Chris Mooney is a visiting associate in the 
Dude, I fricken love that Chuck Darwin is on the ten pound note.
Also, I saw a fox this morning while jogging in Hyde Park. And these birds: Greylag Goose, Grey Heron, Blackbird, Black-headed Gull, Carrion Crow (probably), Tufted Duck (I think), Great Crested Grebe, Lesser Black Backed Gull (probably), Magpie, Mute Swan, Woodpigeon, and unidentified others. From a birding perspective, you might remark that I am really gathering the low-hanging fruit here. But since the last time I was in London was nearly ten years ago, and I was not then a birder, I never noted any of these suckers down before today....
UPDATE: P.S., allow me to make the link between Darwin on the ten pound note, and me seeing new birds in London, more explicit. Only in light of evolution can we understand just why it is that different regions of the world have distinctly different plant and animal life. In short, evolution gives us biogeographic diversity, which is a birder's best friend--especially a birder who gets to travel a lot....
Comments
For great birding a stone's throw from the centre of London, I recommend the London Wetland Centre - 40 hectares of wetland created out of a series of disused reservoirs in West London. To get there take the "Duck Bus" from Hammersmith Tube Station.
Posted by: TonyH | July 18, 2006 4:33 AM
Hey, I'm in London right now. Pity we couldn't meet for a coffee...
Posted by: John Wilkins | July 18, 2006 4:44 AM
I'll be there next week - in case you are still there and want to lead a bird walk/blogger reunion. In the meantime, greetings from southern spain - I am in a short course where we are spending all week on science & framing issues, so more on that shortly.
Posted by: Ronin Geographer | July 18, 2006 5:01 AM
I'd like to second Tony's recommendation. I'd also suggest a visit to the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. Take a District Line train (happily one of the cooler underground lines) towards Richmond and get off at Kew Gardens. It's well worth a visit.
Also, if you are interested, London's 'Skeptics in the Pub' are having their monthly meeting on Thursday. Steve Fuller, pro-ID guy at the Dover trial, will be speaking. Sounds like your kind of thing.
http://www.skeptic.org.uk/pub/
Posted by: SteveF | July 18, 2006 6:30 AM
Why would Steve Fuller be invited? He was a guest blogger for Michael Berube, and, to be frank, he couldn't think his way out of a paper bag. He's a right-winger's parody of a post-modernist intellectual.
Posted by: Barry | July 18, 2006 9:14 AM
You picked a notable time to be there:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/5189734.stm
If you were there doing promotions or campaigning it would be a great background for discussing global warming.
Being stuck in Cincinnati for another three weeks I just get to laugh at the whimps who think a few days of 90F is a problem. When I get back it will probably rain for the rest of the summer :(
Posted by: Joe D | July 18, 2006 9:21 AM
I am certainly feeling the heat here...and I know it will get worse tomorrow.
Thanks for all the birding suggestions. I'm supposed to be laying low and writing, so most of my birding will be on jogs--but if I decide to do more, I will know exactly where to go....
Posted by: Chris Mooney | July 18, 2006 1:28 PM
If you mention to the dodos here in America that Charles Darwin is actually buried in Westminster Abbey, near kings, queens and poets, well...they just don't get it!
Posted by: Laurie Mann | July 18, 2006 3:31 PM
Yes, I think it's neat that Charles Darwin is on the ten quid note. On the other hand (and putting my pedant's hat on), look more closely at the associated picture. The ship in the distance is presumably HHS Beagle, but that bird looks more like a hummingbird rather that a Galapagos finch. Oh well, I suppose we can't have everything!
Posted by: Tony Jackson | July 20, 2006 2:26 PM
Yes, the British certainly love their scientists. Isaac Newton's on the one pound note:
http://www.cartref.demon.co.uk/eng/Boed1b.jpg
This would especially make sense because Newton was in charge of the Royal mint at one point.
There's also this strange statue of Newton that I saw in London:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:NewtonBlakePaolozzi.jpg
Which is based on an engraving by William Blake, which you can see on this Enlightenment entry on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment#History_of_Enlightenment_philosophy
Both of these works are definitely what you'd call left-handed compliments. I've often been intrigued by Blake's arguments with Newton, but never could quite get a handle on what he was saying in this regard... (Anyway, sorry, a bit of a tangent. Back to your regularly scheduled program...)
Posted by: Jon Winsor | July 20, 2006 6:11 PM