Tower Bridge to Albert Bridge

Today I had a break from routine. After a quick check on the Black Swan and his mate -- still nothing to see -- I took the Underground to Tower Hill, crossed the river at Tower Bridge, and walked up the south bank to Albert Bridge and home. 

At Tower Hill station part of the original Roman wall of Londinium can be seen, with courses of squared stone interspersed with thin Roman bricks. The upper part of the wall is medieval. The statue seems to be of the Emperor Augustus, who never set foot in Britain. His predecessor Julius paid a brief visit in 55BC, but it wasn't till AD43 that the country was colonised by Claudius.

There were no exotic birds, but plenty of Herring Gulls all along the way. One contemplated Tower Bridge.

Two bickered over food scraps from a riverside restaurant, and others mooched peacefully on the shore.

HMS Belfast, built in 1938 and preserved as a war memorial and visitor attraction, is moored near London Bridge. The new City skyline mixes incongruously with its superstructure. The large curvaceous building on the left, nicknamed the 'Walkie-Talkie', has its glass front covered with a louvred sunshield. This had to be added because the concave surface of glass focused the sun's rays on the street and burned parked cars.

The remains of the Great Hall of Winchester Palace in Southwark, built in the 12th century as a residence for the Bishop of Winchester. It was completely absorbed in later buildings and only exposed to view in the 19th century.

Greylag Geese swam briskly downstream against the incoming tide.

A pair of Mallards rested on riverside steps.

The south bank is lined with fine Victorian lamp posts wreathed in improbable dolphins.

You can get down to the shore in several places. A large chunk of driftwood made a foreground for a distant view of St Paul's Catherdral.

The memorial to the Special Operations Executive, topped with a bust of the heroic French agent Violette Szabo, who was captured in 1945. When tortured by the Gestapo she revealed nothing. Later she was executed at Ravensbrück concentration camp. In the background, part of Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

 

A lion in the grass at the outflow of the Effra, one of the many hidden rivers of London.

The ubiquitous Egyptian Geese are quite at home on the river.

A curious sight: a small alder tree growing out of a rotten wooden post from a seed left by a bird. There are two trees here, both rooted in posts.

Tyburn House, a short way upsream from Vauxhall Bridge, is where the buried Tyburn river flows into the Thames. On its way from Hampstead it feeds the lakes in Regent's Park, the gardens of Buckingham Palace, and St James's Park.

Tideway Village at Nine Elms is a motley collection of houseboats of many origins now permanently moored.

Its ornaments include a fine bronze horse ...

... and a comic plastic macaw.

Seen from above at Chelsea Bridge, a Mallard drake resting on the shore.

The Westbourne river, whose valley was dammed to form the Serpentine, flows into the river upstream from Chelsea Bridge. It used to emerge through an arch, but the place is now an access point for the new giant sewer which runs along the river and its exit has been reduced to three little slots.

There is a large colony of Carrion Crows that divide their time between Battersea Park and the gardens of the Royal Hospital on the other bank of the Thames. They socialise on the edge of the river.

On a warm day one kept cool with a dip in the Thames.

A rugosa rose growing on the river wall at Battersea Park, also no doubt from a seed deposited by a bird.

Finally, home via Albert Bridge, pretty in ice cream colours but sadly weak. At the moment it's closed to motor traffic while it's strengthened for the umpteenth time. The notice 'All troops must break step when marching over this bridge' is famous, but whether the vibration would do much harm is questionable. Better, perhaps, to leave the matter in doubt.

Waiting for news of the swans

There was a great deal of attention to the eggs at the Black Swan and his Mute mate 4GIQ's nest, but I couldn't see whether any had hatched. They can tell when hatching is imminent by the sound of the cygnets stirring inside the egg. If anyone has further news, please email it to the address on the blog. If, better still, you have a picture, please send the original at full size without allowing the email program to degrade it.

Otherwise life went on as usual. The Canada Geese with three goslings browsed peacefully on the grass at the east side of the Lido.

It was a bit cooler, but an Egyptian at the boathouses stll needed to shade the goslings from the sun.

The pair with two goslings were at the east end of the lake. The young ones are now too large to be snatched by Pigeon Eater or any large gull, and Pigeon Eater himself has been visiting the area less often as there are fewer Feral Pigeons on the edge. He can hunt more profitably elsewhere, as the pigeons are less aware of the danger he presents.

The Great Crested Grebes halfway along the island were changing places on the nest. This is a slightly longer video than usual, as it takes a while for them to swap places, turn the eggs over to keep them evenly warmed, and settle down. Shifts are about half an hour, giving the unoccupied grebe plenty of time to catch a fish.

A Coot dived at the edge of the Serpentine to feed on algae and any small edible water creature it might find.

A Grey Heron standing over a foot above the water reached down to have a drink. They can also fish most effectively from this height thanks to a long neck and perfect balance.

Another on the Long Water enjoyed a scratch on a dead tree.

A Blackbird sang in the leaf yard ...

... and a Blackcap sang by Mount Gate.

A young Blue Tit by the bridge flutttered to encourage its parents to feed it ...

... and the insistent tatty adult in the Rose Garden pestered me for a pine nut.

A young Starling at the Lido restaurant appealed to a parent.

A Jay in a hawthorn near the Queen's Temple wanted a peanut.

The Little Owl in the lime tree at the Serpentine Gallery was more visible than in the last few days.

A Painted Lady butterfly in the Rose Garden fed on a wallflower ..

... and so did a Common Carder Bee.

Later: I went back at 7.30 pm to see if anything had happened with the swans, but it was all quiet.

The Black Swan menaced a passing Egyptian family.

Swan eggs about to hatch?

The female Mute Swan 4GIQ and her Black mate were on the raft together, both very interested in the eggs. It looks as if these are about to hatch.

The five Mute cygnets were at the east end of the Serpentine with their mother.

The Canada family crossed the lake by the bridge.

The Egyptian Geese by the boathouses still have nine goslings, which were straggling along the edge. They are not as strongly imprinted on their mother as with big geese, and are constantly wandering off and having to be called back.

The Gadwall x Mallard hybrid drake was trotting along the path between the Vista and the bridge. He may have been chased ashore by an aggressive Mallard drake at the Vista. Later: Or not a hybrid? See Marianne's comment below.

The Gadwall pair we saw yesterday in the Huntress fountain in the Rose Garden were preening on the edge of the pool.

A Coot in the Italian Garden carried a water lily leaf to a nest in a clump of irises.

The Coot nesting in the silly place on the south shore of the Serpentine is stubbornly sticking to its nest.

The Great Crested Grebes on the chain at the east end of the island were both at the nest. The male was sitting, and stretched his wings.

Above them, the sitting Grey Heron got up to stretch.

A Great Tit fed a fledgling at the southwest corner of the bridge.

At the other end of the bridge a young Blue Tit waited to be fed.

A Wren appeared beside the path near the Italian Garden.

Starlings stayed in the shade under the tables at the Lido restaurant.

A Carrion Crow panted in the heat by Temple Gate.

The Wool Carder Bees in the stachys in the Italian Garden were incessantly chasing the Buff-Tailed Bumblebees, not giving them a moment's rest. One stayed on a leaf for just long enough to be photographed.

It's not all that bad for the Buff-Tails, as the Wool Carders are found in quite a small area.

A male Common Blue Damselfly perched on a salvia flower east of the Lido.

These caterpillars hanging from a silk thread in the bushes at the southwest corner of the bridge seem to be those of the Spindle Ermine moth, which has the daunting scientific name of Yponomeuta cagnagella.