Friday 10 October 2014

There has been a Little Grebe on the Round Pond for several days, fishing around the wooden platform with a solar panel on it. The platform provides shade, which makes the fish cluster under it, and also gives the grebe a place to huddle against. They like to be near the edge of the water and to have something to hide under. In fact it's a mystery why they go to the very exposed Round Pond at all. But they have been here in previous years.


This is not the Little Grebe occasionally seen on the Long Water. It's quite young and still has faint traces of its juvenile black and white face.

The eight young Egyptian Geese on the Round Pond were being hustled into the water by their parents as yet another irresponsible dog owner let two spaniels run at the birds.


There are now so many Cormorants on the Long Water that they have run out of perches on the posts, and have started using the fallen horse chestnut tree as well.


Three Grey Wagtails flew on to the dead willow tree near the Italian Garden. This is the familiar young one, well camouflaged against the grey bark and yellow lichen.


I think the other two were its parents, but couldn't get a clear sight of them before they all flew away.

The usual Carrion Crows came down to the Italian Garden. This one is Charlie and Melissa's youngster Kevin, who has won two digestive biscuits. They need to be the original kind -- crows don't like supermarkets' own brand digestives, which are dry and hard.


On the Serpentine near the island, a Great Crested Grebe and a Coot were having a standoff.


And a Black-Headed Gull was playing with an autumn leaf.


The male Tawny Owl came out in his nest tree, and both the Little Owls in theirs, but I had to go home early and missed them.

5 comments:

  1. Who won the standoff, I wonder? Both seem very determined not to give an inch...
    It is always a lovely sight to see black headed gulls play with things. Such intelligent, curious, inquisitive birds.

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    1. Immediately after the standoff picture, the Coot lunged at the Great Crested Grebe, and the grebe dived, pecked at the Coot's legs underwater, and surfaced some distance away. So there was no winner. But I only got a picture of a splash, and it was no good as a picture.

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  2. Ralph, I hope you have yourself a good agent, that's the best ad I've seen for that brand in a long while! Jim n.L.

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  3. and a possible caption: "The Original. No Photoshopping." Jim

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    1. I thought that too. Pity the writing is upside down.

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