Regents Park

Beautiful yellows

So whilst these photos really show spring in full force, we haven't had much of this weather lately.  After having the one of the warmest Marches on record, we have now had the wettest April in 100 years.  And the next 30 days don't promise much better.  It is a little sad when you have to go to Wales to get nice weather.  Every now and again London does pull out a cracker day, and this was one of them.  We headed off to Regents Park to check out the flowers in all their glory, and there was a fair amount of glory going around.  I wonder if you were a gardener if working at somewhere like Regents Park is the pinnacle of your profession, or whether that's too mainstream for the hard-core gardeners.

It's nice that there are places like Regents Park, I think I nearly overdosed on the colours though.  After a winter of no leaves, the flowers are a bit overwhelming.

The British think of everything - boot scrapers and taps

Even the trees were getting in on the colour act

Regents park seems a bit more utilitarian than the heath does, what with the extensive playing fields, and tennis courts (I counted 19), and cricket nets.  With all that sport going on, there are liable to be some muddy feet.  But never fear, the British have thought of everything.  Near the playing fields they had these boot scrapers set up (at least I think they were boot scrapers).  There was also a tap, and what you can't see in the above photo is that it is all set above a grate, so the dirty water gets washed away.  That's just forethought, right there.

There was also a rather strange photo exhibit on in the park at the same time.  It was western China landscapes.  Some of them were really nice, and the place looked pretty wild in parts.  Which is impressive for somewhere with such a massive population.  England struggles to keep it's wild parts, with it's fairly small population, granted it's land size is not even comparable.

An eider - where the quilt feathers come from

Flowers

We managed to find the goose grazing area of Regents Park this time round, though there weren't many geese actually in the grazing area, which was just an empty paddock.  All the water birds were hanging out next door in a lake, with island, and fenced, meaning no molestations from tourists.  It seems that not only have the flowers returned, but also the water birds.  After a winter of almost exclusive mallard spotting, it was nice to see a few different birds.  We saw some tufted ducks, like little coots with mohawks, red-crested pochards, ducks with massively over-sized red heads, and eiders.

For those who may be wondering where this weird list of birds is coming from I bought a field guide to British birds, so I'm well on my way to becoming a twitcher, I already have the binoculars after all.  I think if I'm in England I have to take up some weird, slightly nerdy hobby, that's just what they do over here. 

Great clouds over the playing fields

More flowers

I think I may also start a list of birds I've spotted here, I have a feeling there's going to be a very rapid growth in the birds, as I spot things like robins, and blackbirds.  And then it'll just plateau.  But at the moment I'm excited.  It's weird being in a country where you don't know the trees, flowers or animals around you, I feel a little like a child.  I think I might get a plant book next.  Once I run out of birds, then I can begin a plant list.  Though they are a bit more boring, what with the lack of movement and all.

One other cool thing we saw was the trapeze school set up in the corner of the park, they had the full on net, and two trapezes.  It looked pretty safe, not only was there a net, but you were harnessed in to the frame, so you wouldn't need the net even if you feel.  It looked fun, though I wonder how strong you have to be, they had people hanging upside down from the swing when we went past. 

The trapeze school in Regents Park

 Again I'll leave you with far too many photos.

The back of the zoo, not quite so nice from this angle

Incredibly white flower

Crazy shapes and colours in one flower!

The squirrels have reappeared after the winter in hiding

A flower amphitheatre

More crazy flower shapes

Regents Canal from above