London surprises

Debby's Blog

Some time ago I finally had time to visit London again. I visited a few of my favorite spots, but it also had some surprises for me. One evening I returned to my place to stay in Hammersmith and I saw something strange crossing the street. I couldn't believe what I saw. It was a little fox, crossing the street. I never thought they live in London. He disappeared into a little park. The surprises weren't over then.
On another day I visited Trafalger Square on an early hour when I saw a falcon fly. I walked over to a small group of people that surrounded the carekeeper of the falcons. After a little chat I found out that they fly up to 4 hours a day to keep the pigeons away. Pigeons used to live on Trafalger Square and I always felt it was horrible to walk there with all these " flying rats" around. In 2007 the Westminster Council passed a law that forbid tourists to feed the pigeons. They also decided to hire trained birds of prey. Since then the pigeons have disappeared. The group of people were asked if they wanted to "call the falcon in". A few (me too) said yes, and we got a glove and a chickenleg in our hand. We had to stretch our arm and the falcon came flying to us. One by one we were able to do this. To my surprise the falcon felt very light. The caretaker told me that her name was Rosie. She is only 6 years old. Very young, as these birds can get 23 years old easily. I was very impressed with Rosie. I love birds of prey and it was wonderful to see one this close.

I've visited London quite a few times, but this was one of the visits that was full of surprises when it comes to animals. So if you visit London, keep your eyes open, and look around you. You never know what you are going to see. I wasn't able to take a picture of the fox, but Rosie was a lovely model.

Posted Date
Aug 16, 2014 in Debby's Blog by Debbylynley