BenM

A central London dweller in awe of the starry heavens above us and nature's laws around us

[BenM @StargazerBen]

City Peregrine with prey. Not so unusual… but, hey, does the prey itself have talons??

[BenM @StargazerBen]

Found this in TM Garden Friday. iNaturalist identifies it as from the eagle/hawk family. Google lens thinks its an owl (!). I’m guessing sparrowhawk or kestrel.

[BenM @StargazerBen]

@MirandaJKennett sure. its ok with acknowledgement. Ben

[BenM @StargazerBen]

Solar Eclipse seen in Central London just now.

[BenM @StargazerBen]

At 00:22 today the Northern lights were captured automatically by my computer in Barbican, central London. It used the alerts from @aurorawatchuk. The pix is a 15 sec exposure and brightened on my phone.

[BenM @StargazerBen]

Juvenile City Peregrine flying unusually low. It was clutching a scrap of leftover over prey. I suspect it was snatched from its parent given the noise and the presence of the adult nearby.

[BenM @StargazerBen]

A lot of whining but I don’t see why. Perhaps the juvenile wants food. I spot the adult about 25 floors up, trying to rest

[BenM @StargazerBen]

@veronica_humble yes a lot of noise! but unfortunately few photos…

[BenM @StargazerBen]

Juvenile City Peregrine on a residential block.

[BenM @StargazerBen]

In the past, the
City juvenile peregrines have been hassled by seagulls. Not so for this one as tables are turned.

[BenM @StargazerBen]

I had intelligence that there were no juvenile peregrine this year. Evidently this is wrong as I spot one today. This one is soon to fledge.

[BenM @StargazerBen]

@oatesch Guerilla Gardening taken to the next level? 😉

[BenM @StargazerBen]

Rabbit sighting at 6:30am in Speed Garden! 🐰

[BenM @StargazerBen]

Birdsong at 4:50am today in TM gardens. The bird identification app Merlin identified these four.

[BenM @StargazerBen]

If you object to London Wall West plans, do it today!

https://t.co/K7VeEKrjaj

[BenM @StargazerBen]

perhaps a pregnant water flea in Barbican Wildlife Pond

[BenM @StargazerBen]

Spotted these tiny creatures in the @BarbicanWLG pond. iNaturalist identifies them as water fleas (a kind of planktonic crustacean).

[BenM @StargazerBen]

Tadpoles in the making: these not yet born but taking shape in the @BarbicanWLG

[BenM @StargazerBen]

Cropped in on a tadpole yet to emerge from its egg

[BenM @StargazerBen]

Tadpoles in the sun!