Returning Common Gull

It was a dull grey day with not much happening, but the first Common Gull returned to the Serpentine for the winter and perched on the buoys at the Lido.

They will straggle in gradually during the course of the month, most of them going to the Round Pond where numbers usually build up to about fifty in midwinter.

 

The dominant Black-Headed Gull by the Diana fountain was annoyed that a Carrion Crow had perched on the head of the Big Bird statue, and buzzed the intruder till it left. Then he stood on the landing stage which is the centre of his territory and shrieked in triumph.

A Grey Heron on a post at the bridge was disturbed by Mute Swans chasing each other below him, and uttered hoarse squawks of annoyance.

The Black Swan had been on an expedition to the Long Water without being noticed by the dominant Mute pair, and returned under the bridge in good order.

The smallest Egyptian gosling, which had often been seen alone so that we were worried about it, was back with its family just down the shore. The Egyptian in the background is its father, with his distinctive speckled face.

A young Moorhen rested comfortably in one of the nearby baskets of water plants. It's beginning to get its adult red beak, and will have the adult dark brown and black colours after its next moult.

One of the young grebes at the bridge was fishing industriously over the wire baskets.

The slightly older teenager was resting in its usual place by the reeds under the Italian Garden. It spends a lot of time resting, so evidently it has already learnt good fishing skills.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery looked down from her lime tree.

A Coal Tit, the one of the pair that won't come to my hand, picked me up here ...

... and followed me to the bridge, where it perched in a tree beside the parapet. It's quite hard to feed, because pine nuts put down for it get grabbed by the larger tits.

Then it flew down to the lower level under the disapproving gaze of the Robin.

The four Jays also followed me around demanding peanuts. This one was on the railings at Mount Gate.

Long-Tailed Tit flocks appeared in several places. This one was in a hornbeam hedge at the Ranger's Lodge Garden, where a pair nested earlier this year.

A Song Thrush foraged in the wood chips under the trees on the north side of the leaf yard.

You can always tell when a stretch of grass has been reseeded, as Feral Pigeons soon notice and crowd in to eat the seeds. There can't be many left to germinate after the efficient birds have been at work. The park has a seeding machine that cuts grooves in the ground and tries to drop seeds into them, but most of the seeds miss and lie on the surface for the pigeons to get.

The gilded bronze reproduction of a tree struck by lightning, a work by Giuseppe Penone, was left at the Serpentine Gallery when his other exhibits were removed after their display in the summer. But sadly this intriguing thing isn't going to stay permanently. A notice at the gallery says that it's only here till 7 March of next year.

However, there is a real lightning-struck tree at the northeast corner of the lavatories on the Parade Ground, just as dramatically cloven. Trees struck by lightning are momentarily heated and the sap boils, so that steam pressure splits the trunk.

The lost restaurant

The female Little Owl at the Serpentine braved a chilly grey day and was back in her usual lime tree.

The four Jays here were constantly demanding peanuts ... 

... as were a pair of Carrion Crows in the variegated holly tree near the Vista ...

... and the Magpies by the Henry Moore sculpture.

The Coal Tit at the bridge is becoming bolder, and collected three pine nuts. It's getting better at dodging through the crowd of larger birds. Its mate is still lurking shyly in the bushes.

The Robin was ticking crossly at the spectacle, but had time to come out for a pine nut.

Only one Great Tit now appears in the Rose Garden, though I occasionally see a Blackbird and a Wren skulking in the flower beds. The thoughtless destruction of the shrubbery has turned the area from a haven for at least fifty small birds into a desert.

The young Grey Heron at the bridge was by the Triangle, begging for snacks from the passers by.

Pigeon Eater had dined and was resting on the roof of the Dell restaurant.

This restaurant was originally one of two futuristic buildings, both designed by Patrick Gwynne and completed in 1964. The other was the Serpentine Restaurant, which stood at the southeast corner of the bridge. It was built on a ground plan of nested hexagons, and featured hexagonal roof canopies. The services were placed underneath to give diners a good view, and it had a car park unobtrusively sunk into the ground. It was demolished in 1990 and not a trace remains. There is a page with more information and pictures here.

The Dell Restaurant, as it was then officially called, was built at the opposite corner of the lake. It was declared Grade II in 1995 and was restored a few years ago.

A Black-Headed Gull eyed a Moorhen picking algae off the marble fountain on the edge of the Italian Garden.

The Cormorants have now mostly left the lake after eating almost all the medium-sized fish. One remained on the Long Water, fishing by the reed beds under the Italian Garden. It swam past Peter Pan playing with a reed stem.

