Capital Wildlife - 24 hours in London

We spent a night in London after the launch of the Stanley Spencer anthology at Cookham Festival last Friday. We really enjoyed the atmosphere of Camden Lock, with its barges coming and going. 

At one point there was a bit of a splash as this Cormorant touched down. It was a good reminder that London boasts so much more wildlife than the proverbial pigeons, which admittedly were certainly showing in good numbers. 

Two Canada Geese swam round the corner towards us while we were watching the barges.

At this point we caught a bus to the Tower, renowned for its ravens, which on this occasion we failed to see.

We joined the queue for the Thames Clipper, and I was interested to note how much wildlife had been crammed onto this board... I expect some of the species live further up river, near the mouth. I'm sure we all associate the Thames with eels, but photos of the seahorse and water vole caught my eye.

We had to wait for a while, but it was not too long before we were heading upstream to Greenwich...

...where we enjoyed a rather damp picnic lunch beside the Cutty Sark.

• The London Wildlife Trust

My First Lamb at NT Ickworth, Bury St Edmunds

We had a lovely visit to NT Ickworth on Saturday.

The Canada Geese were patrolling the pond. 

We checked for spawning frogs, but could see no sign of amphibian life.

David saw this bird of prey looking on

while I was watching ...

... a distant Great Spotted Woodpecker high up in a tree. 

The red patch of feathers on the nape of the neck indicates a male.

It was a bright spring afternoon, as you can see,

and although the park was full of people, there were quiet corners to be found ...

... some more accessible than others! 

We think this puffed out ball of fluff may be a young Buzzard. 

Do leave a comment if you know otherwise. 

We thought at first it was an owl, but a quick glance through binoculars

showed that this was not the case. 

We had a quick look around the Abbey Gardens

in Bury St Edmunds,

where the Grey Squirrels are very friendly. 

But before we left Ickworth,

we managed to spot a single lamb,

our first of 2015.

But it seems that there are or will be about 1999 more!

Canada Goose with Orange Band, Pakenham Mill

We visited Pakenham Watermill for the first time on Saturday. It lies just across the road from Mickle Mere, a reserve in the care of the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. We headed off to the hide, and enjoyed watching the nesting gulls and the young Moorhens and Coots. There were a few geese about - Egyptian, Greylag and Canada. The Canada Geese were a fair distance from the hide, so the photo above was taken on my zoom and has been enlarged. I apologise for the poor quality, particularly since it would have been interesting and helpful to have been able to have read the ringing ID on the orange collar.    

My understanding is that the significant details to record if you spot a neck band on a goose are ...

• the species, in this case Canada Goose
• the colour of the neck band
• the numbers or letters on it
• the colour of the numbers

Sightings of banded birds can be sent to www.ring.ac (here) which is a website run by BTO on behalf of the European Ringing Schemes.

You can read about the Cotswold Water Park banding research project here.

There were some strange leafy 'creatures' lurking in the meadow near the mill stream! 

Beautiful Birds ~ Home Patch and the Shotley Peninsula

This Blackbird has a leucistic stripe on his wing - it isn't just the light in the photo.

We usually have a couple of Dunnocks in the garden ...

... and the Wren has reappeared ...

... such a delightful little bird ...

... to have popping up in unexpected corners.

Yesterday afternoon I drove along the River Orwell ...

... to the Shotley Peninsula ...

... passing this flock of Canada Geese.

I took a short detour to visit Pin Mill ...

... where the sun was shining on the water ...

... and I could hear a Curlew in the distance.

There were a couple of Redshanks ...

... wading about in the mud.

I'm puzzled by this bird ... is it Red-, Green- or other?

Such a lovely place ...

... to be ...

... on a sunny afternoon in winter.

Beautiful Birds: A Cold Afternoon at Needham Market

A tense moment: Canada Goose meets Mute Swan

A Black-headed Gull surveys the scene.

I'm guessing the huge drake (back right) is a Mallard hybrid

You can read my previous post about hybridisation here.

Time for a spot of ...

... spring-cleaning, aka preening.

The gulls thought so, too.

The one on the left is a juvenile, with paler head, legs and beak.

A final fluff-up ...

... before joining the Mute Swan and other gulls on the water.

The Moorhen preferred to scrabble for food on the bank.

We saw a few distant Fieldfare on the way home.