The sun shone as we waved farewell to our peregrines on the Tate Modern chimney. If they called to us, we couldn't hear over the noise from the Tango masterclass taking place behind us - it was of course the Thames Festival and the southbank was a riot of colours, smells and sounds.
It's been a tough year at the Tate, the weather wasn't very kind and the birds were nervous about using the chimney whenever workmen were around carrying out maintenance. It's hard to show people peregrines when the peregrines aren't there! Thank you to all of our volunteers who stuck with us and helped inspire thousands of Londoners about the wildlife that lives in the Capital. The peregrines often stayed on the chimney while maintenance was underway and more often than not, over the eight-week long event, the birds were present.
I spent the Saturday of the Festival weekend outside City Hall at Potters Fields. We were trying to get support for our Marine Campaign. The idea is that we gather names and addresses of people who feel we ought to offer the same legal protection for wildlife offshore as it receives on land.
There is a draft bill and all political parties have expressed support. We just need it ratified and the show of strength will remind the Government that people consider it important.
If you'd been watching me on Saturday and witnessing the rejections you'd probably think I was a first-time buyer looking for a hundred per-cent mortgage at a bankers convention! Undaunted, we perservered and I'm delighted to say we filled a bucket with pledges. Downing street should prepare itself for a wave of signatures calling for the Marine Bill to be made law.
At Potters Fields we got to see herring, great black-backed and black-headed gulls; cormorant, mute swan, pigeon and a small flock of starlings. The latter spent a lot of Saturday evening swooping and darting around Tower Bridge in a small but mesmerizing cloud. Fantastic. I could say they kept coming in waves, but I guess the tidal-theme inspired by the blog title wears a bit thin after a while!
With the evening's drawing in, I'm starting to worry about my garden. It's a mess and looks overgrown but I don't want to tidy it up too much. I'll weed the borders but leave the long grass at the edges and the dead plant stems until Spring. With any luck, this will provide winter homes for the good guys, like lacewings and ladybirds; providing me with an army of helpers come next year's invasion of aphids.
My two biggest problems are squirrels and slugs. Both seem hell bent on undoing all the hard work we've put in. Between them they've eaten most of our veg patch, savaged my daughters' sunflowers and stripped our tomatoes, strawberries, elderberries and any other fruit that appeared. Please add a comment to share any and all humane ideas for control. I've tried all the usual tricks but I'm reluctant to turn my garden into a caged fortress.