A juvenile Hobby was seen in the northwest corner of Kensington Gardens, near the playground. This is the third year in a row that these small falcons have been seen in the park. There have been plenty of dragonflies, their favourite food. Here is a picture of another juvenile that I took in 2010, just across the road from the top of Buck Hill.
There are still some House Martins to be seen. It is time that they were off to Africa.
Following up Roy Sanderson's remarks on identifying first-year Lesser Black-Backed and Herring Gulls, I took some more pictures. This is a Lesser Black-Back, as can be seen from the pale grey tips of the inner primaries. On a Herring Gull the tips would be white. However, no first-year Herring Gulls came anywhere near today. Will keep looking.
The water in the Dell, which was affected by blue-green algae during the hot weather has now cleared, and the Grey Wagtail has returned to its favourite spot at the bottom of the waterfall.
Here a Moorhen does its tightrope-walking act on a chain connecting the posts near the bridge. It may have been expecting to find insects lurking in the links, but my impression was that it was enjoying its acrobatic skill.
I was intrigued by your Hobby, even if the photo was from an earlier year. The Yellow Wagtail's breast looks surprisingly orange. Is this normal? My Grey Wagtail (male) is back amongst the puddles on the roof of nearby mews again, which cheered my morning.
ReplyDeleteI think the orange-looking front of the Grey Wagtail is a false colour caused by its being in a shaded place. In other pictures I took at the same time you can see the yellow parts on its sides and the base of its tail, and those look orange too. There are only a few Grey Wagtails in the park and I am sure I have seen them all, and all are perfectly normally coloured.
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