At the island,. a Cormorant balanced precariously on a chain and tried to take a place on an already occupied post. Failing, it found a post of its own where it could easily displace a Black-Headed Gull.
A male Mute Swan jumped on a female and tried to mate ...
... but she wasn't in the mood, and struggled free and flapped away, hotly pursued by the male.
The Black Swan, watching this violent activity, started doing his threat display, lowering and raising his head and calling.
When things had quietened down he came over to be fed. Finding some young Mute Swans joining in, he was annoyed and pecked them away.
Some of the Mallard drakes are already back in their fine new breeding plumage.
But when it comes to iridescence, they are outclassed by Starlings.
The Great Crested Grebes under the bridge were feeding their chicks, a peaceful spectacle unless you are a fish.
The Little Grebe on the Round Pond had caught enough, and was idling near the platform with the solar panel.
A Carrion Crow was picking leaves out of the fountain in the Rose Garden. This was not an aimless game, as some of them had litte yellow larvae on them ...
... which it ate.
The beans on the catalpa tree in the Rose Garden ripened later than those in Kensington Gardens, and the tree is now full of Rose-Ringed Parakeets. If they stay still they are practically invisible among the big green leaves.
This parakeet at the leaf yard was lying down in the grass. It looked as if it was sick or injured, and some chldren were tenderly feeding it with expressions of sympathy. When it got bored with this, it stood up, strolled off, and flew away in a perfectly healthy manner.
You make such great pictures of the elusive, hard-to-catch Little Grebe!
ReplyDeleteOdd that the Black Swan should have become annoyed by the cob pursuing the female Mute Swan. Why would he object to that?
I wonder why cormorants feel so drawn to chain-climbing. Moorhens, they are not.
Mute Swans also get annoyed by other swans courting and mating near them.
DeleteCormorants only get on to those chains as a means of climbing on to a post. In the absence of opposition it seems to be easier than a straight vertical leap.