Birds seen during a January walk in Battersea Park

My camera took me for a lovely walk round the lake in London's Battersea Park last Friday.  I have already written posts with photographs of the birds on the ice and the resident mute swan family.  Now I am showing photographs of the other birds that I encountered on my walk.

As part of the lake was frozen, I was lucky enough to first see a Great Crested Grebe that was swimming nearer to the path than normal.  They usually seem to be in the middle of the lake and much too far away for decent photographs with my tiny camera.  This one was quite obliging, but did not stay near me for long.

There were quite a lot of Tufted ducks on the lake.  Below is a male

and a female.

There were also several Gadwalls.  This is the female

and this is the male.

 I also came across a Cormorant, but it kept diving and then swam away from me before I could get a decent photograph of it.

This time, on the lake, there were at least six pairs of Northern Shovelers.  Here the female is shoveling in a bubbling section of the lake while the male goes for a swim.

The female is still shoveling and the male has swum back to the bubbling water to join her.

Later the female went for a swim and came quite near to the railings at the edge of the lake.

Away from the water, I came across a large Wood Pigeon looking for food in a flower bed.

There were also several Magpies.  I find these always fly away from me when I try to get near to them, even though I think I am creeping very quietly towards them.  This one landed on the railings and I managed to get a photo before it realised I was there and flew off!

I love walking round the park and, so far, have always come across some interesting wildlife.  It is great to be able to get close to nature in London.