Saturday 17 September 2016

A Cormorant on the Long Water was playing with a stick, throwing it around and catching it. It was a young bird, still with a white front. Just as with gulls, they need to practise their catching skills.


A young Great Crested Grebe was diving around the baskets of twigs near the bridge, looking for the small perch that are usually found here.


This year there hasn't been the usual amount of fishing at these baskets. I think the twigs are rotting and sinking down, and need replacing. On the other hand, there is no shortage of perch in the lake.

Two Coots on the Serpentine, having nothing better to do, were fighting.


A young Moorhen running along the edge was caught by a tailwind.


Some Canada Geese have joined in eating the duckweed at the north end of the Long Water. They are making a serious impression on it, and may even manage to clear it.


On the first slightly chilly day of autumn, there weren't many people in the Diana fountain, which left the way clear for an Egyptian Goose to stand in the rapids. Geese definitely enjoy the sensation of water running over their feet.


Mike Meilack took this picture of a Sparrowhawk doing its usual late morning pass over Kensington Gardens.


The slight glint of reddish brown shows that it's a male. I think there is a pair, though I have never seen them together. Only the larger female is strong enough to lift a pigeon, and you often see circles of feathers in the open grassland where a pigeon has been killed and then carried away.

Some of the large Magpie family near the Henry Moore sculpture were on the fence at the bottom of the enclosure. The young one on the left tried begging for food, and got an exasperated response from its parent.


One of the Little Owls in the lime tree just up the hill looked suspiciously down at the camera.


The female Little Owl near the leaf yard was in the same place as yesterday.


There was just one Mistle Thrush in the rowan trees at the top of Buck Hill. In fact it was the only one I saw today.


A Feral Pigeon at the Lido restaurant closed its eyes in ecstasy as it devoured a chunk of grilled halloumi.


Mermaids are not often seen in Kensington Gardens.

2 comments:

  1. So do true geese like that running water sensation too? By the way I hope you reprimanded the mermaid's accomplice for putting her boots where people expect to sit or even lie down. The mermaid's notions of hygiene are her own choice. Jim n.L.

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    1. Yes, they do. Greylags often wade in the fast running bits of the fountain.

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