Being in London, atleast once watching the Change of Guards is a must. So on one fine day, I did go to check it out. After the Change of Guards, I walked to the nearby park called St.James' Park and was more than happy that I did. I got to watch so many birds and here are some. Beginning with some gorgeous Mute Swans, which owns the glory of being the largest flying bird in the whole of Britain and are mostly owned by the Royal family!
Here's the Mallard Duck, which is the most common of wild ducks! Below is a couple of Northern Shoveler preening which is called so because of its shovel shaped bills with which the sieve water from the prey!
This fella is called the Greylag Geese which is the only type of geese to breed in the UK. The wild ones are found in Scotland. The next 2 are Coot & Moorhen. When I spotted these here I immediately got reminded of the coots & moorhens of Pallikaranai Marsh Land. Though Moorhens swim, they prefer not to and they walk about a lot. I kind of find that funny, when birds walk long distances... Remembering a Coucal that walked the entire length of the compound wall of my home in India!
There's a bridge across the channel, that's painted blue in color here to go in sync with the nature here. In 1814, on the other side of the bridge was a Chinese Pagoda which was 7 floors high and was lit with gas lamps and there were fire works set up on Aug 1st to celebrate the success of Britain over France.
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Sadly before the fireworks, the gas lamps went uncontrollable and destroyed the Pagoda, while the crowd assumed that too as a part of the celebrations. 2 lives were lost in this tragedy.
Today its a pleasure to watch the birds here. Everyday from 2:30 to 3:00 the Pelicans here are fed with fish. However when I was there I couldn't even spot a single pelican. The squirrels here are many. The best part is, none of the birds or squirrels here are afraid or don't even bother about humans. The come very close and eat from your hand and that's just awesome.
TO GET THERE:
Nearest Tube station: Green Park
Dedicated to Venkat