East End Wildlife

I won’t go into how I got here in the first place, but I’ve been thinking of leaving the city for years. One of the reasons being I simply prefer more ‘nature’ around me. I’m not a lover of concrete and tarmac. Of course, one of the ironies is that if I ever do I’ll probably miss the wildlife. Out in the country animals and birds are often pretty shy of humans. It’s a joy how easy it can be to watch them round here. Here’s a few tales:

Walking along the canal side recently I noticed some coots with young. To my surprise as I came closer they gave me a quick glance then totally ignored me. I was able to stand directly above them on the bank as Mum and Dad repeatedly dived for titbits for their chicks. I could see every downy feather and wrinkle on the chicks, and follow the parents as they dived down, getting mistier the deeper they went. After a while a father and son human joined me peering over the edge at them.

After a bit coot Dad (well it may have been Mum, but I find myself thinking Dad), came up with what seemed to be a medium sized water snail. He offered it to a chick, who finding it too big, dropped it. Dad dived down and retrieved it, offering it again. Again the chick took it, then dropped it. Dad dived again, and offered it to another chick. Same result. Long suffering and by now distinctly frustrated Dad dived and retrieved it again. He tried time and time again to get one of his ungrateful chicks to swallow that delicious snail, but they all rejected it without a moment’s thought, casually dropping it. Finally he came up from a dive to find Mum in front of him. Seemingly without thinking he offered it, Mum took it, swallowed it and we on the bank all laughed. Problem solved!

Another day not long before along the same stretch I watched a heron in a slow motion stalk through shallow water on the other side of the canal. Slowly inching forward, then striking, and coming up with a flash of silver. How wonderful to see such a rare sight.

And then there’s the foxes… I heard them often during my childhood in a small, rural town, but never saw one till one time out hunt sabbing! (Yes, it got away…). In Hackney sometimes it feels like you are almost falling over the things! The front of my flat overlooks the intersection of several walking routes for them. If I hear them at night and head out there there’s a very good chance of seeing them. One year I saw them 10 nights in a row. Sometimes I just get to see them sauntering past, but I’ve also seen them curled up asleep on a garage roof, or watching humans passing by oblivious, in pairs interacting together, or interacting with cats. I’ve also seen them quite a few times in broad daylight. One notable time I was walking along the front of my block at 4 in the afternoon when suddenly over a high garden wall came two foxes chasing each other. I guess they were in the middle of a territorial dispute, and came within inches of crashing into me before disappearing at speed round a corner. You don’t get to see country foxes that close!

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