Bird walk in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens - mid January - Part 2

As I continued my walk along the edge of the Serpentine in Hyde Park last Friday, I decided to take some photographs of gulls - to see if I could identify them later.  I believe that this is a Yellow-legged gull, but hard to tell without being able to see it's legs.  If I am wrong, please would someone let me know?

I think that this one is a Lesser Black-backed gull.  Again, it would be great if someone could confirm this or, if not, please let me know what brand of gull it is.

I know that this is a Black-headed gull - one of the few on the lake with the dark head colouring.

I went to look at what was happening bird-wise at the Diana Fountain and discovered a Carrion Crow having a bath - not that you would know that it was a crow in this pose!

Two of the crows had a bath while I was watching.  Here, one had just got out of the water and the other was still paddling.  Two of their pals were dining on the grass.

Also on the grass near the fountain were some Starlings.  This one has just pulled a worm out of the ground.  Ugh!!!

There was a short row of Mute swans on the lake just outside the area of the Diana Fountain, with more swans in the distance by the arches of the bridge that divides the Serpentine in Hyde Park and the Long Water in Kensington Gardens. 

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A Grey Squirrel and  Magpie were side-by-side on the ground not far from the Leaf Yard in Kensington Gardens.

Round the other side of the Long Water I saw several Cormorants preening and drying their wings while standing on a tern raft in the middle of the water.

Back in the Rose Garden, where I began my walk, I came across this blackbird hopping around on the grass.

A Robin was perching on the almost bare branches of a small winter-flowering cherry that was by a hedge in the shrubbery.  This was very near to the bird feeder that is usually covered by Rose-ringed Parakeets.

A Robin, mostly covered by leaves, and a Chaffinch were hopping around on the ground below the bird feeder.  Unfortunately, the Chaffinch is a bit blurred - but it is my first photograph of this bird, so I decided to add it to this post anyway.

Wildlife walk in Hyde Park - mid January 2019

Yesterday, on a cold bright day, my camera took me out for another walk around Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens on a wildlife hunt.

Two Grey Squirrels pressed themselves flat along the trunk of a tree in the rose garden, hoping that I would not be able to see them.  It always amazes me as to how they can hang on like that!

Two naughty Green Rose-ringed Parakeets were on a bird feeder that is meant for the tiny birds in the park, while a third was sitting in the branches of a nearby shrub and waiting for his pals to move on.

From time-to-time the parakeets vacated the feeder - giving this Great Tit a chance to get near the food.

 Then it was time for a couple of Blue Tits to have a go before the cheeky Parakeets returned.

Snowdrops had started to flower in the grass in the Dell.

A tiny Blue Tit was sitting in a bowl inside a bird feeder that was hanging from a tree in the Dell.  It looked as though it had been imprisoned!

A heron was surveying the park from a great height - from the top of a tall bare-branched tree in the Dell.

A pair of handsome Gadwalls were swimming in the Serpentine.

A Mute swan was looking very strange as it put it's head underwater while gathering up whatever swans eat from the lake.

This is the same swan as it posed between bouts of underwater feeding.

A Great Crested Grebe in winter plumage was floating on the lake near the Lido café.  One foot was raised and there appeared to be an injury to it - having a slight cut at the end.

This did not unduly bother the bird, which was preening it's feathers while I was watching it.

These photographs are from a section of my walk around the park.  I hope to post the remaining pictures in the near future.

Birds and bridges - Battersea Park and the Thames - January 2019

An early January walk in Battersea Park with my camera on a vey overcast day resulted in the following photographs:

A male blackbird hopping around in the dead leaves at the base of a bare-branched tree

Two male Tufted ducks swimming around in the lake

A pair of Northern Shoveler ducks - with the female in head-bobbing mode

A tall bare-branched tree at the edge of the lake with Cormorants sitting in the branches

There was a heron towards the top of another nearby tall tree

Gulls, swans and ducks headed towards the footpath in order to be fed by a small group of people that had gathered there.  Chimneys and cranes belonging to Battersea Power Station can be seen behind the modern flats in the background.

A Heron was perching on iron railings at the edge of the lake and more Cormorants or Herons were perching at the top of another tall tree in the distance.

A Magpie showed me his/her beautiful blue feathers as I walked behind along the gravel path.

Where have all the people gone?  It was a very dull day and hardly anyone was in the park.

Catkins hung from one of the trees at the edge of the lake.

A Magpie perched for a moment on the branch of a Jacaranda tree.

A heron with a twig in it's beak flew up above it's nest at the top of the Heronry.

There were several nests in the Heronry and this one was occupied by a pair of Herons.

Heron's nests at the top of a couple of tall trees at the edge of the lake.

Two ducks took off from the lake and flew across the colourless sky.

At the end of my walk round the lake, I walked along the Thames at the edge of Battersea Park.  The lights were by then shining on Battersea Bridge.

Chelsea Bridge was also lit up.  The Shard was sticking out of the top of the tall building on the left.

A red London bus crossed Chelsea Bridge in front of the Shard.

The railway bridge and Vauxhall Tower could be seen from the other side of Chelsea Bridge.  The new American Embassy, with lights blazing, is on the right-hand side of the photograph.

I had a lovely walk around the lake in Battersea Park and along the nearby Thames path, but I would have preferred a brighter day weather-wise!

Early January walk round Rainham Marshes RSPB nature reserve

Last week, on a day when the sun was shining, my camera and I decided to go for another walk around the RSPB nature reserve at Rainham Marshes, near Purfleet.

At the edge of the Thames, just before the entrance to the reserve, I came across a Starling on the branch of a thorny bush with a few remaining red berries.

I first walked along the path through the woodland area of the site and was met by this very friendly Robin.  It really wanted some mealworms from me but, unfortunately, I did not have any on me.

Further along the woodland path, I came across another friendly Robin.  This one was perching on the side of another thorny bush.  I learnt later that, one this side, it is blind in the eye and it has a split gape where it was attacked by another bird.

There is a boardwalk around most of the nature reserve.  The sun was shining on the reeds at the edge of the boardwalk and surrounding a narrow stream.  The visitor centre's strangely-shaped roof can be seen in the distance.

Along the edge of the path I came across the remaining seed heads from one of the tall plants - shown against a background of clouds that appeared in the blue sky.

This is a close-up of a Lapwing in the sunshine - photo taken from the Purfleet bird hide.

There were several Starlings flying around near the Lapwings.  This one's feathers look amazing in the sunshine.

Later on, back near the visitor centre, a Magpie perched briefly on top of a tall shrub.

Further down, a Blue Tit posed briefly amongst the twigs and red berries.

Yet another walk round the reserve that was filled with a variety of wildlife.