Monday 7 May 2018

It's just possible to see the upper Grey Heron nest on the island by standing halfway betwen the end of the island and Bluebird Boats. It's a very distant view, but you can see two adults in the nest. There was the sound of at least one chick begging for food.


The heron in the lower nest was poking around as usual. But there is no sign yet of the eggs hatching here.


Another pair of herons posed in a tree on the west side of the Long Water. They are only a hundred yards away from the baskets on the other side which have been put up for them to nest in, but so far no heron has understood what the idea is.


The Great Crested Grebes from the island were in the middle of the Serpentine. When they moved the chicks from one parent to the other, you could see that there were still three.


This is the largest fish the chicks can swallow at this stage. It's an effort, but the fish goes down.


The Coots at the Dell restaurant have decorated their nest with a couple of silver crisp packets. Someone has also thrown them a slice of pizza, but they don't seem to fancy it.


The Egyptian Geese on the Round Pond are now down to four goslings. They are letting their young roam too widely on the open pond under the eyes of the hungry gulls. But the goslings do come back when called.


The white Mallard and his companion were taking it easy on a hot day. There was no sign of the female. Perhaps she's nesting.


The gas lamp post behind the Lido swimming area is nested in by Blue Tits every year. They can just get into the hole in the top of the cast iron lamp standard where the gas pipe comes out.


One of the Nuthatches in the leaf yard came out several times to collect pine nuts for a young one whose begging calls could be heard from inside the bushes.


A Goldcrest sang in a yew tree in the Flower Walk.


A Carrion Crow came to drink at the fountain in the Rose Garden, and explored the basin for anything edible.


The Green Woodpecker was back on the oak near the Albert Memorial where the Little Owls are nesting.


But there was no sign of an owl today.

The little bit of river in the Dell contains some quite large carp. They can't leave because the Westbourne river goes underground downstream from here, and upstream they are at the bottom of a waterfall.

6 comments:

  1. Very interesting as always, do you think that the carp were washed there as fry?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, probably -- over the weir and down the waterfall. But carp and perch have also made it into the closed world of the Italian Garden ponds, maybe as eggs stuck to the legs of birds.

      Delete
  2. Seems surprising there's nothing going after these carp in such a confined space, or is there, or is it not as confined as it looks? Jim

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The local heron goes after the smaller ones.

      Delete
  3. The Coot looks positively proud of its nest. Like a king on a throne surveying his earthly possessions.

    So they are eating fish, even if a bit on the larger side. Yay!

    Herons have mastered the art of looking impassively statuesque. Who needs brains when you have brawn and beauty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And yet Grey Herons are impossibly light and flimsy. They weigh about the same as a Mallard, and their huge wings seem excessive to lift their frail bodies into the air.

      Delete