Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Fancy a shag?
...if so, you'll be happy to know there was one along the New River on Pemberton this week. What did you think I was suggesting?
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/shag/index.aspx
He's a bit far from home, perhaps blown off course, but it's nice to see. Apparently, the presence of cormorants and shags, like frogs, is an indication of clean water which is good news. I'm often surprised at how clean the river looks, despite the fact that it's filled with car tires, beer cans and probably the fingers of the odd Green Lanes shop keeper who didn't pay his protection money.
Does anyone know if there are any groups interested in caring for the River in Harringay? If there is, I'd be keen to help. Perhaps more so in summer though.
Tags for Forum Posts: new river, new river wildlife
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Claudia Clare on
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I say, get a look at that hair-do - A timeless Harringay classic, as well as the name.
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Permalink Reply by Maddy on
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There are loads of cormorants around this area - I've seen them in Finsbury Park, Hampstead Ladies' Pond, Tottenham Marshes and whole groups on the reservoirs of Lordship Road. They used to be just seaside birds, and seeing them a special treat like something out of Enid Blyton.
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Permalink Reply by GillianM on
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Like coots and moorhens I don't know my cormorants from my shags, but there was a big black bird drying its wings at the pond in Finsbury Park yesterday. Can someone help me with the coot / moorhen thing? I am embarrassed to just tell my son they are ducks cause I can never remember!
Coot / moorhen in the park last week
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Permalink Reply by Nick on
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Hi Gillian. That's a coot! A moorhen is similar-looking, but has a coloured (red/yellow) beak.
Hope that helps? Nick ;o)
(PS: normally they swim in the water, rather than walk ON it... so this pic gives a nice chance to show off his webbed feet!)
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A birdwatching friend told me that we mostly see cormorants in London, rather than shags, which don't like to travel far from the coast.
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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'The common cormorant or shag
Lays eggs inside a paper bag.
The reason you will see no doubt
It is to keep the lightning out.
But what these unobservant birds
Have never noticed is that herds
Of wandering bears may come with buns
And steal the bags to hold the crumbs.'
Christopher Isherwood's first line leaves room for doubt as to whether he was observant enough to know his shag from his common cormorant. An even greater tragedy was averted, however: if Isherwood had spent more years Stateside, his buns might have become 'cupcakes' and what would have become of his rhyme and rhythm (forget about his reason) scarcely bears thinking about.
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Permalink Reply by Marc Allen on
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...and the 'Biggest-disappointment-of-the-day-so-far' award goes to...
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