Older readers may remember the feature Nest Watch, which appeared on this blog in March of last year. In it, I observed a pair of magpies painstakingly dismantling an old nest (or, as a reader suggested, a squirrel’s dray) and reassembling it into a new nest higher up the tree. At about the time the nest [...]
Posts Tagged ‘City of London’
Ornithology With Orwell
Posted in Birds, Nature, Trains, Trees, tagged Birds, City of London, George Orwell, Magpies, Nest Watch, Spring, Trees on February 9, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Inexplicable Splendour : City Churches At Christmas
Posted in Architecture, Arts, Church of England, Religion, tagged Charles Dickens, Christmas, Church of England, Churches, City of London, London, T.S. Eliot on December 20, 2011 | 2 Comments »
In the first week of December I spent a free afternoon walking from the heart of the City of London (and it does have such a thing) to Trafalgar Square. I’ve always felt that this is the part of Christmas-time when London is at its most attractive (assuming that you aren’t completely broke, in which case it’s [...]
Protest
Posted in Education, Politics, This England, tagged City of London, Police, Protest on November 9, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
It isn’t often that this blog gets the chance to report on events of national significance, but I thought I must have been in with a chance today. When I came out of the tube station in the morning there was an impressive array of muscular coppers lined up outside the University opposite. Some of [...]
Fox At Bay
Posted in Architecture, Arts, This England, tagged City of London, Foxes, Grace Road, J. Fox, Umbrellas on October 19, 2011 | 5 Comments »
Meanwhile, back in the City of London … The last few weeks have seen mixed fortunes for Foxes of various descriptions. Foxy Loxy has been acquitted of murder, “Dr.” Fox has been forced to resign as a result of some incomprehensible imbroglio involving his “friend”, and – though I doubt too many tears will be shed in [...]
Summertime at Moorgate and Wantage Road
Posted in Arts, Sculpture, This England, tagged City of London, Northampton, Salvador Dali, Sculpture, Surrealism on June 13, 2011 | 2 Comments »
(Warning – this post contains images of nudity) A couple of pieces of public art to welcome the arrival of Summer. This is from the City of London (outside Moorgate Station) This is advertised as being by Salvador Dali. In fact, it appears to be have been fabricated by a dealer based on a illustration [...]
Fine Energies : Demolition at Moorgate
Posted in Architecture, Arts, Cricket, Poetry, Sport, This England, tagged Architecture, City of London, Cricket, Demolition, John Keats, Leicestershire County Cricket Club, Shard, Warwickshire County Cricket Club on May 18, 2011 | 2 Comments »
I’m afraid that circumstances have conspired to prevent me bringing you a full account of Leicestershire’s defeat on Sunday against Warwickshire in the 40 over league. But I think this is an accurate graphic illustration of where the Foxes’ hopes lie at the half-way stage in the competition. A row of shops opposite the entrance [...]
Empty Nest Syndrome (with Louis MacNiece)
Posted in Animals, Arts, Birds, Nature, Poetry, Trees, tagged Birds, City of London, Louis MacNiece, Nest Watch, Poetry, Spring, Trees on May 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
What of the nest? The nest itself is now harder to see through the fresh green leaves – and, since the incident with the crows, I’ve only seen the magpies once more. Perhaps they are lying low and incubating their eggs, or perhaps they’ve been reading Louis MacNiece – In a between world, a world [...]
Nest Watch Extra : A Crow In The Ointment
Posted in Arts, Birds, Nature, Poetry, Trees, tagged Birds, City of London, Poetry, Spring, Ted Hughes on April 13, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Unwelcome news, I’m afraid, from our nest. Yesterday morning I arrived at work to find two large crows squatting in our magpies’ laboriously constructed nest. The magpies gamely tried to expel them, but all their flapping and chattering were to no avail. It’s hard to know whether the crows were aiming to annex the nest for [...]
Nest Watch : Week Two
Posted in Birds, Crime, Nature, Photography, tagged Birds, City of London, Crime, Nests, Spring, Whimsy on March 26, 2011 | 2 Comments »
I must admit that, last week, I was feeling a little pessimistic about the prospects for our pair of nesting pies. If Robert the Bruce had sat and watched them instead of the spider I fear he would have concluded that if at first he didn’t succeed it was probably best to call it a day. [...]
Nest Watch : Week One
Posted in Architecture, Arts, Birds, Nature, Trees, tagged Birds, City of London, Nests, Spring, Whimsy on March 19, 2011 | 2 Comments »
So – I hear you ask – how are our magpies getting on with their nest-building project? Well, they’ve been at it all week (except Monday, which they seemed to have taken off). They’ve certainly been hard at the work thinning out the old nest – and carrying the twigs to the site of the [...]
