Saturday 6 April 2013


Both the adult Tawny Owls were visible from the north side of the Flower Walk, in the same place as yesterday. Here is the female: she is more wakeful than her mate, and when you look at her she looks back at you.


When I passed the sweet chestnut tree where the owlets are at 7.45 am I could hear them calling, but none of them came out. I came by later, when some other people had arrived, but the owlets still hadn't emerged. They have no particular reason to come out of their comfortable shelter. There is a Starlings' nest in an upper branch of this tree, and a pair were carrying nesting materials into the hole.

The Little Owl had come out of his usual sweet chestnut tree near the leaf yard, and was sunbathing on a branch, looking very fine in the clear sunlight. It's a grand day when you can see two different kinds of owl.


It seems likely that the pair are nesting in this tree, since the bird is constantly on it. If so, this is the male of the pair and his mate remains inside. He seems to have recovered at least partly from his fear of humans, induced last year when some nasty children threw stones at him, and he stared boldly at me with his intense yellow eyes while I took a series of photographs.

To the west of this area there are several Nuthatch and Treecreeper territories. As yet they are not actively nesting, but this Nuthatch was singing on a branch.


The male of the pair of Dunnocks at the Lido was also singing.


There are still at least 30 Redwings at the southern end of the Parade Ground, feeding in the grass and flying around the trees. I didn't find the Wheatear, which is not to say that he wasn't there.

2 comments:

  1. me and my wife had a smashing day at the gardens today,1 adult tawny owl - 3 owlets - 1 little owl both year ticks for us ,i would like to say a big thankyou to all the people we saw today for their help in seeing these smashing birds. jim and lin

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  2. The owl maniacs of Kensington Gardens are a generous bunch, always ready to help someone see these fascinating creatures.

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