Early October 2012 - a long weekend in London

Margaret and I went to stay with Stan & Jane from Thursday 4th to Sunday 7th October - though luckily for them we only stayed three nights. We ate in We had gone down specifically to see the Leonardo exhibition - the largest ever of his studies of anatomy and the human body. We got advance tickets to see this at 11:15 Friday.

Leonardo has long been recognised as one of the great artists of the Renaissance, (we also caught the National Gallery's 'Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan’, at the Sainsbury Wing earlier this year), but he was also a pioneer in the understanding of human anatomy. It seems likely that he intended to publish his ground-breaking anatomical work as a treatise - which would have given him a reputation almost unsurpassed as a Scientist as well as transformed our knowledge of medicine. Typical of Leonardo all remained unpublished upon his death and essentially 'lost to the world for almost 400 years'. Now of course they are among the Royal Collection’s greatest treasures and to be admired! I had booked lunch next day at 'Petrus' but Margaret had me cancel - instead we had lunch at a small Italian style restaurant nearby and then walked to The Mall Galleries and back to Buckingham Palace as we had tickets at 3:30 pm for The State Rooms to take in "Diamonds: A Jubilee Celebration," which Margaret wanted to see .

Ironically the queues were horrendous for the actual exhibition of Diamonds so we rapidly toured it and got out. I was less than impressed with the State Rooms (happily - as I am sure I will never be back!). The over 150 foot 'Picture Gallery' is the sort of thing to won, and was impressive with some truly great paintings. The room was created by John Nash as part of his transformation of Buckingham House into a palace ...for George IV ... in the 1820s.

It has paintings from Titian, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck and Claude as well as Dürer. Not bad eh? Supper was sea bass and all the trimmings... v. good. The next day we had a leisurely start and set off for lunch at around 10:30am. We went via Canada Water and Bond Street to Notting Hill Gate. It was a lovely day and we strolled to The Ledbury for 12:15 - where we had the set menu for lunch - washed down with a bottle of Carmenere. I think we all had the Bourdin of Grouse with the Veloutte .. Truffle as a starter then Stan, Margaret and I had Neck of Lamb - though the chef - (Brett!) - did something slightly different with it for me that involved an aubergine. Jane had the fish main ... It was my third lunch at The Ledbury and I was not disappointed. Great food and fabulous service ... a real pleasure. We perambulated back to a tube, via Portobello Market on a sunny Saturday, to relax back the Dubecks. Margaret & I set off at 09:30am on the Sunday and got home at about 2:45pm... not too bad.

A chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) with papillmatosis

Strange sight this morning ... Margaret spotted a chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) on the flags near the feeder and it looked like it had webbed feet.

I took a photo and then looked up the occurrence on the WWW... only to discover it was probably suffering with a papilloma - referring to a benign epithelial tumour that grows exophytically (outwardly projecting) in finger-like fronds (or warts in humans?) There is no known cause. For more information see http://btoringing.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/papilloma-in-chaffinches-not-for-faint.html Or for even more information see http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/f/901/p/8992/64907.aspx#64907 as pasted below ... Posted by Buzzard replied on 22 Jan 2010 12:43 PM Verified answer Verified by Margaret Gilding Hi Margaret, welcome to the forums. The following information is a quote from ufaw regarding diseases in Chaffinches. http://www.ufaw.org.uk/infectious-diseases.php#id11 Quote: Warts (viral papillomas) Agent: The Fringilla papillomavirus (FPV). Epidemiology: The epidemiology of the disease has not been studied. Species susceptible: Chaffinches and, to a lesser extent, bramblings. In a large survey of birds captured for ringing in the Netherlands, papillomas were found on 330 (1.3%) of some 25,000 chaffinches examined and both sexes were affected. However, cases usually occur in clusters and quite high proportions of local populations may be affected in outbreaks. Clinical signs: The disease causes warty outgrowths on the foot or tarsometatarsus (the bare part of the leg). Usually only one limb is affected. The growths vary from small nodules to large irregular shaped and deeply-fissured masses which almost engulf the entire lower leg and foot and which can distort the toes. Affected birds usually seem in otherwise good health but some may show signs of lameness and hop mainly on the unaffected foot and digits may be lost. The warts grow slowly and may progress over many months. Pathology: The growths have a similar structure to warts in mammals and are due to excessive growth of the keratinised layers of the skin. Risks to human and domestic species: None known. Diagnosis: The clinical appearance is strongly suggestive but other diseases can cause swellings on the legs and feet: infestation with Cnemidocoptes mites (there is some evidence for an association between mange due to Cnemidocoptes infestations and the occurrence of papillomas), bacterial infections (bumblefoot), poxvirus infections. Diagnosis can be confirmed by histology or detection of papillomavirus particles. Impact on populations: It seems unlikely that this disease has an impact on population densities. Impact on welfare: Even birds with large papillomas often appear to behave normally so, in some cases, the growths may be little more than an inconvenience and relatively minor irritation. However, lameness is sometimes observed and this clearly indicates pain. Treatment: None. The outcome of the disease is unclear. Birds may die through being incapacitated or through developing secondary infections but it is possible that in some cases the lesions may regress spontaneously. Control and prevention: The fact that cases occur in clusters suggests that the presence of affected birds presents a risk to others that are susceptible. The mode of transmission is not known but it seems likely that the virus may be spread via surfaces the birds stand or perch upon. If so, hygiene measures and steps to minimise crowding at perching or feeding sites may reduce the risk.