Wimbledon to Richmond walk

A beautiful walk from Wimbledon station to Richmond yesterday, the highlights were seeing jackdaws riding on the backs of deer and a wonderful view of a male kestrel hovering near the Wilderness. We also saw young cormorants, gossander and huge white eggs near to them, pied wagtails, Common Pochard ducks, and black headed gulls. Petersham Meadows looked like a painting..all in all I walked nearly 20 miles yesterday, amazing how far you can get if you pace yourself carefully, feet didn't even ache much....it was pretty mild, so green, from the high point in Richmond Park it felt like there was forest as far as the eye could see, I think the tower at Leith Hill was clearly visible from the top terrace looking left and even further left also possibly Box Hill, which is only 14 mies away from Richmond. Much evidence of extravagant, vapid affluence so close to London, rowdy rugby types on the train going home, quite an 80s feel to it all, pre-housing slump carnival atmosphere this Saturday night.

Chicks in Wilian village pond, Hertfordshire

Chicks in Wilian village pond, Hertfordshire, below that my mother's painting which she has had since 1951 reminds me of the scene, she says the painting was of Derbyshire though, and her grandfather used to look at it and observe  it might look nice but a terrible storm was obviously on the way...perhaps that's where the pessimism gene comes from? It was a pretty stormy day but we had a fantastic lunch at the fox pub in Wilian, followed by a little bit of sun as we waddled round the pond, I liked the gargoyles in the church tower, a very comical bunch of gurning baldies.

Trip to Shoreham

A lovely trip to Shoreham, Kent today, walking along the Darenth River and across the beautiful wooded hill tops, the site of a buzzard carrying a fox cub through the air was pretty raw, we then saw one of its brothers or sisters waiting on the path below.

 Below - a good companion on this walk...

Little owl Streatham common

I saw the little owl roosting this afternoon in his Ivy covered tree, he looked right at me, how I love that little owl...

Below, Tooting Bec Lido, last week when I had a very cold plunge.

Cliffe, Kent: Nightingales, cuckoos, marsh harrier, kestrel....

A great trip to the RSPB reserve at Cliffe in Kent today, we heard lots of nightingales and saw and heard three times  a cuckoo (or three separate cuckoos?). We also saw a magnificent, vast marsh harrier, with distinct white stripes on his upper wings,  a wonderful view of a female kestrel, a tern, two nesting Mediterranean gulls and a few oyster catchers. We also heard a Cetti's Warbler, lesser white throat and reed Warbler, saw white throats, a great (white) egret , little egret, swifts, swallows, orange tip butterflies, a red shank,  black headed gulls with lots of chicks and the beatific, curve beaked site of many Avocets in the estuary mud. A delightful trip, I'd like to go back and see the Small Eared Owl, but would have to camp out - in all likelihood - to actually see it.

Below, the graffiti seemed comically ridiculous - implying a bizarre avian vendetta?

Long walk round Crystal Palace: kestrel, pied wagtails, fox.

I took a Long walk round Crystal Palace today with friends, saw a kestrel hovering perfectly over the scrubland above the palace foundations, two or three pied wagtails flitting around like dragonflies near Capel Manor, baby Coots and what I think were geese chicks, gold finches and mistle thrushes, wonderful evening sounds in Sydenham Hill Woods, a fox went into the entrance in Low Cross Wood Lane - we heard Cubs calling, first time I've seen a fox in the woods, spent almost all day walking, cold but lovely. 

The next day i went to see the motor 'racing' at Crytsal Palace, they were racing against the 
clock not other cars. Which would have been exciting but too dangerous I suppose. I was 
curious to see how they would do this, as the old track has gone as far as I know, but there were some hairpin bends and lots if burning rubber smells and screeching tyres. The, mostly male, drivers certain,y Kok it all very seriously. I remember the sound of the races here when I was a child, and like to imagine Niki Lauder and James Hunt racing in formula 3 cars here, as depicted quite vividly in the film Rush.

Tescos Streatham