Sunday 15 July 2018

The Tufted Duck family with five ducklings, not seen for three days, made a miraculous reappearance at the east end of the Lido. Here are the two families together.


The five ducklings, which are about two weeks old, have grown quickly.


The six, about a week old, are still tiny.


The Egyptian gosling on the Serpentine which got lost and was adopted into another family has wandered off again, and was by itself near the bridge. This vague behaviour bodes ill for its survival.


But the prize for vagueness must surely go to the first Egyptians to arrive in the park, who in fifteen years have not managed to raise a single gosling. The pair were near the Italian Garden eating duckweed.


The dominant male Mute Swan on the Long Water attacked a couple of Greylag Geese who, through no fault of their own, were between him and his cygnets.


Another male swan on the Serpentine went for a dog that its idiotic owner had let into the water in front of him. The dog fled.


One of the Great Crested Grebes nesting on the island got off the nest to repair it, revealing at least two eggs.


The pair near the bridge with three chicks were invisible under the overhanging bushes, but the pair with two chicks could be seen opposite Peter Pan.


The Coots' nest in the reeds under the Italian fountain has four rapidly growing chicks in it, here visited by a parent.


A Grey Heron's life calls for patience. It can wait for hours under the fountain for  a glimpse of a fish through the water weed.


Or it can hang around the terrace of the Dell restaurant looking for tasty titbits, and then just get a bit of dry pizza crust.


Wood Pigeons are gorging on unripe elderberries.


The male Little Owl at the leaf yard looked down from his usual tree.


This Emperor dragonfly is already a bit tattered. They only live a few months as adults, but it's an exciting life of hunting and mating.


This Black-Tailed Skimmer has not converted to vegetarianism. The fruit is just something convenient to hold on to during a brief rest.

2 comments:

  1. For a bit I was reminded of a couple who, with their best intentiont at heart, tried to convert their cat to veganism. The poor cat died, of course.

    Miracles do exist! Nothing can be ruled out where birds are concerned. Very happy to see the five Tufted ducklings alive and well.

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  2. All the Tufted ducklings were still all right today. It's remarkable when you consider that there were 98 Herring Gulls on the lake. Keeping my fingers crossed for them.

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