London is the best place in Britain for...

Yellow-legged Gulls. The last few days of June, and then particularly throughout July, sees a build up of these birds along the Thames foreshore as they head north from further south in Europe. There are normally a few floating about any month of the year, but midsummer is the best time to see real numbers - including some rather smart juveniles such as the one below.

Juvenile Yellow-legged Gull Crossness 14th July 2012

There were 7 YLGs present on the foreshore this afternoon at Crossness. This included two juveniles - beating the paultry total of one juvenile Black-headed Gull in amongst the 1000 or so of them. Evidently breeding success has been horrific with the high water levels.

Living in a stone's throw of Stratford and Greenwich, it seems that the Olympic twattery has started with Olympic lanes, construction traffic and notifications to avoid areas meaning it took me almost an hour to get from Rotherhithe to Crossness today. Just as well I won't be here for the carnage when it actually starts as it's going to be a nightmare for London's population.