Birds, crocuses and berries seen during a Sunday stroll in Regent's Park

 I went for a sunny stroll in Regent's Park on Sunday.  Of course, my camera came too.

A Pochard drake was relaxing in the lake until a female plopped into the water and surprised him!

A Magpie was standing amongst a few purple crocuses.

A Garganey drake was watching with indifference while a Coot and a Moorhen took part in a stand-off at the edge of the lake.

There were lots of crocuses in flower at the edge of the park.

A Woodpigeon posed under a canopy of red Pyracantha berries

A rather rotund male Chaffinch was trying to hide within a myriad bare branches.

Two Greenfinches were doing the same!

Birds, animals, blossom, berries and flowers seen during a recent walk in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens

 On Saturday my camera and I went for a walk in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.

A Black Swan was showing it's supremacy in the Lido swimming pool by making itself appear to be much larger than any of the Mute Swans that happened to be in the area and chasing them, one by one.

A Grey Squirrel was quietly eating while balanced on a tree branch in the shade of the Dell.

A Greenfinch was lurking on a diagonal branch inside a holly bush.

A Grey Heron was taking advantage of a clear view across the Diana Memorial Fountain while it is closed to human visitors.

An angry Gadwall drake was chasing off two Northern Shoveler drakes that had dared to come too close on the Long Water.

A Starling had managed to obtain part of an apple that was being offered to the Green Ring-necked Parakeets in Kensington Gardens and was getting ready to take a big bite out of it.

A Cherry tree was covered with lovely dark pink blossom.

Hellebores (Christmas Roses) were blooming in the Dell.

A Pyracantha shrub was covered with bunches of red berries - also in the Dell.

There were pretty yellow spiked flowers on a Witch Hazel at the back of the Dell.

A few favourite birds

 A small selection of some of my favourite birds

Female Stonechat

Great Crested Grebe family 

 

Male Pied Wagtail

Mandarin drake

Little Egret

Avocet

Black-tailed Godwit wading in the lagoon on Two Tree Island, Leigh-on-Sea

On Monday my camera and I went on a birding visit to Two Tree Island, near Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.  We had a great time and saw many wading birds as it was low tide, but most of them were a long way off in the distance.

After spending some time watching the birds in the lagoon, this obliging Black-tailed Godwit came quite close to where I was perched behind some shrubbery.

As it waded towards me, it's feathers were blowing in the wind on one side.

It spent some time with it's beak down in the water.  Here it has managed to catch a tasty morsel, which is balanced in it's beak.

Searching for snacks in the lagoon

Wading through the water

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Godwit as it searched for lunch!

Black-necked Grebe at Walthamstow Wetlands

 At the beginning of October my camera took me to Walthamstow Wetlands in the hope of seeing the Black-necked Grebe that had recently been spotted on one of the reservoirs.  We were unlucky during a previous visit a couple of weeks earlier, but this time we struck the jackpot!

The Grebe was on a fishing trip and I ended up following it along almost the whole length of the reservoir and managed to take several photographs when it was above water.  Fortunately, it was within reasonable distance for the range of my camera's zoom lens.

Eventually it turned tail and swam off to the other side of the reservoir - and out of my view!