One of the Kensington Palace Dunnocks appeared among the ornamental holly trees in front of the Orangery. The gardeners are encouraging small birds in this area with feeders and nest boxes, and it is full of Robins, Blackbirds and Wrens.
The usual Coal Tits ...
... and Nuthatches ...
... came down to take food from the railings in the leaf yard.
And a Jay waited impatiently for me to stop photographing it and give it a peanut.
At Peter Pan, Charlie (left) and Melissa gave a display of synchronised eating. Crows are technically songbirds -- that is, they belong to the order Passeriformes -- and they have the strong perching feet of songbirds, which can hold a piece of food and a branch at the same time. They are holding their peanuts to peck them open in exactly the same grip as a tit would use on a smaller seed.
There had been no Red Crested Pochards on the lake for several weeks, but today two drakes reappeared at the Serpentine island.
Presumably they go to Regent's Park or St James's Park when they aren't here. The sight of their big ginger bouffant hairstyle is always cheering.
The male Tawny Owl was guarding the nest in the horse chestnut tree.
Lovely set of photos. I was in Knole Park in Sevenoaks at the weekend and there were dozens of Redwings, also the Green Woodpeckers were drilling loudly.
ReplyDeleteDoes the female Tawny Owl ever make an appearance? You may have explained this in previous posts so apologies if I've missed it. Sue.
No one has seen the female Tawny Owl since some time in December. We think the pair started nesting early this year. But of course there's no way of telling at the moment.
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