Showing posts with label England. Show all posts
Showing posts with label England. Show all posts

Friday 5 May 2017

Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) in St James's Park, London



Even though London is overcrowded city it its parks can be seen some pretty interesting birds. These many parks with their artificial lakes are like magnet for different species of waterfowl and some other animals. I like to spend time in them and observe these otherwise difficult and rare to see in the wild birds.

These for example are Barnacle Geese (Branta leucopsis), which is a species from the genus of the so called "black geese". Their range is from the North parts of the Atlantic (Greenland, Svalbard, Novaya Zemlya) during the breeding season down to Netherlands during the wintering.

There were very strange legends about that bird, which was believed to be essentially the same creature as the barnacle. This gave rise to the English name of the barnacle goose and the scientific name of the brant. It is sometimes claimed that the word comes from a Celtic word for "limpet", but the sense-history seems to go in the opposite direction. The barnacle myth can be dated back to at least the 12th century. Gerald of Wales claimed to have seen these birds hanging down from pieces of timber, William Turner accepted the theory, and John Gerard claimed to have seen the birds emerging from their shells. The legend persisted until the end of the 18th century. In County Kerry, until relatively recently, Catholics could eat this bird on a Friday because it counted as fish. In Judaism birds that grow on trees are not kosher.

Source: WIkipedia

Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) in St James's Park, London 

Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) in St James's Park, London 
Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) in St James's Park, London 
Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) in St James's Park, London 
Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) in St James's Park, London 
Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) in St James's Park, London 
Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) in St James's Park, London 
Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) - backside in St James's Park, London 
Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) - front in St James's Park, London 

Tuesday 21 March 2017

European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis carduelis) in London



These small birds called European Goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis carduelis) are very common across whole Europe, but nonetheless very beautiful and often overlooked. They start building their nests in the branches of the trees during spring time. The nest itself is hemispherical and very neatly woven and lined with fine fluff. Another interesting thing about the goldfinches is that they have typical sweet high pitched warble and are often hybridised with canaries which produces vigorous offspring with pleasant song.

I'll try this year to find singing goldfinch with nest, but for now that is all I could get.

European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis carduelis) in London 

European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis carduelis) in London

European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis carduelis) in London

European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis carduelis) in London

Friday 24 February 2017

Fulvous whistling duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) at St James's Park, England



I spotted this nice tropical duck in the St James's Park somewhere around Christmas. It is called Fulvous whistling duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) and is normally seen in Africa, South America or India and I guess it felt a bit cold in the chilly England winter.

To make sure it is not its cousin the Lesser whistling duck take note of the black strip on the back of its neck and the light creamy feather above the tail (the Lesser one has them in reddish chestnut colour)

Fulvous whistling duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) at St James's Park, England from the front
Fulvous whistling duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) at St James's Park, England frontal view
Fulvous whistling duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) at St James's Park, England. From the back, note black strip on the neck
Fulvous whistling duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) at St James's Park, England. From side, note light creamy feathers above tail.
Fulvous whistling duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) at St James's Park, England
Fulvous whistling duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) at St James's Park, England
Fulvous whistling duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) at St James's Park, England
Fulvous whistling duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) at St James's Park, England
Fulvous whistling duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) at St James's Park, England with a Coot for size comparasion

Thursday 12 January 2017

Saturday 31 December 2016

Rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri) in St James's Park, London


These birds can be seen in almost all parks in London. They look a bit out of place in this place of the Earth, but anyway they are here so we can enjoy the sight of them in the short winter days.
Rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri
Rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri)
Rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri)
Rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri)
Rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri)
Rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri)

Thursday 29 December 2016

Walk in St James's Park, London


Video clips from a walk in the St James's Park in London. Nowadays its mostly known for its proximity to the Buckingham Palace and the abundance of waterfowl from many species some of which rare.

Wednesday 2 November 2016

Flying on Ryanair's Boeing 737-800 from Stansted, England to Faro, Portugal


This is footage from the last part of my trip, flight on Ryanair's Boeing 737-800 from Stansted, England to Faro, Portugal. Just to note, that the famous Ria Formosa lagoon was pretty well visible from the air.

Tuesday 1 November 2016

Flying on Flybe's Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 from Aberdeen to London City Airport


After countless fights with the Ryanair and EasyJet's Boings and Airbuses finally I had the pleasure to fly on Flybe's turboprop (airplane with propellers, that's it) Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 from Aberdeen to London City Airport.

Otherwise the flight was pleasant and comfortable (in contrast with the a bit too crammed Ryanair's flights), but it flies noticeably slower then the turbojet planes.


Tuesday 28 June 2016

Visit to the Brixton Street Market, London 2016



Today I visited the Brixton Street Market, place in London which I often have heard mentioned when people spoke about exotic foods, but somehow haven't seen yet. So my first impression is that its not really very big and while some years ago I would have thought that looks like Middle-Eastern or Afro-Caribbean market, today I think its something rather typical for London, as there are several similar markets around. When I say Middle-Eastern or Caribbean, I mean not only the exotic foods, but also the ambient, the faces of the people, the stalls without prices and covered sometimes with fruits and foods that I haven't seen yet in my life and strangely enough the prices are not really fixed and the vendors often decide on the moment how much to ask for any specific thing.

Street musicians next to the Brixton Underground Station



Other then food, other thing as these flowers can be seen, too.
"Progressive" yet ancient looking unisex toilet.
There are a few covered passages, bazaar-type





Shop with some crafted things and vegetable seeds for planting
There were also a lot of stalls with fresh fish and seafood from many different species

Most of the stalls and places for eating are Afro-Caribbean



The omnipresent rye and sourdough breads
Soursop, spiky green fruit, which I have never eaten before but found and bought from this market. Somehow I forgot to take a picture myself, so I am using this one from Wikipedia. The fruit is very sweet, its related to the Cherimoya and with somewhat similar taste, but it has a bit strange aftertaste, to which I think one has to get used first.