Monday 24 November 2014

The two young Great Crested Grebes were at Peter Pan again, playing among the crowd of mixed waterfowl. Here a Coot looks down curiously as one of them shoots by under water.


The other was pecked at by a Coot and made a short flight to get away. Here it is coming down on the water. Duck, geese and swans slow down by putting down their webbed feet and waterskiing on them, but grebes' feet are set so far back that this would be impossible, so they have to go in full tilt, making a tremendous splash.


An oak tree on the Parade Ground, hard up against the wall of the noisy funfair, had a flock of Goldfinches in it looking for insects and maybe larvae on the leaves.


Several Chaffinches and a Coal Tit had joined the party. The tree also contained Starlings, and a Pied Wagtail perched briefly before going down to is normal place on the ground hunting among the fallen leaves.

This Pied Wagtail was looking for insects in the crevices of the plastic non-slip mat on the Lido jetty.


The berries on the rowan tree on Buck Hill are getting overripe and shrivelled. The birds seem to prefer them in this state, and this Mistle Thrush ...


... and Carrion Crow were picking them out deliberately from among the fresh red berries.


The male Tawny Owl had come out of his nest hole to enjoy the sunshine.


There was no sign of the Little Owls, and they may already have abandoned the increasingly bare chestnut trees and found better cover in the leaf yard.

A beautiful Macaw was being taken for a walk by its owner. This species is boringly called the Blue-and-Yellow Macaw (Ara araurana).


A pair of Hyacinth Macaws (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) are also brought into the park sometimes.

3 comments:

  1. Lovely set of photos Ralph. I'm surprised the parrot didn't want to break free and fly away. Sue

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    1. Yes, I was a bit surprised by that too. It flapped its wings at one point and you could see they were in good shape. The Hyacinth Macaws that are brought into the park also show no desire to fly. I also notice that our ordinary little Ring-Necked Parakeets will never fly to get food if they can crawl down a branch instead. Perhaps they just can't be bothered to make the effort.

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    2. I suppose if food comes so easy they can afford to be lazy. I've yet to see the Macaws on their outing in the park but I have on one occasion seen a cat on a lead in the park. The owner looked far more pleased with herself than the cat did. Sue.

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