Monday 11 June 2018

The two Great Crested Grebe chicks from the island, each of which has been following one of its parents, were back together because the parents were having a territorial dispute with the pair from the east end of the lake.


The other pair lurked under a pedalo.


Later, I saw the female exploring the Coot nest at the Dell restaurant, which was unoccupied. Probably she was looking for insects and other invertebrates, but eventually she caught a fair-sized fish.


Tom took this fine picture yesterday of a grebe swallowing a large perch.


The grebe nesting in the fallen poplar on the Long Water is hard to see from any angle.


The Coots who have reclaimed the island nest from the grebes were not on it, as one of the teenage Grey Herons was prowling nearby. It flapped its wings, which seem ridiculously large for a bird that only weighs 3lb, but they do make herons the masters of slow flight and precision landings.


The dominant pair of Mute Swans on the Long Water have now cleared it completely of other swans, and can cruise around the weedy lake in majestic solitude.


The Egyptian Geese near Bluebird Boats kept their goslings safe under the pedalos, where there were also a lot of midges to eat.


I couldn't find a Little Owl for the second day running. The owls' hole in the oak tree near the Albert Memorial had an intruding Mallard on it again. I don't know what they see in this tree.


Tom was in the park late yesterday evening, and heard a Tawny Owl calling just after 9pm, from the place where they used to nest until the branch fell down. They have been heard here several times recently, but all attempts to see them have failed.

He sent me two more good photographs: a dramatic shot of a male Rose-Ringed Parakeet flying ...


... and a picture of a Starling feeding a young one.


A Coal Tit fledgling near Queen's Gate got a lightning visit from a its parent, which I only just caught.


A fair-sized family of Goldcrests could just be see bouncing around in a tree near the Dell. The young birds were already able to catch insects for themselves.


A Wren perched on a broken branch beside the Long Water.


A White-Tailed Bumblebee foraged among the clover flowers, with the collecting bags on its legs crammed full of pollen.

2 comments:

  1. That Wren could not have chosen a better, more flattering spot for posing.

    I take it that you are perfectly able to hear the Goldcrests' call? I have heard it said that they become inaudible in one's fifties, and I was mourning in anticipation.

    Well, that swan family might be a bunch of bullies, but they are oh so elegant anything is forgiven.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I can still hear Goldcrests -- and so, it seems, can the microphone on my camera. High-frequency hearing loss is supposed to affect men more than women, which might be a cheering thought.

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