The sun had also made a couple of Feral Rock Doves feel that spring was on its way.
There was a dense crows of Shovellers milling around on the Long Water near the Vista. I was doing my monthly bird count today and found 34 Shovellers in the whole park, but I think there were more under the bushes at the sides of the Long Water.
A Pied Wagtail was running around on the lead roof of the Orangery.
A Treecreeper was running up a large oak tree in the leaf yard, wonderfully camouflaged and only visible because it was moving.
You would think that its brilliant white belly would make it conspicuous, but in fact it adds to the effect by breaking up the outline of the bird.
The male Tawny Owl was guarding the nest as usual. When he heard me and another photographer talking under his tree, he sleepily opened one eye for a moment. But he is used to being the object of human attention, and soon went back to sleep.
The Scaup was back on the Round Pond, here seen at sunset beside a female Tufted Duck. He disappeared again in the early afternoon and didn't come back for several hours. Yesterday morning, after he had been disturbed by the model yachts, he was seen flying in the direction of the Long Water, so evidently he knows his way around the park.
This Song Thrush was singing loudly just after sunset at Queen's Gate.
Hi Ralph,
ReplyDeleteYou've mentioned your monthly bird count on several occasions. I'm curious to know how you go about conducting such an exercise? As a complete novice and recent convert to bird watching/appreciation - thanks to you - I'd like to understand how this is done.
Thanks,
SueT
I just walk around the Long Water, Serpentine and Round Pond counting what I can see. It isn't very exact, but you hope that you will make the same mistakes every month so that a reliable trend emerges. I used to make the count on a piece of paper with a printed list, but now use a small Android tablet with the Advanced Tally Counter app.
DeleteI'd just have dismissed the Feral Rock Doves as mere pigeons, in my ignorance...but what a heart-warming shot in the early Spring sunshine you captured there. :) The plush Cormorant shot is lovely too.
ReplyDeleteThank you. It would be fun to have a plush Cormorant toy, wouldn't it? Sort of different.
DeleteRalph, my son had a stuffed Narwhal, complete with tusk. We really liked that toy. A plush Cormorant would sort of go with that rather well, I think. A sort of un-cuddly, cuddly toy. :)
DeletePresumably that was the male pigeon on the right, 'giving'? (And surely there's no such thing as a mere pigeon!) Jim n.L.
DeleteYes, it was, as his subsequent behaviour showed.
DeleteHi Ralph, I finally made it to the park yesterday and was delighted to actually see the owl! So just wanted to thank you for your clear directions otherwise I would probably have missed it. Had a wonderful afternoon just wandering around the park, lovely to see so many birds close up and got some good photos. Thanks again, Sharon
ReplyDelete