Monday 25 May 2015

The Moorhen nesting on the post near the bridge was sitting in a spread-out attitude suggesting that the eggs had hatched and there were some chicks under its wings.


It didn't get up, quite understandably with Herring Gulls flying around, so we will have to wait and see. Getting the chicks off the nest into a safe place will be a taxing task, especially for a bird that normally nests in cover.

The Egyptian Goose family at the east end of the Serpentine were resting on one of the reed rafts when their mother decided to go over to the restaurant terrace and see if any food was on offer. The young ones, taken by surprise, sprinted to catch up with her.


An unruly mob of Mute Swans had straggled from the Serpentine on to the Long Water. The resident swan bustled round fiercely rounding them up and chasing them back under the bridge.


A Canada Goose was also feeling irritable, and attacked a companion without any apparent reason.


Maybe it as because the moulting season is beginning. This Greylag Goose has already dropped most of its wing feathers.


Most of the ducks -- Mallard, Mandarin and Gadwall -- are also beginning to look tatty. But for some reason Tufted Ducks seem to have a later schedule than the others, and the drakes are still looking very elegant in their black and white breeding plumage.


A pair of Cormorants were fishing in the Long Water under the marble fountain of the Italian Garden. One of them caught a large perch.


The male Little Owl was high up in his nest tree, and stared down at us through the leaves.

4 comments:

  1. Thrilling news about the moorhen nest. Such an unusual location!

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  2. Great captures and descriptions! I initially noticed your "cormorant vs fish" shot. So could the bird really manage to gulp such a big/spiky fish entirely okay?? Does the fish put up a good fight, if eaten, does it get swallowed down wriggling the whole way as well?!

    -Kyle

    Reply: Mexicankyle35@gmail.com

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    1. The Cormorant did manage to swallow the perch, with some difficulty. But that wasn't caused by the fish struggling, as far as I could see, just by its size. The Cormorant has to turn perch round to swallow them head first because of the spiny dorsal fin, and this takes some manouevring.

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