Saturday 19 April 2014

As so often at a weekend when there are a lot of people in the park, there was not much to see in the way of birds. I was disappointed at not being able to find the male Tawny Owl, or indeed any owl at all.

However, a Goldcrest in a yew tree near the bridge came out for just long enough to be photographed.


On the other side of the path were the pair of Great Crested Grebes who are perpetually trying to take over the wire basket full of fish, and are prevented from doing so by the dogged persistence of the resident pair. After yet another session of threatening and circling and diving to no avail, they consoled each other with a little display.


The common carp which mysteriously appeared in one of the Italian Gardens ponds are now at least a foot long.


They certainly didn't grow to that size in the pond, as it would have taken several years and they would have been seen earlier. The perch in the same pond are about 4 inches long, and a year old. The small goldfish have disappeared, no doubt thanks to the local Grey Heron.

Another heron on its home patch, the wooden posts near Peter Pan, watches patiently while a Coot builds a new nest. The last one was raided, either by a heron or large gulls, and has been abandoned.


The Coots' nest in the small boathouse on the Serpentine has also gone. It was built inside one of the racing skiffs stored in the boathouse and contained five eggs, but the people who own these skiffs have taken them away and in so doing have destroyed the nest.

There were again two Pied Wagtails running around on the netting over the reed bed east of the Lido. They were certainly taking insects from the surface of the net, without having to fly to get them.


I took a lot of photographs in the hope of seeing what they were catching, but to no avail. The Grey Wagtails which also hunt here had caught larger insects, but were having to fly to catch them.

A female Mallard at Peter Pan seemed interested in being photographed.

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