Tuesday 28 May 2019

Another pair of Blue Tits is nesting in a gas lamp post on the south side of the Serpentine. You can hear the nestlings calling. Only Blue Tits use these nest sites, as Great Tits are too big to squeeze in between the gas pipe and the wall of the cast iron column.


A Wren perched on a twig beside the Long Water.


A Magpie preened in a tree beside the Diana fountain.


A Carrion Crow ate a dead carp washed up on the edge of the Serpentine.


Several Pied Wagtails were running around the lake and the Round Pond collecting insects for their nestlings.


A pair of Greylag Geese on the Serpentine took nine brand new goslings out for their first swim.


This is in addition to the pairs with two ...


... and one.


But so far there is no sign of any Canada goslings.

The geese and swans are beginning to moult, as you can see by the feathers washed up on the shore near this unsuitable site Coot nest.


There are some familiar faces among the waterfowl returning to the lake to moult in the safety of a large expanse of water. They include one of the Bar-Headed--Greylag hybrids, which now seems settled with a Greylag mate ...


... and Blondie the Egyptian Goose, not seen here for some time.


The Mute Swans near the Lido are down to two cygnets. This has been a very bad year for predation.


The male swan on the Long Water swam off with his one cygnet following ...


... and an insolent Coot chick stood right in the middle of the swans' nest. They clearly take after their hyper-aggressive parents.


The rebuilt Coot nest at the Dell restaurant is now built up a foot clear of the water. Considering that there is about 2ft 6ins of submerged structure, it's a Coot skyscraper.


A Buff-Tailed Bumblebee investigated an iris, apparently not caring that the flower was dead.

2 comments:

  1. Blondie! So good to see her again! Is she looking well? I think she looks a bit dishevelled.

    Of course the Coot chick will stand in the middle of a swan nest. Of course. They will stand in the middle of a buffalo stampede if given the chance.

    Admiring the Coots' skycrapper. Times like this, one can only bow down and say, bravo. Bravo to determination, persistence, and plain old-fashioned stubborness to see a job done.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I also thought that Blondie was looking a bit gaunt. But it is certainly her, as the uniquely pale colour of her primaries and tail feathers show.

      I am feeling more and more in sympathy with the dim dogged Coots. Forget wisdom: keep on blindly against all odds and you may succeed. And if you don't, you will certainly fail.

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