London is enjoying (or suffering, depending on your tolerance of heat) a heat wave. This afternoon, the sun is shining from an almost clear sky and the temperature is hovering in the upper 20s C.

The Curvaceous Tree

After lunch, I decided to go and sit in the park for a while. I took a book to read and some seeds for the birds. Passing Myddelton Square, I took a photo of my favourite whom I call the Curvaceous Trees because of its tortuously twisted boughs. It is fully dressed now in green summer foliage.

St Mark’s Church

The afternoon sun was now illuminating the façade of St Mark’s Church.

Myddelton Passage

I had decided to go to Spa Green for a change and passed along Myddelton Passage to reach Rosebery Avenue. The Passage is not looking its best at the moment because all the buildings are covered with scaffolding. I don’t know what it being done but work seems to proceed painfully slowly.

The pub vine

I of course visited the pub vine to see how it was faring. It is looking in fine fettle with an abundance of healthy green leaves.

Grapes

The grapes, which were tiny when we last looked, have also grown, like the bunch in the above photo.

Rosebery Avenue

I crossed Rosebery Avenue which is pleasantly shady in sunny weather and not too busy for a road that carries three important bus routes. (19, 38 and 341, if you really want to know!)

Spa Green War Memorial

I entered Spa Green and looked for an unoccupied bench in the shade. It was much too hot to sit in the sunlight. There were very few pigeons on the war memorial: like me, they preferred the shade in a hot day like this.

Les amoureux

I spotted this pair of pigeons sitting in the grass together. I saw them again later, very obviously an affectionate couple.

I found a bench in the shade and settled down. I never did take the book out of my bag because I was fully occupied with watching the pigeons.

Enthusiastic clientele

I produced the jar of bird seed and soon gathered a small but enthusiastic clientele.

The pigeons in Spa Green are much more timid than those in Myddelton Square. The latter, within a couple of minutes would be on the bench with me and even perched on my knees but the Spa Green cohort kept their distance. Even the movement of my arm throwing seed frightened them so I found ways to toss the seed with minimal movement on my part.

Male courting (unsuccessfully)

Whenever there is a gathering of pigeons, unattached males will try their luck at courting females. They spread their finery, revolving to show it off, while emitting the staccato cooing sound. The curious thing is that I have never seen a male succeed: the female has always run or flown away, leaving the male to seek success elsewhere. And yet, I also see pigeon couples in amorous union (like Les amoureux above) so the courting ritual must succeed sometimes. I’ve just never seen it do so.

Church hidden

I returned home by the way I had come. On arriving in Myddelton Square, I took this photo. From this angle, the church is now completely hidden by trees. You might like to compare it with a picture from the same angle taken on May 6th – see Life renewed.

Looking back from Claremont Square

I paused in Claremont Square for a “retrospective” of the route I had followed.

The reservoir

I also photographed the reservoir and…

South side of Claremonth Square

…the south side of Claremont Square. I know I’ve shown you these views many times before but I love this beautiful neighbourhood and think I am so lucky to live here.