St. James's Park is bounded by Buckingham Palace to the west, The Mall and St. James's Palace to the North, Horse Guards to the east, and Birdcage Walk to the south.
The park has a small lake, St. James's Park Lake, with two islands, West Island, and Duck Island, which is named for the lake's collection of waterfowl. This includes a resident colony of pelicans, which has been a feature of the park since the first gift of the birds from a Russian ambassador in 1664. The Blue Bridge across the lake affords a view west towards Buckingham Palace framed by trees. Looking east the view includes the Swire fountain to the north of Duck Island and, past the lake, the grounds known Horse Guards Parade, with the Horse Guards building, the Old War Office building and Whitehall Court progressively behind. To the south of Duck Island is the Tiffany fountain situated on Pelican Rock and past the lake is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with the London Eye, the Shell Tower and The Shard progressively behind.
The park is the most easterly of a near-continuous chain of parks that also comprise (moving westward) Green Park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. The closest London Underground stations are St. James's Park, Victoria, and Westminster.
