Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Beginning afresh - a month in nature in Finsbury Park
A walk through the park in April brings the promise of the unique sights and sounds of spring.
By the running track the wildflowers and cow parsley grow apace...
while the cherry blossom bursts into radiant new life
..the exquisite, ephemeral beauty of the Kwanzan cherry bringing a taste of the exotic to the park:
A male Blackcap - returned from its warm wintering ground - flits among the cherry trees:
while Goldfinch raid the catkins...
and feast on the seeds of the dandelions in the orchard.
In spring male birds, like this Chaffinch, demand attention to their voices, seeking to claim a home, and a mate:
While the palm-sized wren, not to be outdone, punctuates the morning air with its huge, trilling song.
The presence of the even tinier Goldcrest is betrayed only by its faint, shrill whistle...
and by the railway line fence, a Greenfinch sings from among the emerging buds:
while, high up in the branches, the Chiffchaff announces its annual return from Africa by singing its name...
and - as sweet a sound as any around - a solitary Mistle Thrush serenades the quiet eastern field from a favoured tree:
There is new life on the ground ...
and on the wing...
and as the birds of every feather
find a mate...
,,, soon we see the eternal cycle has begun again.
After a few weeks, we see the young blackbirds learning to hunt for worms themselves -
the richly-hued plumage of youth yet to take on the ink-dark shades of an adulthood...
.. that's just around the corner...
while all through the season, the song of the adult - given from first light until dusk - forms a soundtrack to the rus in urbe.
A pair of chaffinches root among the delicate elm seeds ..
knowing the tree's precious store of food will be soon scattered by the April winds.
As April melds into May, so pink gives way to green:
- the trees bursting forth with verdant richness ...
... "like something almost being said."
And so, on, to summer -
and the promise of pleasures yet to be discovered.
Harringay Birder (2015)
Tags for Forum Posts: #birds, #finsburypark, #haringey, #nature, #wildlondon
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
-
Thanks Harringay Birder. Great photos. Our park as it was meant to be.
-
Permalink Reply by HarringayBirder on
-
Thanks to all of you for your kind comments. I believe the park is a genuinely underrated London attraction but at the same time hope it stays that way! Credit to the parks department who do a superb job.
-
Permalink Reply by Michele on
-
Have just seen your photos. Thank you for sharing them - I've been to the park hundreds of times and haven't seen most of these birds!!! And if I did I wouldn't know what they are. For your information the Council's budget consultation mentioned privatising the parks - If we want them to be maintained at the same high standard we are going to have to demonstrate our complete opposition to this and support for the existing department and its staff. But I guess you all know this.
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
