cages' to catch their prey. Two of the GCGs were obviously a couple, and they were making threatening displays to the solo bird. A lot of the displays were fairly harmless, and involved the bird laying almost flat across the surface of the water, staring at each other but at the same time, sticking their heads underwater to see if they could get away with making a dive.
Whilst we were watching this behaviour, we noticed one of the Coots had tried the same hunting technique. It dived down on to the top of the cages, and after several unsuccessful attempts, it managed to grab a crayfish. This is not one of the native species of crayfish, its an introduced breed, a Turkish.
My photo is dreadful due to the failing light at that time, Ralph got a much better interpretation of the catch in his blog, from his view at the top of the bridge.......
The Coot tried several times to try to find a way of eating the crayfish, but eventually gave up and the dead crayfish was abandoned. Convinced that one of the gulls would clean it up, Gina and I stayed put, but a Lesser Black-backed gull decided to go one better, and appeared with a freshly caught crayfish........It landed on one of the posts, than as if it wanted to give us a show, it swam across to where we were, got out, beat the crayfish against the path and swallowed it whole !!!
After the mornings glorious clear weather, the afternoon had turned cloudy and windy, so Gina and I soon retreated to Wholefoods in Kensington. There Gina tried to convert me to beer while we reminisced on our day out. And I was nearly convinced, but after arriving home, I soon had a bottle of Shiraz opened.
Changing my name from 'Wino Wendy' to 'Beero Wendy', just doesn't sound right.................
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