Name that bird!

It's been spotted on the canal in King's Cross for a few months now (it's kind of adopted Holly), and it's obviously not a native to British inland waters. But what is it? It sits very low in the water, and spends most of the time diving for fish. Curiouser and curiouser.

Close encounter

The penguin photocall wasn't as bad as I thought, in fact it was quite cool! Houdini the penguin was lovely, happy to be stroked (she was hand-reared) and Logan was really gentle with her.

He loved the rest of Paradise Park too, especially the soft play!

Is this a coot or a moorhen?

I can never remember which is which. Anyway, I took this when we took Logan to see the ponds at Hampstead Heath, after a lovely lunch with Isabelle and Lauren at the Freemasons Arms on Downshire Hill (overpriced and a bit pretentious considering it used to be a bit of a dive, and nothing like the "country pub" they claim to be, but very welcoming nonetheless).

I'll put some more pics up on Flickr tonight.