Monday 15 May 2017

There were five new Greylag goslings on the north shore of the Serpentine.


When I went round to the other side, there were two more.


And when I got back to where I started, there were eight. Another brood of three had joined the five.


It will help to keep the young safe if the families combine. There were a lot of Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-Backed Gulls on the Serpentine, circling hungrily around this scene.

Sadly, the gulls seem to have got one of the cygnets on the Serpentine -- the brood is now down to four.


Yesterday Virginia saw a pair of Mallards with three chicks on the Round Pond and sent me this pleasing picture.


When I went there today only one was left, although -- unusually -- there were no gulls on the pond at all.

The Round Pond was zooming with Swifts ...


... Swallows ...


... and House Martins.


The young Grey Heron was flapping furiously in the temporary nest in the tree on the island. It looked as if it meant to fly out.


When I passed by later, this had happened and the nest was empty. The heron would have been invisible in the undergrowth on the island, but with luck we should see it again soon.

One of the Great Crested Grebes from the nest on the island was under the electric boat, with a chick visible on its back.


A pair of Coots have built a nest in the space between the smaller electric boat and its mooring posts.


This boat, Peter Pan II, is used only for private parties that want a tour of the lake, and doesn't move much. The Coots may be lucky and get some chicks out before it's unmoored and the nest collapses.

A pair of Moorhens were building a nest in the stream in the Dell.


For several days there has been a single young Cormorant on the Serpentine, usually on the posts near the bridge. It must be getting enough fish, though all the other Cormorants have long since given up and flown back to the river.


This female Grey Wagtail at the Lido restaurant is not the one we have been seeing recently. She seemed to have a mate, who was on the posts near the bridge.


It looks as if we might have two Grey Wagtail nests this year. These new arrivals are very welcome, because a couple of months ago we were down to one bird.

A Blackbird near the bridge was giving the alarm call for a predator overhead. I couldn't see one.


The Little Owl at the leaf yard was back on his favourite branch.


He has also been at the tip of the branch, his usual perch in summer when the leaves are thick, and much less easy to photograph than this place.

2 comments:

  1. Lovely picture of the little owl.possibly your best.....

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    Replies
    1. Thanks. But it's the owl who does the work.

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