100 Days of Happiness - Day 15

[amberdreams]

I had to go to London for another meeting today at short notice, but as I arrived at Treasury a bit early, I thought I'd have a quick walk in St James' Park. Bizarrely there is a flock of pelicans who live on the lake there, and until today I've only ever seen them from a distance, over on one of the islands. But there they were on the grass right next to the path, within touching distance! So I got a couple of pics on my phone. None of them ate a pigeon this time though...


Of course, it was also tempting to make my happy photo of the day this one...

because it always makes me smile when I walk or go past Great Winchester Street. I noticed today, Adam's Close is a few yards down the road from this too. Yup, Supernatural is everywhere.
(And I just realised you can see me reflected in the display! LOL)

Edited to add the history  - Pelicans were first introduced into St James's Park in 1664 as a gift from the Russian Ambassador.

In March 2013, an additional three Great White pelicans - a gift from the City of Prague - were introduced into the park.

There are currently six pelicans in the park:

5 Eastern (or Great) White Pelicans

1 South American White Pelican which is distinguished by different colouring and a crest on its bill.
So there you go!

Comments

[kiltsocks.livejournal.com]

There are pelicans in St. James' Park! I had no idea; that is very weird and very cool!
I'm loving your 100 days of happiness posts, they brighten up my friends page and always make me smile :)

xx

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I'm glad these are brightening your day too! It is a fun challenge.

[tifaching.livejournal.com]

I've never seen a white pelican in the wild, just the brown ones. Very cool!

And of course Winchester street is great!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I've finally looked up why they are there - and edited my post accordingly.

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

There you go; born in London, lived there for the first ten years of my life, visit there regularly, and I never knew there were pelicans in St James' Park!

Winchester Street *grins*

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

It is one of those weird things - I expect there is something on the internet that explains why they are there.
And not just Winchester Street but GREAT Winchester Street. A very discerning street! LOL

Looked it up - post updated with the history bit!

[tifaching.livejournal.com]

But why do they stay there, I wonder. I've only ever seen them on the ocean.

[askellington.livejournal.com]

And out of all that I got, "ATE A PIGEON?????"

[tifaching.livejournal.com]

Good, they should eat more of them. :)

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Agreed!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Yup

[jj1564.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting the photos - I'm a London girl now living in Surrey & I haven't been to St James Park for AGES! I used to take my son there a lot when he was small to feed the ducks and then go through to see the Horse guards. My cousin was bitten quite badly on the arm by one of those pelicans so it's not only pigeons that need to be careful!