Sunday 20 August 2017

A flock of Long-Tailed Tits moved along the Flower Walk.


They were accompanied by at least 30 Blue Tits.


You get the impression that there aren't many Blue Tits in the park, because usually you see far more Great Tits. But Great Tits are fairly sedentary, so if you know where they live it's easy to find them. Blue Tits are more mobile, and often consort with Long-Tailed Tits in a foraging flock, so you see a lot of them at once.

So do Coal Tits, but this one was not part of the flock. It's one of the pair that live in a copper beech in the Rose Garden and visit the feeder.


To make up the full set of tits seen in the park, here's a Great Tit in a yew tree next to the bridge.


There was a family of Robins in the bushes in the Dell. This is one of the two young ones.


The Jays in the park are only occasionally seen in summer, when there is plenty of food for them and they don't feel the need for people to feed them. But one turned up and accepted a peanut. The jagged-leafed tree is an American oak a few yards from the Little Owls' tree next to the leaf yard.


The female Little Owl was in residence, good-naturedly putting up with several visitors who were photographing her.


A young Starling picked up crumbs under the crowded tables at the Dell restaurant.


Someone feeding the birds had shredded their bread into crumbs. These were keeping a young Herring Gull busy on the shore of the Serpentine. It would rather have had a larger piece to devour in a single gulp.


The pigeon-killing Lesser Black-Backed Gull was on the roof of the Dell restaurant with his mate. There were too many people on the ground to make hunting a pigeon practical.


Four Mute Swan cygnets were enjoying a moment of silliness on the Serpentine.


The Moorhens on the Long Water were sensibly keeping their chicks under a bush beside the Vista. They were joined by an older chick, evidently theirs from an earlier brood.


The young Great Crested Grebes from the nest on the island were ranging all over the Serpentine.


A Greenbottle fly posed on a leaf at the Rose Garden.

2 comments:

  1. What are the cygnets doing?! It's funny how they stop doing whatever it is they meant to do once they met with the adults. Like human teenagers, I guess.

    Very pleasing set of pictures of all the birdies in the park!

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  2. The cygnets are just chasing each other, as the young of most species do. It's good to see them get a bit of fun before they turn into peevish adults.

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