Tuesday 12 November 2013

The yew tree on the path between Peter Pan and the Italian Garden is full of red berries, which attracted a flock of Starlings.


When they had had their fill and flown off, it was the turn of a female Blackbird to enjoy the fruit.


Normally at this time of year the tree is full of thrushes. But there is still no sign of the usual influx, in particularly of the Mistle Thrushes that are regular winter visitors. Reports from outer London suggest the there are reasonable numbers of Redwings and Fieldfares, but only a few of the former have made it to the park and I haven't seen any for days. Redwings are common in winter in Central London but, being very shy, they tend to go to garden squares where there is less disturbance.

The male Little Owl came out on to his usual branch during a sunny spell.


Yesterday Tony Duckett, who runs the excellent Regent's Park Birds blog, was here and complained that the Little Owls that used to be in Regent's Park have left. We certainly have two pairs in Kensington Gardens -- the other pair, near the Serpentine Gallery, is harder to see. I wonder whether the owls have moved here. On the other hand, we have lost all our Little Grebes except one, and there are plenty of them on the lake in Regent's Park.

The Tawny Owls were in precisely the same place in the beech tree next to the nest tree. They didn't take any notice of me and the male, at the upper left of the picture, is fast asleep.


The young Great Crested Grebes at the top of the Long Water are still dependent on their parents, who have not yet started chasing them away -- unlike the family at the bridge. Here one of them calls loudly for food, and had its parent rushing around under water to catch fish for it.


I have only seen one young grebe here recently, but have also only seen one parent, so it is likely that the other one is off somewhere pestering the other parent. The young grebes are now ranging around so widely on the lake that it is no longer possible to count them accurately.

3 comments:

  1. hi ralph. nice to bump into you today on your rounds. that yew tree is bursting with berries isn't it. i manged to see the female blackbird still feasting on them. one day i'll catch the little grebe but not so far. maybe i should pop over to regent's park? shy birds aren't they? glad to see you got a great shot of the GCGs.
    Mark W2

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  2. The Little Grebes in Regent's Park are anything but shy. I have stood on the water's edge and had them diving inches from my toes. They may be found either around the island or along the fake canal that runs a few hundred yards from the Baker Street end of the lake,

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  3. hi ralph

    thanks very much for the tips. i don't enjoy regents park nearly as much as hyde pk/ken gdns but maybe i should make a little grebe hunting expedition.
    Mark W2

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