tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post6501285343014446997..comments2024-03-29T01:41:15.713+00:00Comments on Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park birds: Ralph Hancockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-87868606041137287202016-09-17T21:19:28.855+01:002016-09-17T21:19:28.855+01:00Thanks. We are all worried about the Black Swan. A...Thanks. We are all worried about the Black Swan. After 11 months he was beginning to seem like a permanent resident, and was always a fascinating character.Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-31305066555462639512016-09-17T16:38:13.986+01:002016-09-17T16:38:13.986+01:00Dear Ralph, I love your blog and I always look for...Dear Ralph, I love your blog and I always look forward to reading it. I'm feeling sad and worried about Black Swan though!!<br />DeniseDenise Lnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-58792920021133265682016-09-17T00:36:57.278+01:002016-09-17T00:36:57.278+01:00I suppose that what constitutes a proper murmurati...I suppose that what constitutes a proper murmuration is when you see a moving cloud rather than a flock of individual birds. This needs thousands, not hundreds.<br /><br />Yes, St James's Park really is living history -- next to filthy old Whitehall Palace where the Tudors and the Stuarts schemed until the old order was swept away by the 1688 revolution and William III made a fresh start in Kensington Palace. St James's Park was an edgy place. Boswell picked up prostitutes there. But duels were usually fought in Hyde Park, in the Dell.Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-55327587187668230892016-09-17T00:31:36.622+01:002016-09-17T00:31:36.622+01:00Thank you. The Black Swan did go to Regent's P...Thank you. The Black Swan did go to Regent's Park once, soon after his arrival, and I thought he had been caught and dragged there by keepers, but now it seems that it was his choice. He never went there again, but it was the first place I thought of looking after his recent disappearance. I think he's two and a bit years old, judging by the colour of his flight feathers.Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-81673922764333455082016-09-17T00:28:22.997+01:002016-09-17T00:28:22.997+01:00Yes, I saw the Great Crested Grebe chick too -- no...Yes, I saw the Great Crested Grebe chick too -- not hard, as it was making a lot of noise.Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-42605161035167996372016-09-16T23:59:12.729+01:002016-09-16T23:59:12.729+01:00How many starlings do you need for a murmeration f...How many starlings do you need for a murmeration fly-by, do you know? What a sight that is.<br />In the early '80s , I often took the No.29 bus from Finsbury Park on a Sunday afternoon to walk through Whitehall, down the street alongside the Foreign Office and into St James's Park; it felt to me like it was all breathing history , and made me glad to have come to London. Perhaps I was a little romantic. Ulrikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06022985141813875238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-77989342147444495222016-09-16T20:58:13.406+01:002016-09-16T20:58:13.406+01:00I was wondering if the black swan has gone missing...I was wondering if the black swan has gone missing before? It is good to know the cygnet is coping - might need a few more digestives! How old do you think the black swan is? Lovely blog.Coquetnatureloverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17373488097315949265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-52261518197259625162016-09-16T20:30:28.337+01:002016-09-16T20:30:28.337+01:00I visited St James's Park today, with the same...I visited St James's Park today, with the same result as you (I also saw a Great Crested Grebe chick which I'd somehow missed on previous visits). Thank you for the beautiful Little Grebe photoIan Younghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07805150608243315063noreply@blogger.com