We went to the park today to see the ducks. The first thing I saw was a Wood Pigeon in a tree and a charm of Goldfinches drinking from the stream which acts as an overflow for the pond. The pigeon looked a little rumpled and the Goldfinches were too quick for me, so there are no photographs of those two.
We were surrounded by feral pigeons at one point. I counted them twice, getting 57 in one count and 62 in the next. Call it 60. That’s a lot of verminous skyrats. It may be that I’m being unfair to them, as they do look quite tidy, and even seem keen on taking a bath.
The odd couple are still there, though the goose does seem to be paired up with another goose too. The three of them were together on the grass at the far end of the pond. It now looks a bit like one of those situations where a man has married but still has one of his old mates hanging round, or playing gooseberry.
The birds seem to be paired up and defending territories, but apart from daffodils and a few mahonias there is nothing much happening to suggest Spring. Outside the walls Spring is definitely here but inside the park things are a bit behind. It may be the trees, or the stone wall holding cold air in, but it just seems like the park is a couple of weeks behind the surrounding streets.
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I love the Goose-Mardarin odd couple. Friends for life!
I couldn’t see the Mandarin tonight when I went for a walk – maybe he’s gone courting.
I am fond of Greylags and liked all your shots of them especially the photo-bombing one in your excellent video!
Yes, I was happy with that – even if it was an accident!
Great photos. And I like the video of the pigeons as well. That last greylag head shot is very charming.
Thank you. The Greylags on the pond are a pleasure to work with and the appearance at the end of the video was a fortunate accident.
Excellent pictures and i enjoyed the frantic video too.
Thank you. 🙂
More excellent pics. I like the video with the gate-crashing goose. And thanks very much for the nod
No problem Derrick. I took two videos – one showed more pigeons but I used the goose one as it made me smile.
and us
Glad to hear it. 🙂