Friday 11 November 2016

A Fieldfare was in a tree on Buck Hill, waiting for me to go away so that it could come down to the rowan trees and eat berries in peace.


A Blackbird had already arrived. This is an immature male who has not yet developed his yellow bill. He is almost certainly a winter migrant.


There used to be four fair-sized rowans here, but a couple of years ago one of them died and was cut down, leaving a small living branch that had been growing out of its base in the hope that this would grow back into a tree. However, there is now a large growth of Honey Fungus around it, which is probably what killed the original tree, and the prospect doesn't look good. I fear the fungus will spread to the other trees, which are only a few feet away. Its progress is more or less unstoppable.


Melissa the Carrion Crow was at the bottom of the hill demanding a peanut.


Her mate Charlie was not far behind.

At the leaf yard, the female Little Owl favoured us with a visit.  She looked warily out of the hole ...


... and decided that we were harmless, so she came out on to a branch.


There were two Goldcrests hopping around in the bushes.


The usual bribery brought out a Nuthatch ...


... and a Coal Tit, which was feeling unusually nervous and fled whenever I picked up the camera. I have fed it out of my hand several times, but birds have moods.


This Lesser Black-Backed Gull with pale yellow feet is usually on the north bank of the Serpentine near Bluebird Boats. It was looking greedily at some Feral Pigeons, and may be aiming to join the ranks of the pigeon-eating gulls, of which there are apparently already three.


A Mute Swan chased another along the lake.


On the shore, several birds were attending to a spatter of melted ice cream, including this young Moorhen.


The Shovellers were on the east shore of the Long Water, among golden reflections of autumn leaves.

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