A Young Environmentalist

A quick tour of a small part of Wanstead Park today, namely the Dell and the southern end of the Ornamental Water - this area has been the most productive of late - Lesser Spot, Siskins and Chiffchaff amongst others. Target - puddles. Muddy ones. Muddy puddle walks, or sometimes muddle puddle walks (if you get into a muddy) are de rigeur in this household, and are often used as a pretext to go birding. The kids seek out puddles to jump in, I seek the birds. 



As we were on the point of leaving the house, a text from Nick C alerted me to a Treecreeper in the Dell. Interesting news - I had recently been looking for the bird from near the Grotto in November without success, and was afraid that the cold snap had killed it. Seems that along with our Turaco, Wanstead's Treecreeper(s) is(are) also pretty hardy.

The Dell held a few Siskins but not much else. I gave it a bit of time, but the puddles were substandard so we left in search of the real deal. We found some decent ones down near the Ornamental Water, and some trees to hug. Before you ask, this was spontaneous. Pudding found a tree just the right size, and proceeded to wrap her arms around it - I have no idea why. Next time I'm at Dunge I expect she'll chain herself to the Power Station. As I captured the moment, some insistent piping and soft trilling caught my attention. Could it be? It took me about fifteen minutes to pin it down, but Tree-hugging had indeed located Tree-creeping. The bird was in precisely the same spot as in November, wouldn't you know it? The same bird that was in the Dell perhaps? We found some more puddles, and then went home for tea. I love my life. When I get a job, weekdays just won't be the same....