Madrid Day 4 - The Botanic Gardens and a Night Heron

Today the weather was a little better - we were going to the Prado but intead off to the Botanic Gardens..

Quite formally laid out and in a few weeks it will be really colourful...

Lots of birds about...

Mr. Ponders enjoying being near water..

Loads of Marsh Frogs in the pond....

the sky became a tad threatening....

Stock Doves..

We were just sitting on a bench when this flew in and landed on the statue. a Night Heron..

It was then spooked and flew up into a tree for a preen..

Oooh a long-tailed tit!

a Blackcap

and a posy Monk Parakeet

We wandered off for some lunch at a rather nice cafe nearby....

and then on to the Atocha station to buy tickets for the following day.

This was the most painful excercise... collected a numbered ticket to await our turn to buy the train ticket... a wait of about 40 minutes.. almost gave up at one point!!

The inside of the front of the station is full of plants!!  Lovely ..

We then bought bottles of Coke to drink.. as we still had the tickets we went back into the peace of the gardens to drink them..

Low and behold.. a Treecreeper!!  Record shot only... still don't know if it's a Short-Toed Creeper or not..

I half-jokingly wondered if the Heron would still be there.. and it was!!  This time standing in the pond!!

A Green Woodpecker also flew over - just a brief glimpse of it though..

A cat wandered past..

and as we left.. Monk Parakeets using the puddles on the path for a drink!!