Those who would like to listen rather than look can go straight to this ‘talking’ budding pussy willow video. There is also a description of the cross swan at the bottom of this post as well as a video. Those who would like to visit the magnolias first, please read on.
Held by yesterday’s and today’s drop in temperature, the magnolias are still magnificent. This is the great white tree below the Kenwood Terrace and the smaller Magnolia Stellata on the West Lawn.
And facing it, another whopping great deep pink magnolia tree.
And just to complete our Kenwood spring round, daffodils and an errant duck around and on the main Kenwood lake.
Along my walk from my path along to Kenwood, there is a large what I think is a pussy willow tree. I stopped to examine its buds in some detail.
And finally, down on the Boating Pond it is swan mating time – and the male of the new couple who have made their home there is having trouble with the geese. I was alerted the other day as I was walking round the pond by much furious flapping of wings and squawking as the swan lumbered into the air in pursuit of a goose who had already taken flight.
I can’t believe that the geese really have much interest in the female swan so I can only assume that they are trying to wind her mate up. Certainly they are getting a great deal too close to her for his liking. I caught them just after he had landed again with a mightly splash and was now bucketing through the water, wings raised like billowing sails in pursuit of the annoying goose. I am presuming that this is a wind up as the goose remained almost within striking distance while the swan made Herculean efforts to get to him. Then, just as the swan was ready to p0unce, the goose took off, only to land a couple of metres further on thus tempting the swan to one more spurt.
This happened six or seven times till finally the geese got bored and flew off, leaving the swan to return to his lady who had, meanwhile, been making a stately progress down the side of the pond calmly watching her mate display his inner macho man.
Bursting bud talking walk