The Huntress Fountain, which is found in the Rose Garden in Hyde Park, is a bronze figure of Diana, Goddess of hunting. It dates from 1906 and was sculpted by Feodara Gleichen, the first female member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Archive for February, 2019
Statues and Monuments: The Huntress
Posted: February 19, 2019 in Art, London, UKTags: statues and memorials in London
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Pictures from the Dorset Coast
This post is originally from the summer of 2014 and our first visit to Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis is a quiet coastal town and harbour in Dorset on the south coast of the UK.
Street lights in Lyme Regis
Photo by Gareth Williams (https://www.flickr.com/photos/gareth1953/)
It’s fame springs from the fact that it provides one of the most accessible beaches along the Jurassic coast and has been a magnet for fossil hunters for at least 150 years.
When Sue and I were in Dorset we paid a visit and went out on an organised fossil hunt. The leader explained what to look for and then took us to a place on the beach where there were likely to be fossils.
The rest was down to us.
Some ammonites we found on Lyme Regis beach
Views of Lyme Regis Bay on a winters day
Posted: February 14, 2019 in Dorset, Landscape, Natural History, UKTags: Lyme Regis
The River Lym at Lyme Regis
Posted: February 13, 2019 in Landscape, Natural HistoryTags: Lyme Regis
The River Lym winds its way through the town of Lyme Regis before exiting to the sea in Lyme Regis Bay.
Statues and Monuments: West Gate, Twickenham
Posted: February 12, 2019 in History, LondonTags: statues and memorials in London, Twickenham Stadium
The original West Gate at Twickenham rugby stadium contains a number of memorials.
On top of the gates are 4 statues by Gerald Olgivie-Laing from the 1990’s representing 4 rugby players
There is also a memorial to George Rowland-Hill, President of the Rugby Football Union at the beginning of the last century.
The Rose and Poppy gates by Harry Gray were installed in 2016 as a memorial to all rugby players who have died in conflicts since the foundation of the Union in 1871. It has the Rose, the emblem of the England Rugby team, and poppies of remembrance on it.
Roll on Spring
Posted: February 11, 2019 in Butterflies and Moths, Dragonflies, Insects, Natural History, UKTags: Blue-Tailed damselfly, Buff-tailed Bumblebee, Comma, Orange Tip, Speckled Wood
It may be cold outside but before long spring will be here, with all the delights it brings.
It’s amazing what you find in a river!
Posted: February 8, 2019 in Landscape, Natural HistoryTags: River Garbage
During our walk at Rochester riverside, we saw some strange things buried in the river bed.
Naturelog: 5 February
Posted: February 7, 2019 in Birds, Kent, Natural History, UKTags: Common Sandpiper, Rochester, Strood, Waxwing
A winters day and a chance for some birdwatching in Kent with Keith. Our first stop was a housing estate in Strood, which is now becoming a regular spot for a wintering flock of Bohemian Waxwings, a Scandinavian bird which only comes to the UK in years when the berry crop on the continent is not enough to sustain them. Some years there are huge eruptions with many hundreds or even thousands of birds coming over the North Sea. This is not one on them and this winter there has only been a handful in the South of England, so we wanted to take the opportunity to see if we could catch up with them. We had to wait over an hour, but eventually, the group of 6 birds dropped into their favourite feeding tree and stayed for about 20 minutes before flying off.
After a break in a local cafe for lunch, we made our way down to the River Medway at Rochester looking for Common Sandpiper, a species which winters on this stretch of river. As the mud was exposed on the falling tide there were Northern Lapwing, Oystercatcher and Common Redshank feeding on the mud together with Mallard and a single Little Grebe.
Then out from one of the little creeks came a Common Sandpiper and we got close views as it began to feed.
As we walked along the riverside to the Railway station we saw a second Common Sandpiper. A good day with both target species seen well.
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)
Mallard [sp] (Anas platyrhynchos)
Little Grebe [sp] (Tachybaptus ruficollis)
Great Cormorant [sp] (Phalacrocorax carbo)
Common Buzzard [sp] (Buteo buteo)
Eurasian Oystercatcher [sp] (Haematopus ostralegus)
Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)
Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)
Common Redshank [sp] (Tringa totanus)
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
Mew Gull (Common) [group] (Larus canus canus/heinei)
European Herring Gull [sp] (Larus argentatus)
Rock Dove (Feral) (Columba livia ‘feral’)
Common Wood Pigeon [sp] (Columba palumbus)
Eurasian Collared Dove [sp] (Streptopelia decaocto)
Eurasian Magpie [sp] (Pica pica)
Western Jackdaw [sp] (Coloeus monedula)
Carrion Crow [sp] (Corvus corone)
Bohemian Waxwing [sp] (Bombycilla garrulus)
Eurasian Blue Tit [sp] (Cyanistes caeruleus)
Common Starling [sp] (Sturnus vulgaris)
Common Blackbird [sp] (Turdus merula)
Mistle Thrush [sp] (Turdus viscivorus)
European Robin [sp] (Erithacus rubecula)
House Sparrow [sp] (Passer domesticus)
White Wagtail (Pied) (Motacilla alba yarrellii)
European Goldfinch [sp] (Carduelis carduelis)
Looking through the photos taken at Gravesend last month I came across this one of a Mute Swan, which I really like.
