Sunday 31 December 2017

After two days without a sight of a Little Owl, it was splendid to see the female in the lime tree near the Henry Moore sculpture.


The Peregrine was back on the tower of the Household Cavalry barracks.


All the Great Crested Grebes left the Long Water when it froze, but now they are coming back. This one was fishing under the willow tree near the bridge.


A Cormorant wandered from pool to pool in the Italian Garden, but all of them have been fished out by previous Cormorants and there was nothing to catch.


This very small Egyptian Goose is, I think, one that we watched grow up in exactly this place near the Lido restaurant. It was far smaller than its siblings and seemed unlikely to survive, but it now seems healthy if undersized, and was fending off larger geese in the rush to grab bread.


Both Grey Heron nests on the island remain occupied. It's hard to see the bird in the upper nest, which is masked by twigs.


The plastic buoys marking the edge of the Lido swimming area are too small for Herring Gulls to balance on, but they enjoy trying.


A Moorhen in the Dell gave up up looking for bugs in the grass and ate the grass instead. There's plenty, so why bother to stand up?


Two Grey Wagtails were chasing each other over the rafts at the east end of the Serpentine. One paused briefly on the fence.


A Magpie seemed to be finding plenty of small creatures to eat among the dead leaves.


The white-faced Blackbird wasn't there, but her mate came out. He is still nervous but is also getting a taste for sultanas.


They nested last year but I never saw any young. Probably the nest was predated.

In the Rose Garden, Rani was filling the feeders while a Blue Tit stared down impatiently from a branch.


As soon as she finished the first feeder, it streaked down and started pecking at nuts, inches away from her as she filled the other feeder. Birds know who they can trust.


A very happy New Year to all readers.

3 comments:

  1. Yes they do. It's a sixth sense.

    Lovely to see the Little Owl's pretty face today. She appears to be glancing at you? Perhaps she missed your daily visit as well.

    I never pictured Moorhens as the lazy type. But then again, it looks so comfy, not having to stand up and trot for its supper.

    Happy New Year to all! Let's hope the dreadful fireworks and petards won't disturb any of you too much.

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  2. Happy New Year Ralph, and thanks so much for the blog!

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  3. Happy new year to you Ralph, and all readers of your blog

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