Saturday 22 October 2016

You shouldn't interrupt a Shoveller when it's shovelling. This Pochard tried to cut through a group ...


... but two of them set on it, and it crash-dived to escape.


Black-Headed Gulls were neatly lined up on the buoys at the Lido, except for one nonconformist on the left.


A young Herring Gull and a Black-Headed Gull were hovering, ready to dive on a piece of bread that was about to be thrown.


An Egyptian Goose was washing furiously.


A Feral Pigeon in the Rose Garden had just finished its bath, and emerged soaking wet.


Also in the Rose Garden, a Carrion Crow ...


... and a squirrel were rooting in a freshly dug flower bed.


The crow was looking for worms and grubs, and found them. The squirrel was digging for bulbs, and didn't find them because the gardeners had carefully removed every plant before putting in new ones.

The Nuthatches came down to feed on the leaf yard railings, where several people were lined up to photograph them. They have stopped being bothered by this.


The female Little Owl was in the chestnut tree -- on the other side of the tree from the usual one, and it would have been easy to miss her, but luckily Tom spotted her.


A Blue Tit was lower in the same tree, waiting to be fed.


This is one of the reliefs in the Italian Garden. The Victorians had a very different attitude from ours to firearms in the hands of children. They have bagged a pheasant.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Ralph I got passed this photo today of a greylag goose attacked by a dog in the park by the dell cafe http://imgur.com/a/TzHF5

    Cheers Rich

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the sad picture and the information. I've been talking to Steve the policeman about the dog problem, which is getting worse with every passing year as public behaviour deteriorates. Will keep pressing for whatever action can be undertaken.

      There was also a drift of bloodstained white feathers at the Lido, where a swan had clearly been killed by a fox and partly eaten, although the corpse had been removed by the time I arrived.

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