Wednesday 30 April 2014

The Tawny Owl's frequent calling has attracted the attention of another owl, but it's not a mate for him. It's another male, wondering what all the noise is about. He was calling from one of the line of four horse chestnut trees between the path and the main tree, but couldn't be seen in the thick foliage. This picture is of the original owl in his usual place.


We are sure it is him, because Paul Turner photographed him earlier when he was sitting higher in the tree and the distinctive white patch on his chest was visible. The owl was understandably restless in the presence of a rival, moving from branch to branch.

The male Little Owl also came out to enjoy the sunshine.


A pair of Blue Tits have started nesting in the usual gas lamp post at the back of the Lido swimming area. The entrance to the nest is at the bottom of the gas pipe, where there is a hole leading into the cast iron post.


Presumably the nest itself is inside the ornamental bulge in the post just below this hole.

A Dunnock was alternately singing and preening himself on a tree near the Queen's Temple. Here he is trying to do both at once.


We have had rather a lot of pictures of the Robin family near Queen Caroline's memorial, but they are irresistible. The young birds were flying from one side of the path to the other, loudly pestering their parents for food, and taking absolutely no notice of the people walking by.


The bright yellow gape of young birds stimulates their parents to feed them. So does the rapid vibration of their wings, which you can see here.

The pair of pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gulls were sharing their latest kill near the Dell restaurant (where pigeon is not on the menu).

4 comments:

  1. Wonderful pictures! Such a boost to the spirits at the end of a migraine-besmirched day.

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  2. Thank you. I hope that (in the words of the four-year-old Thomas Babington Macaulay) the agony is abated.

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  3. I saw a Blue Tit disappear into a lamp post on the cycle track behind the Diana fountain this evening. Is that the one you are referring to or is it a different one?

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    1. No, it's a different one, and I didn't know about it -- thanks But quite a lot of these lamp posts are used by Blue Tits; always Blue, because the hole seems to be too small for Great Tits. There's another lamp post on the path from the Dell to the French and Kuwaiti embassies, opposite the horse trough, that usually has a nest.

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