Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Critters in St. James's Park


St. James's Park, which sprawls between Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square, is full of waterbirds. (I've blogged about some of them before.) Here's one of the common greylag geese. According to the park's web site, they are destructive to vegetation; as if to prove the point, this one was busy on Sunday pulling tufts of grass out of the lawn.


These pelicans hunkered down against the cold wind rippling the surface of the park's pond.


Lots of squirrels were out and about, including this guy, who was busy nosing around in a fresh flowerbed. Olga would have been beside herself.


The squirrels are notoriously aggressive, especially when someone has food in their hands!

9 comments:

Sharon said...

Oh my gosh, I think those squirrels thought my camera was food because they kept running right up to me and posing like the one in your picture. Thank goodness they didn't try to climb my leg.

ellen abbott said...

Great pictures. I love squirrels though I'm not sure I would want one climbing up my leg.

Linda Sue said...

The critters- it is their park! LOVE the photos especially...well, all of them...Our deck has been torn down, the jays and squirrel are really upset by this- their cafeteria, gone!

Lynne said...

Love the goose! Look at the way those feathers on his neck lay. Pelicans are so strange looking and not something I would expect to see in a London park!

Squirrels are just rats with tails. We are overrun with the crafty little critters. I like chipmunks much better. :)

JennieB said...

Lovely photo of the goose. I'm just thinking how lucky you are to be able to go for a stroll through St James Park whenever it takes your fancy, and not to have to wait until the next time one is visiting London. (From Australia , that is not often!)

The Bug said...

Well you know I love this post :) But I'm pretty sure I would freak the heck out if a squirrel ran up my leg!

Anonymous said...

Well, I went nuts when I saw that last photo. I wonder how far up that squirrel got! Yikes!

wildlife fan said...

Hi imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this blog of over 2 years ago and discovered the photo of the squirrelman who is in actual fact my brother. He is a very keen wildlife lover especially all the creatures that live in St James' park. The squirrels aren't in the least bit aggressive to him they love him!.Feeding quite happily from his hand whilst sitting on his lap returning over and over again for a tasty treat. He also has a fan base amongst the Jays who eat almonds from his hand and he is followed around by 2 herons who love the cheese he brings especially for them.

Steve Reed said...

How cool! I'm glad you found the blog post and the picture! My father actually adopted a squirrel who fell out of a nest as a tiny baby, and it used to scamper all over him -- and the rest of us -- so I kind of know what that feels like!