A chilly but bright walk in the woodland and ecological park

Kingfisher in Russia Dock Woodland
Photograph by @worginfo, with thanks.

I went for a potter in Russia Dock Woodland and Stave Hill Ecological Park this afternoon, taking advantage of the bright dry day.  I saw a jay, a great spotted woodpecker (both of which flew off before I could snap them), several great tits and some busy robins and blackbirds. The usual mix of water birds were very much in evidence on Globe Pond.  There were one or two shrubs in bloom and although there very few flowers on the ground, there were some nice surprises, including some very brave violets.  And there were simply dozens of very bold squirrels!  Everything looked lovely in the low winter sunlight, the colours sharp and bright.  I went up Stave Hill and was glad to see that the graffiti has been removed from the Michael Rizzello sculpture, presumably by Southwark Council, which is great news.  My photos are below.

The beautiful photograph at the top of this post is the kingfisher taken this week by the ever excellent @worginfo (posted on her Twitter page), with many thanks for her permission to use it here.  Steve Cornish, Chair of the Friends of Russia Dock Woodland, tells me that it's a hen bird, due to its orange lower beak; the cock birds beak is black lower and upper.  Superb colours.  I wasn't lucky enough to see one today, but I shall keep looking.  It's a lovely photograph.