Thursday 25 June 2015

The Coots' nest in a very exposed place on the platform of Bluebird Boats has hatched out, to people's amazement. Two of the chicks were eaten by gulls yesterday, but at least one survives. Here it was sheltering under the platform as a pedalo swept past inches away.


The foolish Egyptian Geese on the Long Water still have three young after several days. After a decade of utter failure, maybe they are beginning to learn how to look after their brood, but I'm not hopeful.


Meanwhile, their adopted offspring is growing into an elegant adult who will not be quite as blonde as her mother.


The Canada Goose family from the Long Water island were taken on a tour of the lake by their parents, finishing with a begging session at Peter Pan.


The Mute Swans on the Serpentine were jealously guarding their two cygnets, even shooing away a harmless Mallard which came too near.


There are young Pied Wagtails around both lakes and the Round Pond. Here for a change is an adult male searching for insects in the algae at the edge of the Dell restaurant terrace.


It was the male Little Owl's turn to perch on the pair's favourite branch in the chestnut tree near the Leaf Yard.


The insect-rich patch of scrub near the bridge yielded a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly.


A honeybee was collecting pollen on one of the clumps of purple loosestrife in the Italian Garden ponds.

4 comments:

  1. Nancy Christensen25 June 2015 at 21:20

    I love your blog! Looking forward to visiting the area the first weekend in July. I cannot find the leaf yard on any of the maps. Is it near the round pond?

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    1. Thanks -- hope we meet in the park in July. The leaf yard is the enclosure on the west side of the Long Water with the statue of Peter Pan on its water side. This isn't a formal name and doesn't usually appear on maps. It's called that because inside the shrubbery is a large yard where the dead leaves from the park trees are dumped in winter.

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  2. So are the 'blonde' Egyptians all female, or is there something else to say that this adopted youngster is female? Jim n.L.

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    Replies
    1. I think they are all female, but am not sure. Of the four at present in the park, two are certainly female.

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