... Blue Tits ...
... a Coal Tit ...
... two Robins ...
... the pair of Nuthatches ...
... and two Goldcrests.
There was another Coal Tit in the Rose Garden, waiting on a twig while I refilled the feeder.
A Mistle Thrush was also waiting in a birch tree on Buck Hill, hoping for at least one more thrush to join it so that they could fly down to the rowan tree and eat the fruit. You never see just one Mistle Thrush in the rowan: they insist on going in a party, evidently feeling that there's safety in numbers.
Two Grey Herons preened in the trees near the bridge, at a discreet distance from each other to avoid a fight breaking out.
Another Heron had a face-off with a Cormorant at the island.
Yesterday we had picture of a Cormorant landing on a post at Peter Pan. Today here is one jumping up on to the post from the water, a considerable effort.
It landed successfully. Often, though, they fall off.
The number of Herring Gulls on the Serpentine is now greater than 100, thanks to the successful breeding colony in Paddington. Most of them are first- or second-year birds, a sign of how fast they are increasing.
Japanese knotweed is invading Kensington Gardens, a most unwelcome plant which spreads like fury via underground rhizomes that are very hard to kill off. Today a new patch was found in the leaf yard. The gardeners put blue ropes around the patch to prevent anyone from cutting it down by mistake, which would only encourge it to spread. Every now and then a professional eradication company is called in to deal with it, but the spread is irresistible.
Every Sunday for most of the year there is a race for radio-controlled model yachts on the Round Pond, a beautiful spectacle (which, incidentally, the birds are quite used to). But today, on the other side of the pond, they were outclassed by this stunning five-masted schooner manoeuvring nimbly in the brisk breeze. Full-size five-masted schooners don't exist, but on the Round Pond everything is possible.
there is an old plattduetsch (north German dialect) Seamen's Shanty 'Ik heb mol een Hamburger Veermaster seen' (I once saw a Hamburg 4-masted ship)- I never wondered before : do they exist?
ReplyDeleteYes, generally barques with square sails on the first three masts and fore-and-aft sails on the mizen mast. The most famous four-masted barque from Hamburg is the Pamir, now retired and moored at Travemünde. For more information, read Eric Newby's fascinating and hilarious book The Last Grain Race. According to the man in the park, there is just one four-masted schooner, used as a private yacht.
DeleteThank you, also for the book tip.
DeleteA strange coincidence. This afternoon I was buying toys for my grand-nephews and -nieces in Patrick's toyshop in the Lillie Road (a wonderful old-fashioned place). And there was a plastic model kit of the Pamir. I bought it for myself and will have fun making and painting it.
DeleteOh wow, what a handsome schooner! Its owner has every right to be proud to display it.
DeleteWell spotted. I'd have kept it myself, too.
DeleteMorphic resonance or summat.
DeleteFound it! Thank you. Just a problem with a chage of format.
ReplyDeleteBlogger comments do sometimes get blocked for various reasons. As a general guide, you should keep your browser up to date and switch off anti-tracking software such as Ghostery. If you find you can't comment anonymously, try the Name/URL option, which requires only a name and you can leave the URL box blank.
DeleteThe schooner was on the pond for the first time this year at the end of August. The birds were a bit surprised. A big swan spread his wings wide open and looked a bit like a schooner - one masted! Was he trying to say that he was bigger or more beautiful?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely trying to establish dominance over this tall white intruder.
Delete