Friday 28 June 2019

A pair of Egyptian Geese on the Serpentine have a remarkable brood of fourteen goslings. They took them begging along the terrace of the Lido restaurant.


On the other side of the lake a lost Egyptian gosling was wandering around by itself. The parents were nowhere to be seen. This happens all to often with Egyptians, and the only way they compensate for their careless parenting is by being hugely prolific.


The Pochard with two ducklings hadn't been seen for three days, and we feared that she had lost them. But today the family turned up at the Vista.


A Mallard bought a new brood of seven ducklings to the shallow water at Peter Pan.


A Coot dived to feed its chicks. They don't do this elegantly.


This pair of Moorhens can always be found in the same place on the south side of the Serpentine. Although they are inseparable, they never seem to find a place to nest.


You never know whether there are going to be a hundred Herring Gulls on the lake or a mere half dozen. Today there were plenty, squabbling over scraps.


The Henry Moore sculpture is much improved by a Grey Heron sitting on it.


A Carrion Crow on the gravel bank below it couldn't resist having a go at a heron that was looking the other way.


A crow dunked a Cheesy Wotsit in the Serpentine.


A young Magpie in the Rose Garden pestered its parent, which was sunbathing and couldn't be bothered to go and find food for it.


The young bird gave up and sunbathed too.


The Little Owl near the Albert Memorial came out on a branch, but stayed in the shade.


Two Sand Martins chased each other over the Round Pond for several minutes, calling. It may have been a juvenile chasing a parent.


A Black-Tailed Skimmer dragonfly basked on a warm granite kerbstone.

4 comments:

  1. Good to know there is still a Pochard family.

    Nice photo of the Black-tailed skimmer. Worth keeping an eye out for Red-veined Darters by the Round Pond- the best site in the London area for this species. There's been a lot of these turning up in other parts of the country in recent days as well as a few Lesser and Vagrant (yet to be recorded in the London area) Emperors.

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  2. Heron ornaments will improve anything.

    That's a really funny and enjoyable picture of the Coot diving. Inelegant they may be, but we have to give them marks for doggedness.

    Smart Magpie, knowing when to give up and not to aggravate its parents. When in doubt, preen (or sunbathe).

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    Replies
    1. Possibly Giacometti has returned to earth as a heron and is reproving his contemporary for the lumpishness of his work.

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