This juvenile grey heron was desperate to have his picture taken and kept flying ahead of us and posing.
A little further along in the shallow water we spotted a lot of tadpoles. They were quite large and should be growing their legs soon. If all of them survive there will be masses of frogs.
The walk took us through the park. We were heading for the woodland garden which is a fenced area. Unfortunately no dogs are allowed in the area so we had to circle around the outside of the fence. It was at this point that John realised he didn't have his rucksack on his back. When I stopped to take the picture of the swans he had stopped at the bench to get his camera out of his bag. He then took several pictures and together we walked away from the pond. Now we retraced our steps so he could pick up his bag. I didn't walk all the way back with John. Instead Scamp and I sat on a convenient bench and enjoyed the scenery. That's when I saw the bear! OK so it's really a tree stump but it looks like a cuddly bear to me.
John joined us happy to be reunited with his bag and we resumed the route. We passed this old pump along the way.
A bridge took us over another water channel and I spotted some large fish. Back at the main pond the fish had been creating a frenzy in the water. Spring definitely seems to be in the air! The fish in the main pond were bigger,some probably 40 lbs in weight.
As we circled through the park we came to the Diana fountain.This is a bronze statue of the goddess Diana set on a marble and stone fountain.
At this point we followed the road out of the park and crossed the main road into the grounds of Hampton Court. We decided to stop for some lunch at the cafe and we got Scamp some flapjack. This is his favourite snack when out walking. We didn't stop to go round the house. Instead we just walked across the front drive heading towards the river Thames and exited the grounds onto the tow path.
From here we walked along the Thames path until we reached Kingston. It was fun watching the boats on the river. Scamp found a lot pleasure in all the different smells along the path.
Several of the Canada geese had young. These little ones are so soft and cute.
As we got nearer to Kingston it became more built up on the opposite bank. Scamp fancied getting a drink from the river but we held him back as it was deep here and he doesn't swim.
Once at Kingston bridge we crossed the road to enter Bushy Park again. Walking through this side of the park we saw a lot of deer. The red deer were very interested in us and one of the females followed us for a fair distance before entering a water channel and moving away.
The fallow deer kept their distance and were very wary.
Almost back at the car and I managed to get a picture of Scamp and John.
As it was hot we enjoyed an ice cream at the little cafe at the car park. I shared some of mine with Scamp to help cool him down. Then home in the car. Scamp fell asleep on my lap.
Yesterday evening I did some planning on the next baby quilt. This one is gender neutral as the parents don't want to know the baby's sex until it's born.. At the moment I can't decide on the pattern I want to make but the baby isn't due for a while.
It was lovely to have a day off yesterday but I was in work today and now I'm really tired. There are three more working days till my holiday starts and I can't wait. I just need the time to go as quickly as possible.
The wish upon a star blog hop is continuing. Don't forget to go and visit.
May 23
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May 25
Lyndsey
Beautiful photos. What a lovely walk. You saw a lot of wildlife!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely day for your walk, and so much to see. Hampton Court palace was a real highlight of our trip to England, there is just so much history in this wonderful building.
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