We thought today was going to be about stately buildings. We came to this neighborhood for that reason. We thought we might find the kind of grand squares and such that we saw in Paris.
But even though we saw Buckingham Palace along the way — we didn’t go there, we just walked by — it actually ended up being about birds in the park.
The lake that fills the center of the park was also the center of most of the action.
These Egyptian geese were some of the first birds we saw, and some of the most exotic.
We’ve seen a lot of coots and moorhens on this trip. This was the first time we got a good look at their wild-looking feet.
We saw a small crowd and figured something was going on. Sure enough, there were parrots in the nearby trees that would happily land on your hand for a treat. Or even the hint of a treat.
This bird with a mohawk turned out to be a Hawaiian nene. The graylag geese are locals and were all over the place.
We didn’t get a good look at what exactly caused the ruckus here.
Another small crowd alerted us to the presence of swans. The black swan was a nice bonus.
The park is famous for pelicans. These are much prettier than the brown pelicans common in North America. We found out they have the second longest wingspan after the snowy albatross.
Duck Island Cottage was an unexpected quaint moment.
The island end of the lake looked like wilderness and cormorants posed on the stone outcropping.
Speaking of wild, we happened upon a bird fight between two moorhens.
It wasn’t all about the birds. There was pretty plant life too, between tropical plants, colorful berries, fall-blooming bulbs in the lawn, and fall-blooming perennials like these toad lilies.
We saw colorful fall foliage too.
