Greenwich Park on Christmas Eve

After a brief trip to the shops to spend a £10 voucher which ran out on the 24th, I decided to have a quick look at the park to see what damage the high winds of the night before had done. There were some trees like this one and lots of small branches lying around but I could not see any major damage which is good.

 With roots like these, where fairies surely must live, it is hard to see this tree falling down, even if its top layers are a bit battered.

 Not a fairy, but a fluffy, white chested squirrel, looking very sweet under this yew. He was not a particularly tame squirrel, so ran away quite quickly. After this picture, I wandered about enjoying the fresh air and picking up pine cones, seed pods and pine twigs. I met a dog walker and had a brief conversation with her about her old dog's jacket which was currently in the wash as it had got soaked the day before. She wished me a merry Christmas, and me her, before we walked on.

 The weather turned to squally rain all of a sudden and I headed back to the car. But then I decided to take a look at the view over London before going home to wrap presents.

 A tree maintenance person's van reversed to go and maintain some more trees, and I looked down over the river.

 Then this happened. The sun came out as I walked into the trees behind the cafe. There were crows, squirrels, pigeons and parakeets all flying around and calling.

 Then a rainbow appeared. It was all so magical. 

 Because of the bare branches I could clearly see the parakeets even when they landed. There were a pair flying around from tree to tree, with me chasing them to take pictures. The light made their green feathers flash so brightly.

 They looked the best as they were flying, with their wings spread out and catching the sun. I only had my phone but these are still the clearest pictures I have got of these birds yet.

                       

   

A brief but perfect walk.