26/04/18: Totteridge 4.16-miler

Another walk with the early birds. It was freezing in the shade and “scorchio” in the sun.

A man walking his dog wasn’t happy when a nearby woman’s dog came over to be sociable. He yelled at the woman: “Are you gonna f*#%ing call your dog or what?”

A long-haired girl on her way to school used her phone’s selfie camera to check on her looks.

On the cycle path, cyclists zoomed past me with alarming and dangerous proximity.

A beagle called Barney howled at me.

The abandoned car is now upside down.

24/04/18: Totteridge 4.74-miler

1. Pigeon
2. Duck
3. Magpie
4. Parakeet
5. Blue tit
6. Robin
7. Crow
8. Blackbird
9. Sparrow

Saw the woman with the sling again. Saw a woman in a straw hat walking two dogs and taking her morning mug of coffee with her. Very civilised.

20/04/18: Totteridge 4.34-miler

As I walked along Dollis Brook, there was a constant chorus of birdsong: they were clearly delighted at the change of seasons. Like yesterday, it was unusually warm – we seem to have skipped spring (after a long winter) and lurched straight into summer. The temperature was already into the twenties and it was still early. I saw joggers (perhaps preparing for this weekend’s London Marathon), a woman with an arm in a sling, and plenty of dog walkers. A walker with a German Shepherd dog wore a German Shepherd dog T-shirt. The abandoned car had finally been moved of the field, leaving a rectangle of lighter-coloured grass where it had stood. I saw blackbirds, crows, magpies, parakeets, pigeons and robins, but not the herons or grebes sometimes visible by the water. Miles walked: 4.34 Cats spotted: 0

15/04/18: Totteridge 4.54-miler

Many cyclists. One horse on the cycle path. I had to step out of the way and onto the muddy verge as the rider told me there were cyclists oncoming. Indeed, they swished past at the very last moment. The brave horse kept its composure.

The abandoned car is still there in the field by the brook, but now it has been graffitied and all the windows smashed in. There is a sticker on the front saying that it's being monitored and will be removed.

The weather is really warming up now. I certainly didn’t need my big black coat.

Miles walked: 4.54
Cats spotted: 1

05/04/18: Whetstone to Woodside Park

Walked to the Vero café in Woodside Park, counting birds along the river. Saw the following:
1. Robin
3. Wading bird with red beak
4. Magpie
5. Pigeon
6. Crow
7. Blue tit
8. Wren
9. Parakeet
10. Duck
11. Pied wagtail(?) – on an aerial above a house, so hard to tell for sure.

Heard others (pretty sure there was a blackbird singing in a tree), but they had to be seen to make the list.

A chinook flew over.

We saw a dead crow, lying upside down on the grass.

Back in Whetstone, we were passed by four police motorbikes in a hurry.

Miles walked: 3.18
Cats spotted: 0

03/04/18: Totteridge three-miler

Tot three-miler – a cut down version of THIS walk. To sustain interest, we counted bird types and saw only seven:
1. Robin
2. Pigeon
3. Magpie
4. Crow
5. Blackbird
6. Blue tit
7. Parakeet

Miles walked: 3
Cats spotted: 0

01/04/18: Totteridge four-miler

We walked up to Totteridge village, discussing how well this location would work as a film set for an olde-worlde "costumer". I saw two used contraceptives, suggesting that spring is in the air. Grange Avenue took us down onto the footpath, where we were followed by a clever little robin who was clearly hoping we'd feed him. We took the London Loop path back in the direction of the Barnet Table Tennis Centre and met "Mick", a border terrier, and his friendly owner. There were two goldfinches flitting between the bushes prettily. The walk back along the river path was marred only by the mess that has been made by contractors replacing some pipes. Big piles of mud and clay remain dumped there after several months, and the metal fences erected around them are still sitting around.

Miles walked: 4
Cats spotted: 1