A Break in the Weather

Praise Jesus! Sunshine! Yesterday the clouds and rain were blown away by a gusty, breezy springlike wind, one that propelled Londoners out of their houses and into the streets and parks. I opened the windows, aired out the flat and took the opportunity to head over to Kensington Gardens to check out the native bird life.

Backstory: While walking Olga in the park on Monday, I saw a stunning little brownish bird with an orange breast. I wasn't able to photograph it as I only had my point-and-shoot camera, and I was being jerked along by the dog. So I went back yesterday, sans dog, to see if I could find it again.

Sure enough, in the same area of the park, I saw one sitting on a fence, chirping away happily.

Isn't it cute? Funniest thing, though -- I thought perhaps I'd found some mildly exotic European bird. No. It is a robin. I kid you not. In England, robins are a completely different species from their American counterparts.

In a nearby thicket of bushes, I saw several other intriguing winged creatures. The bird above is a Great Tit -- a bit ruffled because I interrupted it in the middle of grooming.

And this little thing is a Blue Tit. Both of these tits were tiny and flitty and very hard to photograph.

Finally, on the way back home, I noticed some of the park's resident feral parakeets swooping among the treetops. They're very easy to spot at this time of year, brilliant green against the brown bark of the trees. They clearly were not made to camouflage themselves in a deciduous environment!

It felt so great to get out on a nice day. I didn't try to take Olga because I think I exhausted her on Monday. She's been having some digestive issues (perhaps related to her tendency to eat random bits of stuff off the street) so we're letting her take it easy.