Views of my locals..

Last night the moon shone.. it was a Super moon

I managed a picture from an upstairs window but....



I've been using the Panasonic GF1 on occasions in conjunction with the dSLR. But sometimes I haven't downloaded the content.

So... just a few views of my local areas taken over the last couple of days.


London Wetland Centre in the sunshine yesterday.

Bushy Park first thing yesterday morning.

Today had me walking in Richmond Park. Not much about in terms of wildlife. In the deer were in hiding. Perhaps it was the dullness of the morning.

And that's it... just a few today.

This and that...

Yesterday I didn't get out till later in the day. I had a wander around Bushy as the sun was getting lower in the sky.

I came across a herd of Red Deer and this Mum and growing youngster were drinking from one of the streams

.

They were part of quite a large herd and the stags, hinds and young were still all together.

The Black-headed Gulls were, as usual, showing off and performing so I grabbed a couple of practise shots!

Today, plan A was to join many others in Richmond Park where there was to be a meeting and rally against the intended car parking charges in both Bushy and Richmond Parks.

The charges are being opposed by 80% of those consulted (how they choose who to consult in terms of the public heaven only knows). The local councils are also up in arms because of the impact on the surrounding areas and, alledgedly, they have opposed the introduction of parking charges.

It has been muted that the system will be pay and display and calculated in one hour and half hours with a maximum of £2 for three hours or more in Bushy and £3 for Richmond Park.
Additionally, the speed limit in Bushy is to be reduced from 30 to 20 mph - which is good in my opinion. It's been 20 in Richmond for some time now. I await to hear more.

The latter part of my walk in Bushy yesterday was as the sun was sinking and it gave some wonderful lighting effects to the water and, in particular, the trees.

And today?

I set the alarm early so I could get to the Richmond Park meeting, before the relevant car park filled up but circumstances beyond my control prevented my leaving in time and I didn't get there grrrrr.

So I was about to head off for a normal Saturday visit to Barnes, when a good friend rang and suggested a walk. So we headed of to Polesden Lacey in order to stretch our legs. Which we did. We walked down a steep hill and followed the public footpaths in a circular route involving several steep climbs. Part of this walk goes around Ranmore Common which is - steep!

The sun shone and the sky was blue but the temperature was cool to say the least. However after some vigorous walking uphill through the woods..

seeing new buds starting to form,

and last Autumn's seed heads still clinging on, at the top of the trees.

we finally arrived back at the cafe where hot soup and locally made fresh bread were consumed with great pleasure!

And my legs are telling me they know they've been used today.

Thanks IHD for a great outing and for suggesting it.

It snowed.....!!

I'd arranged to meet Frank today for a birding walk around Richmond Park. The day dawned bright and clear and the sun was shining on frosty ground. The bird feeders were empty so as dawn broke I was out in the garden filling up the feeders - and shivering whilst I did so. Must have been minus something in terms of temperature.

By the time I'd set off to meet at the allotted time the sun had gone and it was now very cloudy. Hmmmmm thought I, don't like this very much. Having met in the car park, we walked down to Penn Ponds. En route some Ring-necked Parakeets were on the ground drinking - something I don't see very often. Managed a very poor shot - a bit of green on frost covered ground.

We walked on and by now the odd snowflake was appearing. The light now was very poor. Down on the "pond" a family of Mute Swans were having a preen.

indulging in some synchronised drinking and

blowing bubbles to pass the time!

before having a wash and brush up.

Quite a few Tufted Ducks around - looking cold. Others out on the lake were Pochards and the usual invasion of Coots!

The other pond was looking just as cold and the ice had also formed on part of this pond too.

It then started to snow in earnest ....

We walked further around towards a large herd of Red Deer. These were mostly stags but there were one or two females with young.

The, by now large snowflakes, were making focusing difficult even using manual focus.

One Stag had the right idea and hunkered down amongst the dying bracken.

The snow increased in intensity and I reluctantly returned the camera to its bag. And finally, we arrived back at Pembroke Lodge for a welcome cuppa (and, shhhhh, not to mention a rather tasty piece of chocolate cake - consumed only, of course, to give us enough energy to make it back to the cars in severe cold).

