please empty your brain below
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I hope THE kingfisher is A kingfisher, otherwise it might be quite lonely.
Scrumpy | 15.01.21 - 7:13 a.m. | #
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I've seen a Harris hawk handler in the park before, also on pigeon duty - they're quite friendly and will stop for a chat and a photo if you ask (the handler, not the bird).
I wonder now what's easier to spot - DG or a kingfisher?
martin | 15.01.21 - 7:19 a.m. | #
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As Martin notes the usual bird used to scare of pigeons is a Harris hawk and they are now widely used across London including main line rail stations. Love to see the kingfisher but sadly the Olympic Park is well beyond walking distance for me
kerspatula | 15.01.21 - 7:51 a.m. | #
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A good place to look for Kingfishers is on the River Wandle from Merton southwards. Like the Olympic Park this was an industrial area in the 1960s and heavily polluted, Merton paper mill used to pour a mixture of detergent and bleach, as part of its paper recycling, straight into the river, and foam would blow around Merton High Street. Nature can make a come back.
Alan S | 15.01.21 - 8:30 a.m. | #
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Your talk of a perpetual grin for the rest of your walk emphasises the effect nature has on people's well-being. Were you to go to the Olympic Park at midnight, you may not see the kingfisher but there is usually a chorus of blackbirds "singing in the dead of night." I'm also still amazed on my cycle home after a late shift at the sheer number of urban foxes I see; when growing up a sighting was a very rare event indeed.
Tim | 15.01.21 - 8:59 a.m. | #
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I'm surprised the hawk is allowed to do nothing more than flap a bit; when I saw one in action in a station it actively chase the pigeons and I feared for the Cornish pasty I was eating. Perhaps occasional visits do involve some hunting and the intervening briefer ones rely on the pigeons remembering what might happen?
Andrew S | 15.01.21 - 9:24 a.m. | #
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Urban Foxes have always thrived in the Stratford area, given the abundance of railway tracks and large,neglected cemeteries in the area.Here they can hunt, rest and live lives without interference by the human population.
At nighttime numerous fried chicken restaurants and other take away outlets produce a feast for Brother Fox who is none too bothered by health and safety concerns concerning his supper.
In early mornings the unmistakable smell of fox urine is a sure indicator of what was happening an hour or so earlier.
Kenneth Morton | 15.01.21 - 9:55 a.m. | #
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Egrets, I've seen a few.
But then again
Too few to mention...
Ok ok, I'll get my coat.
Suse | 15.01.21 - 9:56 a.m. | #
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It's all happening at the Olympic Park, isn't it!
I wish I lived closer.
Cornish Cockney | 15.01.21 - 9:56 a.m. | #
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The image of the hawk handler you took DG looks like a conceptual art photograph.
R2 | 15.01.21 - 10:34 a.m. | #
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I saw a hawk and his or her or its handler in Canary Wharf once, but was not quick enough to immortalize the sight.
international reader | 15.01.21 - 10:54 a.m. | #
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The concept of taking a bird for a walk reminds me of Bill Oddie's song in the 60s on "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again" - I'm Taking My Oyster for Walkies! (Subsequently resurrected by The Goodies.)
Tim W | 15.01.21 - 10:59 a.m. | #
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I've seen a hawk handler outside Christchurch in Ealing Broadway and he was happy to chat.
And I've seen kingfishers on the Hogsmill river in the middle of Kingston.
Hazel | 15.01.21 - 1:08 p.m. | #
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Having been a lurker for many years on DG's blog, the presence of the Olympic Park hawk has finally induced me to comment. A few years ago the residents of East Village were terrorised at all hours by noise from nesting seagulls - this was especially bad during the summer when windows had to be kept open due to the over-heating of communal areas by the district heating system (long story).
As they are a protected species, the nests could not be disturbed until the young flew the nest, and we had to suffer the shrieking for months. However, from that point, the management company started paying a company to walk around the residential blocks with a hawk, occasionally letting it off the leash, to deter the seagulls from nesting again. So far, it seems to have worked, although the pigeons don't seem to mind!
CF | 15.01.21 - 2:45 p.m. | #
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Alan S is right about Kingfishers along the Wandle, but last year I saw them from N of Merton High St (particularly in Wandle Park) up to the weir at Earlsfield
Richard Thomas | 15.01.21 - 5:20 p.m. | #
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Further to Alan S's comment about Nature's wonderful recovery from the pollution of the River Wandle.
In the 1950s-60s, I believe the emphasis was on developing the post-war economy and the environment didn't get much consideration. As far as I remember, I only went once within sniffing distance of the Wandle. And yet here I am, decades later, suddenly and vividly remembering the appalling smell! I never actually set eyes on the river because instinct propelled me in the opposite direction.
Great Aunt Annie | 15.01.21 - 11:16 p.m. | #
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About a year ago I saw a Harris Hawk handler pottering about a new build development in Greenwich near Deptford Creek.
He was a bit miffed that he had let the hawk free and it had immediately chased a poor moorhen along the Creek and dispatched it.
Chatting to my mate who lives in the development he said since the hawk started it's duties problems with pigeons had decresed hugely.
Chris | 16.01.21 - 12:32 a.m. | #
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The only time i saw a hawk in London it was attached to the wrist of an old gentleman standing at the bar in a pub on Portobello rd in the eighties. It was quite fascinating.
Milo | 16.01.21 - 10:29 a.m. | #
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We went for a look last Saturday and saw a pair of Kingfishers here: [Streetview]
One sitting on the handrail running down to the water and both of them flying back and forth from the ash tree to the left of that water outlet thing - the one that was on the handrail caught a small fish
Also saw a load of cormorants, heron etc on the way there and randomly two kestrels flew right over our heads shortly after seeing the kingfishers
Jim Harte | 16.01.21 - 3:45 p.m. | #
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I popped down to the riverbank at lunchtime today, and a kingfisher appeared mere seconds after I arrived.
(My excitement was tempered soon after when I headed for home, attempted to cycle along a flooded bit of footpath, and ended up with two wet feet.)
My sighting was between Knights Bridge and the VeloPark's bridges.
martin | 29.01.21 - 2:06 p.m. | #
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