Friday 23 September 2016

One of the Hobbies was circling high over Kensington Gardens.


We had been worried that one of the pair had not made it back from Africa, after one briefly appeared in the spring and nothing more was seen for months. But then Paul saw two together, too far away to tell if they were both adults or one was a juvenile. Either way, it means that the parents are all right. We don't know where they nested, but probably at the far east end of Hyde Park or even in one of the garden squares on the far side of Park Lane. Recently they have been appearing more often, though soon it will be time for them to fly south again.

The Little Owls at the leaf yard had swapped their usual places. The female was in the nest tree ...


... and the male was in the tree just up the hill.


The pair of Nuthatches were in the leaf yard, calling to each other and coming down to take food from the railings.


A Wood Pigeon was eating unripe holly berries beside the Long Water, although there were some riper ones on the same tree.


I've often seen Wood Pigeons eating the unripe, hard berries of various trees. They actually seem to prefer them.

Someone had given a bit of bread to a Canada Goose, which was being chased by another Goose and also harried by a Black-Headed Gull.


It was flustered into dropping the bread, and the gull made off with it, pursued by two others.


A Great Crested Grebe chick on the Long Water made a frantic splashy rush to grab a fish from its parent.


The male of the pair of dominant Mute Swans on the Long Water was preening his regrowing wing feathers.


He still can't fly, and his mate is doing most of the work of repelling invaders from their territory.

I talked to Malcolm the Wildlife Officer. He said that the Black Swan had probably flown away. He keeps a very close watch on the lake, and if the swan had been killed by the dominant Mute pair, he would have seen the body by now.

I was talking to him because one of the Grey Herons is in trouble. It is the young one which until a few days ago was hanging around the restaurant. Now it has got a bit of plastic netting wrappped around its bill and can't shake it off, and is unable to eat. Malcolm has been trying to catch it for three days, an extremely difficult task.


The fine plastic netting used to wrap food and other small items is dangerous, and not only to herons. Small birds can get their feet tangled in it. The stuff doesn't rot and hangs around for years. There is a man who throws fat balls wrapped in this netting into the trees in Kensington Gardens. So far I have not been able to catch him at it. If anyone sees him doing this, please stop him and explain to him in the strongest possible way that his misplaced kindness is not just covering the trees with ugly litter, but actually doing harm.

Another two herons were more pleasantly engaged in chasing each other across the grass near the Serpentine Gallery.


This striking picture of a huge wasp nest was taken by Neil. It's in a horse chestnut tree across the path from the Henry Moore sculpture, and a few yards to the north.

14 comments:

  1. Hi Ralph, I left a comment about the heron on your yesterday's blog, we saw him this morning and he was battering his head against branches in a nearby tree, this is so concerning:/

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  2. It will be sad if the black swan has truly departed, but he cut a memorable dash during his time in your blog, Ralph. His ruffles will linger in my mind!

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  3. Where will he fly away? Why? Come back! You owe it to your adoring public!

    Now in all seriousness - is there anything else that can be done for the poor Heron?

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    1. Malcolm can only try to catch it. Jenna's suggestion below is very apt. It may be the only way to get to the poor bird.It was still flying strongly today, and still trying to get whatever it was off its bill. I couldn't see the object closely enough to be sure what it is, but was told that it was a bit of plastic netting.

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    2. Here the police will catch weakened Griffon Vultures (young birds get very disoriented when extremely hungry and land on the city streets or on balconies) by throwing a large blanket on them. The bird gets airborne but the blanket does not allow it to fly away. Perhaps it is worth a try.

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    3. Imagine that Malcolm will be thinking along these lines.He has a lot of experience.

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  4. I keep thinking he might need to be on the brink of death from starvation to be caught:/

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  5. How about a tranquilizer dart?

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    1. They're made for mammals -- effect on birds unknown, might not work at all, might be fatal. Very difficult to dart a skinny bird covered with inches of feathers. Malcolm may try to net it.

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  6. Thank you for the update about Black Swan. I feel a bit more hopeful for him now. I hope Malcolm manages to remove the netting from the poor heron. Thank you for the lovely blog and your kindness to the wildlife. Denise

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  7. That's definitely a wasp nest is it Ralph? I've never seen one quite that exposed before.

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    1. There was one almost as large and equally visible on the north shore of the Serpentine near the bridge a couple of years ago. And it was certainly a wasps' nest -- wasps were coming and going.

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    2. They are spectacular structures. Whenever I find them (or hornet nests) they're sheltered within a more robust structure. Perhaps London's micro-climate is more forgiving.

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