Category: Nature

A Swift Hello

There used to be eels in the lake at Barmeath and probably still are. The lake is landlocked and I could not work out how they got from the sea to the lake but they did; probably through an overflow drain that runs under the fields and then through ditches down to the sea. Much… Continue reading A Swift Hello

Summertime

The Mall is decked out for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting; Lancaster house is sealed off and has much tentage and Lord Lieutenants and their deputies are run ragged greeting delegates at airports.

Griffons, Goats & Grub

We have seen griffon vultures wheeling high above us. They look quite small at such an altitude but in fact have a wingspan of more than eight feet. It would be exciting to see one close-up but that seems unlikely.

Forsyth Saga

I came across this plaque in Kensington Gardens on Sunday. It is the right time of year to see it because William Forsyth’s Forsythia was flowering.

Ten Things To Do List

1. Write thank you letter to Alistair for inviting me to the Hotel Chocolat last week. Here’s the bar of chocolate I made. Looks like a dog mess but I won’t stress that in my letter.

Phantom Threads

Phantom Threads is supposed to be Daniel Day-Lewis’s swan song, but I suppose he will be enticed back to appear in cameo roles.

Local Notes

1. Periwinkle, planted in 1984, seems indestructible. It has spent months buried under building materials over the years and gets trampled on by me and the bin men.

PLA

Ten Trinity Square was built around the time of WWI as the headquarters of the recently established (1908) Port of London Authority (PLA). Today it is a luxury hotel and I thought that London now is insignificant as a port but, as so often, I am wrong.

Wetland

This is a bird’s eye view of the London Wetland Centre. Earlier this year the Lesser Spotted Prime Minister was seen here. She flew back to central London; ornithologists believe that she prefers a dry habitat. You will recall that she was seen in Burberry gathering nesting material as the breeding season commences.

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Rus in Urbe

There are still flocks of black headed gulls on the river between Hammersmith and Richmond. As many as a thousand have been counted below Richmond Lock, which must have been a challenging task. Soon they will all disappear to breed along the coast to be replaced in summer by terns.

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