Wednesday 18 July 2018

The Great Crested Grebes' nest in the fallen poplar on the Long Water has two chicks in it. Here one of the parents brings a fish to a chick.


Here the parents are changing places on the nest and you can see both chicks.


At the nest on the island, the grebe was sitting with raised wings, as if chicks had started to hatch here too. We don't know how long this nest has been going, as it only recently became visible when the floating wire baskets of plants came unmoored and drifted aside.


The Little Grebes were on the Long Water in the same place as yesterday, and it seems more and more likely that they are nesting there. This is a view from the bridge. You can't get any closer.


The Moorhens nesting in the hawthorn tree at the Dell restaurant must have failed with their first brood. A chick was seen in the tree, but none appeared on the water. They are now trying again. A Moorhen arrived at the edge of the terrace holding some insects ...


... flew into the tree, and went out of sight. Here it is coming out again.


There is a new Coot nest on the outside of the reed bed east of the Lido.


I was looking for the Tufted Duck families here, but they weren't visible. Probably they were at the island.

If the blond Mallard ducklings that I photographed yesterday survive, a female will look like this ...


... and a male like this. (The second picture wasn't taken today, which is why there are raindrops.)


A Mute Swan has taken possession of the Coots' nest at the Dell restaurant, which the Coots were still using. But when a swan tells you to go, you go.


Two Black-Headed Gulls were walking side by side, holding out their wings and calling to each other. I can never make up my mind whether this often seen display is between mates or rivals.


Two Grey Herons near the Henry Moore sculpture got too close together, and inevitably there was a chase.


A Wood Pigeon eating elderberries on the island managed to find a single ripe one.


Rose-Ringed Parakeets thronged in one of the Little Owls' trees near the leaf yard making a tremendous racket ...


... which the owl ignored. Parakeets are no threat to him.


Yesterday Hugh Smith, our new Wildlife Officer, rescued a grounded Little Owl chick near Bluebird Boats. He took it to the garden of the Ranger's Lodge and put it on a branch. If flew off in a confident manner as if it knew where it was going. Today I hear a Little Owl chick calling from a big lime tree just outside the fence at the south end of the garden, but it was hidden in the leaves. I also heard an adult calling farther north, near the lodge.

A large family group of Long-Tailed Tits moved down the Flower Walk.


All my recent pictures are of young ones. They stay still for slightly longer, and are easier to photograph.

3 comments:

  1. I really hope we get Little Grebe chicks this year though they will be very difficult to see!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not too hard to see, easy to hear. They get moved around a lot as their parents look for good fishing grounds, and they are very noisy.

      Delete
  2. Thank you for the two pictures documenting how the two blond ducklings might look if they reach adulthood. The female is especially pretty.

    I'm not sure Gulls themselves know whether they are fooling around or fighting. Perhaps they take turns.

    ReplyDelete