The park near our hotel always had a flock of PIGEONS. Seeing them was a great way to start my morning.
This seemed to be the normal PIGEON in London. This coloration is darker than most PIGEONS at home. I hypothesize that this is because of all the soot that was around London not to long ago.
This PIGEON is an interesting brown color that I have not seen very often.
There were a bunch of PIGEONS in the square where we had lunch the first day and they really liked the side of this building.
This was the first really interesting PIGEON I saw. I love his eye masks and crown.
This is probably my favorite PIGEON from the trip. I didn't get a good shot of his face but I just loved the dark body with the white cap on his head.
SKULLCAP GOD PIGEON
SKULLCAP GOD PIGEON was quite a gentleman. On one occasion he knocked WOOING PIGEON, you'll meet him later, off of the building when he was bothering a female PIGEON.
This PIGEON stalked us! Everyday we walked around London we saw RED GOD PIGEON. I have looked at the photos and I am nearly positive it is the same PIGEON so either there where identical PIGEON chicks one year or this PIGEON was our London stalker. Maybe she recognized me as a PIGEON worshipper and decide she liked the attention.
Everywhere we went we saw male PIGEONS morph into WOOING PIGEON and dance to try and attract a mate.
And they all failed. Miserably.
WOOING PIGEON
But they kept trying. Hilariously.
A lot of the PIGEONS in London had these speckled wings instead of the grey wings with black black stripes that are more common here. I really like it, London was full of gorgeous PIGEONS.
This PIGEON is just plain beautiful. She and SKULLCAP PIGEON would make an epic couple. The feathers on her neck are really cool, they almost look like scales.
At first glance she looks like WHITE MOTTLED GOD PIGEON but there are several differences. The stripes on her wings are black instead of brassy gray and the marks on her head and neck are different.
WHITE MOTTLED DEMIGOD PIGEON
WOOING PIGEON strikes again. I wonder if later in the season the females get more receptive to the dance of the WOOING PIGEON or if I just never saw a successful WOOING PIGEON. Obviously some succeed or there would be no PIGEONS.
We went through another park near Buckingham Palace and saw a lot of these birds. They look like PIGEONS but they were all the same color and they were a little larger than your average ROCK PIGEON. They are probably another species of PIGEON but I don't know which. If you know please tell me.
RED GOD PIGEON
This is two days after the initial RED GOD PIGEON sighting.
SCRUFFY GOD PIGEON
When we went to the Tower of London I saw all of these really scruffy PIGEONS. All the other PIGEONS I saw looked well kept but these were all grunge PIGEONS. I don't know why except that maybe no one feeds them because they want to feed the ravens in the Tower of London. I don't know it seems very strange.
HEADBAND GOD PIGEON
This day we went to an old observatory and I saw this PIGEON on the walk up. The markings on the back of her head remind me of a headband.
The picture is a little blurry but I love the sense of expression, its so quizzical.
Now we are in Stratford Upon Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare. I was psyched to see an albino PIGEON after all the dark PIGEONS in London. Being out in the countryside the ancestors of this PIGEON missed all the soot so there was no impetus to be darker colors.
In addition to being cool looking this PIGEON had an awesome attitude. Just check out her stance, it screams don't mess with me.
SPECKLED GOD PIGEON has got places to go so don't get in her way.
Both of the Stratford Upon Avon GOD PIGEONS and WOOING PIGEON. WOOING PIGEON does not know what he is getting himself into.
Back in London on our last day. This PIGEON is a weird red color and it has a bizarre beak.
Epic PIGEON battle observed by BEAK GOD PIGEON.
