I had to go to the Smoke yesterday of old London Town. I usually commute on the attractive Chiltern Railways and yesterday was no exception. Passing through the Chiltern Hills, after looking up from my Kindle, it was pleasing to see half a dozen or so Red Kites and a Fox running across an open field.
With enough time to spare to get across to the far side of St James Park, it gave me the opportunity to walk through the park and see the birds. Memories of being dragged through there as a child by my father flooded back - how much more compact and smaller everything feels since those distant days.
It was great to see the wide range of species from Wigeon, Pochard Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Canada, Greylag, Nene Geese, black and Mute Swans and the ubiquitous Pelicans.
My childhood memories were always of them being on a distant island and never close up
Yesterday was a first for me in that they were happily preening by the side of the footpath, so I grabbed a couple of crappy camera phone shots as I didn't bother to take the little Panasonic - mistake!
Now of course they are not wild but it was pleasant to see them. Grey squirrels were about as common as the pigeons and being hand fed everywhere - no comment.
On the train journey back at a more reasonable time, it was great to see a further 20 + Red Kites, couple of Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk from the train - I do enjoy wildlife watching from the train
Martin
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