Nathalie

I skated to the river this morning. The tide was quite high this time. I saw a lot of Canada Geese, once again, some housemartins and swifts, one common tern, one pied wagtail with the pigeons on rubbish, a few cormorants flying above or sunning themselves on the pontoon, 2 moorhens, 3 swans, 1 grey heron, a few mallards, some big gulls flying about, and one great crested grebe (which sounded a bit like a sheep at times).

On my way back, I passed by the sparrow colony; they were very active and vocal... Some were bathing in a puddle on the pavement, but by the time I got my camera out too many people were walking about and they all left...

As I was trying to take pictures of housemartins above the flat this afternoon, a sparrowhawk drifted by...

As I went to check on the mealworms on the balcony I found myself face to face with a magpie... I think we were both as startled as each and just stood there, frozen, for a second or two. Then I left.
The first thing I heard this morning was a starling, and a little while after a juvenile was on the peanut cake (much excitement for the cat) but that was it after that. I wonder where they have all gone as I have not seen not heard any (and they were noisy a few weeks ago!) or seen for a while.

Heard and saw a few housemartins above the house this afternoon.

I went to the Thames this morning. It had just rained so I went on foot. The tide was quite low and there were a lot of gulls (lots of youngsters) and crows on the shore slightly down from the pontoon. There were again a lot of Canada geese (on that band behind the pontoon on the picture below), quite a few swifts, 1 great crested grebe, and cormorants flying above the water.

The pontoon with Hammersmith Bridge behind and Harrods Repository on the left.

On my way back I took a few pictures of the sparrows, including this one below, which I find rather comical:
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As I entered our road I spotted 4 goldfinches on an aerial. We have had a lot of them this year, it is quite nice hearing them chirping as they fly above or stop for a few minutes on aerials.

On my way back from the farmers' market today, I made a detour via the river. Partially because I was hoping to take a picture of a swan by the Hammersmith Bridge for as american friend, which I duly did:

I then passed a nearby housemartin's nest to check for signs of activity: none. Joined the Thames Path at the Riverside Studio and spotted a lot of housemartins and sandmartins. As I was considering trying to take pictures of some, I was joined by a visitor from out of town and we watched the aerial ballet for a while. At one point, a common tern flew by, the first one I have seen on this stretch of the Thames (maybe one of the London Wetland Centre ones, after all it is only beyond a row of trees from there). And the biggest 'column' of gulls I have seen in the area suddenly materialised near Fulham Football Grounds.