Saturday 24 February 2018

On a cold morning the birds were extra hungry. Many Jackdaws arrived, all of them wanting peanuts ...


... and white-faced Blackbird near the Italian Garden came out for her customary treat of sultanas.


The Redwings were searching for worms on the Parade Ground, where the ground had not yet frozen ...


... but they suddenly all took off and flew to a tree near the Dell, where they perched chattering.


A single Long-Tailed Tit waited to go down to the feeder in the Dell.


The freezing wind didn't stop a Robin from singing in a tree near the Rose Garden.


A Carrion Crow was interested in its hazy reflection in the mirrored surface of a sculpture outside the Serpentine Gallery, but was intelligent enough not to attack it.


When there was a big mirror on the Vista, made by Anish Kapoor, the resident Egyptian Geese constantly displayed at and tried to attack their reflections.

The Little Owl near the Albert Memorial made the most of the sunshine.


The second Grey Heron nest on the island now has a sitting bird in it, indistinctly visible through the twigs.


Mateusz at Bluebird Boats told me that there is an occupied nest on the other side of the island, visble only from the water, and kindly took me out in a boat to see it.


I think this pair of herons started a nest on the shore side of the island and abandoned it, and have rebuilt here.

The Black-Headed, Herring and Lesser Black-Backed Gulls on the Serpentine have claimed the moored pedalos next to the island, and made a dreadful mess on them which the patient staff of Bluebird Boats have to remove with high-pressure jetting.


A Cormorant was looking striking in breeding plumage on a nearby post.


A pair of Mute Swans were courting on the Long Water, mirroring each other's movements.


A pair of Gadwalls quietly fed on the Long Water.


The white-faced Greylag Goose was at the Dell restaurant. Here is a close-up showing its remarkable dark blue eye.

2 comments:

  1. I would never have imagined that the blue of the Greylag's eye was so beautiful. Such an exquisite smokey blue. Why are birds so beautiful is something I wonder so very often.

    Corvids are presumed to have a theory of mind, according to what I've read. Only great apes, corvids, dolphins and orcas can pass consistently the mirror test. Magpies are extremely good at it.

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    Replies
    1. Urban Feral Pigeons must be used to their reflection in windows when they stand on the sill. Whatever they may think or not think of it, they have learnt to ignore it.

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