The teenage Great Crested Grebe is still fishing in the reeds, evidently with success as it shows no sign of leaving.

One of the young grebes at the bridge was fishing around the baskets ...

... while the other noisily chased its mother under the bridge.

The Moorhen in the Dell is alone again. None of its attachments seem to last more than a few weeks.

The smallest young Egyptian Goose was also alone, and I've seen it by itself several times in the past few days. Are the other Egyptians bullying it?

The Black Swan and 4GIQ hurried over for their daily issue of sunflower hearts.

When the wind is in the east, 'tis neither good for man nor beast

A chilly day with a biting east wind brought out hungry small birds. There were mobs of Great Tits ...

... and Blue Tits in the Flower Walk ...

... and the Robin at Peter Pan took three pine nuts.

Jays waited in a holly tree by the Vista.

A young Lesser Black-Backed Gull on the edge of the Serpentine lay down to avoid being buffeted by the wind.

A pair of Herring Gulls waved leaves at each other and called in a bonding ritual.

Black-Headed Gulls washed and preened together on the edge of the Serpentine.

The young Grey Heron at the southeast corner of the bridge stared fixedly at a woman on a bench. Usually if people have food this makes them throw down a morsel, but she didn't have any so it was disappointed.

A heron stood on the swan nesting basket east of the Lido. No swans nested here so the basket remains in fair shape, unlike the one on the other side of the lake which was completely trashed by the Black Swan and 4GIQ.

The number of Cormorants continues to fall, but the one in the Italian Garden was still trying its luck in the pools. Probably it will fly back to the river soon.

The Great Crested Grebe teenager was fishing in the reeds below the parapet.

This is the first time I've seen one of the young grebes at the bridge catch a fish. In fact it got two in five minutes, so it's now fit for independent life. This was filmed over the wire baskets at the bridge, which are filled with twigs to make a perch hatchery.

Three female Common Pochards dived together at a distance from the drakes to avoid being bothered by them. Girls' clubs are also common in other duck species.

The Pochards under the trees farther down the lake are almost all male.

A squirrel in the Dell ate yew fruit next to a Stinking Iris. I've examined one of these plants and to my dull human nose it doesn't smell bad, but evidently the fruit is unpalatable as I've never seen anything eating it.

The Rose Garden is fairly well shielded from the wind, and a few tough insects were out. A Buff-Tailed Bumblebee browsed on a clump of blue sage ...

... and there were several Common Wasps in the autumn-flowring camellia.

Jay taking peanuts in flight

Jays don't always succeed when they fly down to grab a peanut from your fingers. This one missed the first time and had to do a go-around.

A Jay looked out from the ginger autumn needles of a swamp cypress by the Italian Garden.

It was a cheerless day of intermittent drizzle, but that didn't stop the Jackdaws beside the Serpentine from coming out to apply for peanuts.

At the Buck Hill shelter one of the Magpie pair had got a peanut and the other was waiting for service.

A Blackbird in the Flower Walk paused on a yew hedge before flying down to look for worms brought up by the rain.

A flock of Starlings worked over the grass beside the Round Pond looking for wireworms. These are the larvae of click beetles and eat the roots of plants, so the numerous and efficient birds are improving the lawn.

The Coal Tit at the southwest corner of the bridge is now a regular customer. It mate is interested but timid. It may join the party soon.

The Great Tits in the Dell have no hesitation, and there are now four of them. This one was in a bearberry bush.

The Little Owl at the Serpentine Gallery was out for a while, but later retired to her hole to keep dry.

A male Great Spotted Woodpecker could be seen at a distance on a dead tree on the island.

The Big Bird statue by the Diana fountain has just been cleaned and polished to make a fitting throne for the dominant Black-Headed Gull.

A Grey Heron walked through a blue landscape of electric pedalos at the charging platform. These craft have little resemblance to boats, looking more like 1950s sofas.

The Coots have not yet rebuilt their nest on the wire baskets at the bridge, which lasted for years till it was destroyed by refilling the baskets with twigs. A Grey Heron stood on the site looking for fish in the gaps.

This is almost certainly the same heron that I saw at the other end of the bridge facing off a pair of Carrion Crows.

The Great Crested Grebe family at the bridge are now ranging over the lake, and it's unusual to get all of them in the same picture.

A Mute Swan sneaked under the bridge to the Long Water ...

... unnoticed by the boss and his mate, who were dozing with their teenager on the gravel strip.