Sunday 13 January 2013


A Grey Heron was biting twigs off waterside plants on the Long Water near the bridge, suggesting that it was thinking of nesting. It was too far away for a picture, and flew up the lake before I could get to it, and when I caught up with it on the Vista it was just scratching its head in an ordinary way.


On 10 January, in the London Bird Club Wiki, Des McKenzie reported a heron carrying nesting materials on the Serpentine. The herons' nests on the Serpentine island are well known, and one of them produced young last year. But one on the Long Water would be a new development. Some years ago a wooden platform was built in a tree near the Vista in an effort to encourage herons to nest, but none of them used it and it seems to have fallen down now.

The Bearded Tits are still in the reeds near the Diana memorial fountain.


From several photographs I managed to get at least a partial ring number for one of them: L50928 (the 8 might be a 6). But I don't know how many digits there are on the 'A' size rings used for these little birds.

Someone reported seeing a small grey goose with an all-white head on the Serpentine, and I walked round but didn't find it. Several years ago an Emperor Goose, an escape from a collection, was a frequent visitor to the Serpentine, and this would have matched the description. But it died some time ago.

Returning to more familiar birds, a Wren was poking around in leaf litter near the bridge. It was nicely camouflaged against its brown background.


And a Pied Wagtail was hunting for insects along the edge of the lake.


As usual, it was very shy and flew away if approached, quite unlike the bold bird running around on the pavement at the north end of Queensway, which was seen again only yesterday morning.

7 comments:

  1. Good work on the ring, Ralph. May be sufficient. Have reported the number and will let you know any result.

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  2. A couple of days ago I saw a Heron perched on one of the Serpentine island nests you mention being shouted at by an Egyptian goose from an adjacent tree. The Heron was having none of it and saw off the interloper. Is this a sign of serious breeding intent this year? Do you have any idea roughly how many herons are resident around the Serpentine? Last year I saw a man and woman on several occasions in summer just before dusk feeding them and they'd attracted around twenty three, all warily keeping their distance from one another. Presumably they'd flown in for supper and weren't all resident?

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    1. I think that what you saw is not a sign of serious intention of nesting -- it's much too early. Some birds, including Egyptian Geese and, evidently from recent behaviour, Grey Herons, play with the idea of nesting long before they actually get around to it, and that includes defence of their territory. The Egyptian habit of standing in trees and shouting is naturally going to offend any heron in whose territory it happens. The number of Grey Herons in the park is variable: they fly in and out from Regent's Park where there is a larger colony, and I have sometimes seen one flapping heavily above Oxford Street. The average number on both lakes is something like 8, and 23 would be exceptional.

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    2. Thanks. I've dug out an email from the first time I witnessed the congregation of herons, dated 19 May 2010. It has happened each year since:

      Dear Anthony,

      Around a quarter to nine last night at the southern end of the Serpentine I counted twenty-four Herons standing motionless waiting for food to be thrown in their direction. Their eeriness is compounded by the distance they keep from one another compared to the jostling of the other birds as they chase after the scattered food.

      I took note of the feeders - man and woman, well turned out, purposeful, relatively young, well provisioned (not the stale bread variety). Intriguing.

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    3. Thanks. I've never seen as many in this park, though Regent's Park is another matter.

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  3. Female Goldeneye currently on Long Water (a.m. Monday).

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    1. Many thanks. See today's blog. A distant shot but the best I could get.

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