Blue and great tits were about and the odd Goldfinch. A male Great Spotted Woodpecker flew up into a tree and we saw a Green Woodpecker bounding away. As we were climbing back up the hill, a Kestrel flew down which we glimpsed briefly before it disappeared into the falling snow.

Difficult to imagine the much warmer day down in Sussex yesterday, or..

the sunset locally the day before.

And as I type, the snow is still falling - more is forecast for Friday when it could be worse...

An afternoon's exercise....

Considering it was the weekend I did manage to get parked in Richmond Park - surprisingly. The Red Deer were in a completely different rutting spot than usual and so I was glad I'd taken the clockwise direction around the park to begin my search. Several deer about but this seemed to be one of two "main men". He was possessively guarding his hinds and there was a great deal of roaring. About 4 young stags thought they were in with a chance but they were on a hiding to nothing!

As an aside to the rut, this young Red Deer was still suckling from Mum. It looked almost as big as Mum and I think she'd decided that it was now time it found its own food!




The chase was on when a young stag invaded the "master's" territory!

and finally, Mum relented again.


After Richmond Park I headed off to see what was happening in Bushy. Various Stags roaring but birds being comical took my attention!

Why does it always strike me as odd to see an Egyptian Goose up in a tree?



and this Jackdaw was not backwards in coming forwards looking to land on the Red Deer Hind's back. Probably looking for insects or may be even a ride!

and a Canada Goose was trying to look threatening..


Not a bad walk today and got some exercise - at least the sun shone intermittently which was good!

Mixed bag and looking for the Deer Rut!

My blogs are a bit like buses at the moment. Nothing for ages and then several come along together - note to self "must be more organised!!!"

Yesterday evening there was a sunset - haven't had one for quite a while. These pictures were taken from the garden looking West (West? - now there's a surprise!!)




This morning was a good day for garden birds.

A male Blackcap had a visit to the bird bath and was joined by a Nuthatch! I was delighted!! (Considers moving bird bath nearer to house!)
Other visitors today were:
Blackbirds (missing during the summer and now returned) Blue Tits, Great Tits, Dunnock, Ring-necked Parakeets and Feral Pigeons (when do they NOT visit!!) Golfinches, Greenfinches and Chaffinches. I think Autumn's started!

I'm assuming that it's the very dry spell of weather that has caused several birds to visit the pond for a drink and/or bath! This Black bird was no exception and looked balder with each dip in the water!



I'd decided to visit both Richmond and Bushy Parks to check up on the deer rut. In Richmond Park there were very few Red Deer visible although I did hear one "roar" on one occasion.- so generally very quiet. I drove around near the Rugby pitches as this is the area I photographed them last October; it seems to be quite a major rut "stand".

In October last year, I took pictures of the males clashing and herding the females in earnest. I have pictures dated 6 and 8 October when there was considerable activity. But I note that on the 17 October that, whilst the stags were still with their hareem, most activity had died down.

There was activity on Pen Ponds with several Canada Geese flying about. Regretably most of their activity was avoiding dogs dashing into the water; this, despite the notices requesting dog owners to keep dogs on leads in this area, so not to disturb the wildlife.

A lone female Pochard was out on the pond also..

A Small Copper presented itself but mostly all else was heard not seen. I did observe the usual undulating flight of a Green Woodpecker as it flew amongst the trees though.


After a cheese and tomato roll from the kiosk in Richmond Park I continued my search for a rut update in Bushy Park.

On the pond, a Moorhen posed enjoying the afternoon sun.

and a Grey Heron, scratched an itch high up in a tree.


By now I'd heard three separate "roars" from stags and followed one of them. They were in the same place as last year and this stag already had his females gathered around him. Mostly the other stags that were "roaring" were doing so lying down and not really taking matters that seriously yet!

A jackdaw chose a comfy perch on one of the hinds

whilst the Stag was kicking up dust before lying down.

Later on, with much roaring he wandered off to..

a stream nearby. Here he had a roll in the mud then proceeded to drink,

before thrashing his antlers in the grass at the edge of the stream

With suitable head-gear..

he had a final drink

before clambering out of the water and walking back to his females.


I suspect that sometime in the next 10 days or so, activity will increase. I shall be back to both Richmond and Bushy in a few days to check on progress and activity.