Saturday 4 June 2016

The two Little owlets were out of their nest and flying around in the chestnut tree. It was impossible to get a clear shot of any of them among the leaves.


Their mother was watching them from the next tree.


Their father was in the tree with the young ones, but keeping his distance to avoid being bothered by them as they hopped about.


The Great Crested Grebes at the island were feeding their chick under the stern of the electric boat.


The moulting Greylag Geese are now mostly unable to fly, and if they quarrel they have to chase each other on the surface.


The Bar-Headed Goose is now moulting too. We shall have this beautiful creature on the lake for a while now.


But the other one that I photographed on 30 May was only here for one day, and has flown somewhere else to moult, probably Regent's Park.

The Mute Swans with their four cygnets were cruising on the Long Water.


There are eight cygnets in the park at the moment, and two more nests still seem to be on the go.

I couldn't find the Black Swan. But he was certainly somewhere on the lake, because he can't fly at the moment.

A family of Moorhens were enjoying a slice of pizza at the Dell restaurant.


The House Martins were visiting their nests in the stucco cornice of the Kuwaiti embassy. I think there are eight nests, two of them on opposite corners of the same plaster flower.


Several rabbits were sheltering under the Henry Moore arch. This was probably because there was a hungry-looking Grey Heron on top of the sculpture.


A dragonfly perched on a broom bush beside the Serpentine. It is a female Black-Tailed Skimmer, Orthetrum cancellatum. The bluish-grey male has the black-tipped abdomen that gives the species its name.


Update: David Element thinks it's an immature male, judging by the shape of the abdomen. The colours would be similar.

4 comments:

  1. Dad Little Owl looks between sick and tired and resigned. He gets no break: when he is not being pestered by magpies, he is inconvenienced by his own offspring.

    So happy to read that there will be many more pictures and reports of the lovely Bar-Headed Goose! I wish it weren't because he was grounded, but we'll take what we can.

    Moorhens eating, no, relishing pizza. Now I've seen everything.

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    1. It's very expensive pizza, hand-made, wood-fired, all the bells and whistles. They ought to be appreciating it.

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  2. I saw the Black Swan at 6.15pm. He was near the bridge behind the dozing Mandarins

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    1. Thanks. Maybe he was on the island earlier.

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