Saturday 22 March 2014

The Mute Swans nesting under the balustrade of the Italian Garden have their first egg.


When I took this picture, both swans had gone to the other end of the Long Water leaving the egg uncovered, very careless of them. Later I found the male swan on the nest while the female was still swanning around near Peter Pan. She needs to become more serious about motherhood.

There are about fifty Herring Gulls on the Serpentine, many of them just coming up to their second summer.


The local breeding colony of Herring Gulls used to be on the roof of Paddington Station, but there has recently been new building here, including a new roof canopy and repairs to one of the original ones, which would have disturbed them. The young birds would have been hatched when the work was still going on, so it is not clear where they are from.

There were at least thirty Pied Wagtails feeding on the Parade Ground. Here one of them cranes his neck to try to catch sight of an insect.


Most of the bushes around the lake have pairs of Long-Tailed Tits in them. This one was near the martial arts bandstand at the bottom of Buck Hill. Their nests are well concealed, and it is a rare even to see one.


A little farther along the path a pair of Robins were looking decorative on a branch laden with catkins.


But they were outshone by this female Great Tit, who had found a perfect background for her fine yellow breast.


I had a diligent search for the Tawny Owls, and still haven't found them.

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