Monthly Archives: January 2019

Jan 28 2019
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ShareMondays2019 – Pelican In The Park

Preening Pelican in St James's Park

ShareMondays2019 – Pelican In The Park

Another week, another royal park! This time it’s the smallest and oldest, St James’s Park. Set in front of Buckingham Palace, the park was originally created by Henry VIII as a hunting ground. Later, it was redesigned by Charles II and became home to the first, royal Great White (or Rosy) Pelicans. They were a gift to the King from the Russian Ambassador in 1664 and the park has been a home to pelicans ever since.

St James’s has a fascinating history that has really left it’s mark on the area. Charles II had avenues of trees planted alongside his Paile Maile (similar to croquet) lawns. Locals started calling the main road alongside these lawns Pall Mall and the nickname stuck. The King opened the park to the public and was a frequent visitor, feeding the ducks and mingling with his subjects. He filled the park with animals including camels, elephants and crocodiles and built a row of aviaries for his collection of exotic birds. The adjacent roadway gained the name Birdcage Walk. People still gather here to feed the birds and a few exotics have returned, the ring-necked parakeets!

John Nash redesigned the park in the 19th Century. The original canal was transformed into a natural-looking lake and in 1837 the Ornithological Society of London presented the park with a collection of birds and erected a cottage for a birdkeeper. Both the cottage and the position of birdkeeper remain to this day. Duck Island cottage is where you will find the pelicans being fed every day between 14:30 and 15:00. There are also around 15 species of waterfowl living on the lake.

Exploring this lovely little park was just the tonic I needed on Friday afternoon after another disappointing appointment at Guy’s Hospital. The day may have started out negatively but I turned it into something very positive! Another busy Monday ahead so I am putting my pelican into all three Monday challenges. Have a great week everyone!

Pelican In The Park

Jan 21 2019
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ShareMondays2019 – OH!

OH!

ShareMondays2019 – OH!

Definitely the largest fish I’ve ever seen one of the Bushy Park herons catch! Pretty sure it’s a common carp. After successfully evading the Heron Pond anglers and keeping itself warm in the dense reed-beds on a frosty night, I think the last thing this fish expected was to be gobbled up for breakfast. It actually gave it’s captor a few firm tail-slaps around the face, for good measure, on the way down! OH! Well, my mum coined it and I couldn’t really call it anything else. So with a busy Monday ahead, this is my entry for all three of the Monday photo challenges including Wex Mondays and Fotospeed. Have a great week everyone!

Hunting Heron

Jan 14 2019
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Sensory Delights

Christmas At Kew

Sensory Delights

It’s the first proper week of the WexMondays challenge and for this week only we can include images from throughout the festive period! I thought I’d focus on the light installations that I went to at both RHS Wisley Gardens and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. They were both beautiful, but I was most definitely inspired by the incredible artists who created the various installations at Kew! The experience of both sound and light working in context with the surroundings was simply stunning. My favourite pieces were from artists at Ithaca Studios in Brighton and TILT from France.

 

I’m leading with a piece that captures elements of the final display at the Palm House at Kew. It’s a multiple exposure created from four different parts of the display, blended together using Nik Analog Efex. From across the lake a story of Wintertime enfolded before our eyes. Illumination of the glass Palm House, laser beams and a jaw-dropping projection onto a screen of water from the fountain in the pond, all accompanied by seasonal music and a bit of a crowd sing-a-long to Let It Go from the film, Frozen.

RHS Wisley Garden lights

 

Jan 14 2019
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ShareMondays2019 – Atomic

Atomic

ShareMondays2019 – Atomic

This is what happens when your brain is bursting with Open University STM Access Course study material and your one day off is at your grandson’s 8th Birthday Party! I see science everywhere. In this case, balloons filled with glitter and a disco light.

Am I going slightly mad?

Weird Science

Anyway, I shall wish our wonderful Callum a very HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY again! He and all the other children were just as fascinated by the patterns they could make in these balloons as I was. It was a great party!