Wednesday 29th. February 2012

No real excitement today , as I only had time to quickly visit two sites , but I have never posted on the 29th. February before , so this is a first , having started blogging mid 2008 . Once around the lake at Kelsey Park in Beckenham , proved that things had moved on considerably since my last visit . Several of the nests now contain youngsters with their constant 'machine gun' like constant calls to be fed . This was the nest that contained three small youngsters on my last

visit . Today , the youngsters are well on the way to being as big as their parent , standing on the right . In another nest , both parents had obviously gone looking for food , as the youngsters had been

left to take care of themselves , and at such a young age . If I remember correctly , last year one of the youngsters fell from this nest , and it dangled lifeless on the branches below . Two Grey Wagtails

whizzed past , and a little bit further on , I managed to get a distant shot when is posed briefly across the other side of the lake . The only different species seen today , was this 'handsome' male Muscovy

Duck . I've mentioned before that the Grey Squirrels in the park almost 'mug' you as you go past , but

 as I left the park , fortunately this one was tucking into mixed seed that had been put down . The other stop was at a chilly Keston Ponds , but I didn't stay long , as there was little to see . Only

 interest was a single male Mandarin , sat , as usual , amongst the overhanging branches .
Gorse burning up on the Common tomorrow , so will get back home smelling like a kipper .