Monday 25 January 2016

The premature blossom is being eaten by Rose-Ringed Parakeets.


They chew the flowers and then spit them out. Maybe they are squeezing out the nectar.

There are often Goldcrests in the yew tree at the southwest corner of the leaf yard, but they are seldom as obliging as this one, which stayed in plain sight for several seconds.


Three Coal Tits were in the same tree, waiting to be fed.


A Kingfisher also made an appearance, as usual several hundred feet away and this is the best picture I could manage.


The male Little Owl came out of his hole and looked mildly at several people who had come to photograph him. He is absolutely used to this routine.


The Pochard-Tufted Duck hybrid turned up at the back of a group of ordinary Tufted Ducks. I think only one of the original two is left. She has the shape of a Pochard, with no tuft, is more ginger in colour than pure Tufted females and has lightly vermiculated markings on her back, has a large patch of white feathers on either side of her bill (though this is sometimes seen in Tufted females), and -- most distinctively -- has marmalade-coloured eyes.


There were two Gadwalls, this one on at the Serpentine island and the other on the Long Water. They haven't been seen for a while, and come and go apparently at random.


The trio of Mute Swans that I photographed displaying together on the 19th are still together, and had climbed on to a reed raft at the east end of the Serpentine, where they were still displaying and pulling up plants as if preparing to nest. It doesn't seem like January.


Some Coots were fighting enthusiastically near the Lido.


Just along the shore a very large young Herring Gull had won a piece of bread in a tussle and was proudly holding it. It is also standing on a stone that it was playing with, in case another gull should try to steal it.

4 comments:

  1. Great attempt again at the Kingfisher!
    Shame it isn't obliging.

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    Replies
    1. We'll get it some time. It sometimes perches on the dead willow tree next to the Italian Garden. I've got it there twice in the past, by crawling up behind the parapet and sticking the camera between the balusters.

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  2. What a shame we lost the light so early! I do wish I could see the kingfisher! Hope your hands warmed up eventually

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    Replies
    1. All was well, thanks. And also many thanks for the Jay pictures you sent.

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