01/05/2009 – Phillip Holt's World

It was only four days ago that I walked down to the River Thames and saw a goose with her new gosling’s sheltering under her feathers, with still more eggs to be hatched. Click to see entry.

Today I walked passed the nest, and they were not there, just goose down feathers and broken eggshells.

I searched for them but found nothing, only some baby wildfowl hiding under the bows of a boat. There was no adult with them, so maybe it was them.

Young wildlife hiding under a boat on the River Thames

Young waterfowl hiding on the River Thames
I looked further up and down the river for any signs of the missing gosling’s, had they swam away, had they been eaten, were they hiding? I could not see a goose with any young.

I did come across a female duck with her ducklings swimming up and down, but the mother had a strange behavior, taking a duckling into her beak and plunging it under water.

Ducklings on the River Thames at Kingston
Also there were cooks with their young, both the male and female adults taking turns in feeding their babies.

Baby coots on the River Thames

The training courses I give, take me to many differing places and countries, staying in a varied array of hotels.

The last two days saw me giving a PhotoReading course in the South of England city of Brighton.

Like many of the UK seaside resorts, they have seen better days, but Brighton is perhaps one of the better placed towns, offering historical places of interests such as The Lanes, the Brighton Pavilion, two piers although one is burnt out, and lots and lots of people enjoying the social and educational facilities.

The course was held in the Old Ship Hotel located on the seafront, the creaky floors, and shaking old lifts add to the character of this old hotel. My room overlooked the seafront, giving me the chance of an early morning wake-up call, as the seagulls screech at each other. But why did they turn off the heating at midnight? My room was in the roof space I think, and it became really cold meaning I had to search for more coverings to keep me warm.

The Old Ship Hotel, Brighton seafront

The view of Brighton Pier and seafront from the balcony of my room in the Old Ship Hotel.

More trainings follow in the next few days, so no rest for me.

But I love my job, so contact me if you want me to give a course or talk in your country.