Thank you! Older dog foxes have great character.

This is the season of the diminishing number of ducklings!

Either bites or mites!

Black-headed Cardinal Beetles Pyrochroa coccinea are recent colonists in a small London park They arrived after a dying Horse Chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum was toppled by Storm Henk in January 2024. It was left where it had fallen, contributing to a noticeable increase in the site's biodiversity.

A rare diurnal appearance from the 2023F Red Fox Vulpes vulpes dog fox this afternoon, albeit in rather poor light. He is a minimum of 50 months old, having arrived as an adult. His mate, the 2023G vixen, is known to have produced cubs, but she hasn't been seen since 4th March.

The female Cetti's Warbler Cettia cetti, photographed in a small London park on 18th April #birds.

Please remember to provide a water-supply for our furry and feathered friends during dry weather. The 2025D Red Fox Vulpes vulpes vixen, showing her appreciation on 9th April.

Rebuilt 'West Country' Class No. 34028 'Eddystone', passing Clapham High Street with the Railway Touring Company's 'Sussex Belle' from Victoria to Eastbourne on 15th April 2026. The loco has been modified by SLL, enabling it to run on the main line for the first time since 1964.

Rebuilt 'Merchant Navy' Class No. 35028 'Clan Line' hauling the Belmond 'British Pullman' from London Victoria to Dover through Clapham High Street this morning. I managed to capture a sequence of five graffiti-free images!

Always good to see the first dragonfly of the year - in this case an already mature female Banded Demoiselle Calopteryx splendens, photographed in a small London park earlier today @marcheath.bsky.social.

Little Egret Egretta garzetta #BirdOfTheDay #Reflections

A rare clear view of a female Eurasian Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla from this morning #birds. She had just been the focus of interest of an amorous male. Photographed in a small London park. Female Blackcaps are notoriously shy and surreptitious in their habits.

Male Eurasian Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla, seen in amorous pursuit of an unusually (albeit briefly) visible female in a small London park this morning #birds. Lighting slightly adjusted to illuminate his partly shaded face.

Thank you!

One of the few invertebrates that seemed to be present in expected numbers on the North Downs was the Two-coloured Mason Bee Osmia bicolor (clearly as misnomer, as black is not a colour!). This female was feeding on native Common Bluebells Hyacinthoides non-scripta, one of the few flowers in bloom.

Although substantially to blame (as the animals and plants cannot adapt quickly enough), this absence of invertebrates cannot be exclusively down to climate change, as the situation in London is nowhere near as bad in areas that have not been sprayed. Damaging insecticides can be wind-borne!

A deeply disturbing lack of insects was seen during a trip to the North Downs a couple of days ago. This fresh Green Hairstreak Callophrys rubi was a welcome exception, but the downward trend has been rapid and frightening...

This female Yellow-bellied Slider Trachemys scripta scripta looked to be at home in a small London park yesterday. Clearly a release, but not necessarily recent. Whether these reptiles will be able to breed in the future as the climate continues to warm up remains to be seen. A problem if they do!

Unless it had belonged to a second 2025 generation, this Peacock Butterfly had probably emerged nine months before this photograph was taken in a small London park yesterday. Remarkably intact, but many of these months would have been spent in a state of torpor.

A pristine Peacock Butterfly Aglais io, photographed in a small London park earlier today. The butterfly would probably have emerged last July before going into 'hibernation' (or aestivation) in August. Many overwintered adult butterflies will be much tattier than this one!

Well, this one can Ian, as it was doing precisely the same today! More photos too.

Another photograph of the Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus that was seen hovering in a small London park earlier today #birds.

This encounter with a hovering Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus was an unexpected diversion in a small London park earlier today #birds. Not sure that I had ever seen this behaviour before, and I certainly hadn't photographed it!

Last moments of a breeding condition male Three-spined Stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus in a small London park yesterday #birds. The Grey Heron Ardea cinerea had been motionlessly studying its movements in vegetation (where the fish had presumably constructed a nest) before striking.

Portrait of the 2025D Red Fox Vulpes vulpes vixen from yesterday,

Thank you!

Backlit aigrettes a-plenty were being displayed by Little Egret Egretta garzetta No. 7 in a small London park yesterday #birds. Few birds could claim to possess more elegant feathers.

Always worthwhile taking backlit photographs of Little Egrets Egretta garzetta #birds, particularly when they are rearranging their plumage. No. 7 duly obliged yesterday! Visits have become more sporadic as the breeding season approaches. Photographed yesterday in a small London park.

This may have been Little Egret Egretta garzetta No. 13, a juvenile first photographed on 24th October last year (and not seen since) #birds, but I couldn't confirm this unequivocally before the bird was ousted from a small London park by the dominant No. 7 yesterday. They will be gone soon.

Portrait of a singing European Robin Erithacus rubecula from yesterday #birds. Photographed in a small London park.