Thursday 7 May 2015

The Egyptian Geese are moulting their wing feathers. They do this earlier than the Greylags and Canadas, which moult in June. You can see the new feathers growing out, still encased in their pale blue wrappings. They have to be wrapped, as otherwise the barbs would stick as they emerged.


The Grey Heron at the Dell restaurant considers that the whole lake is a designated fishing area. But the burgers and pizzas of the diners are easier to catch.


Its rule of the tables was disturbed when another heron flew in to try its luck.


The two of them chased each other around the lake, squawking harshly.

The young Grey Wagtail was in one of its favourite spots, under a waterside bush near the Lido. It paused in its hunting for a moment and rested on one leg.


The Moorhens nesting on the post near the bridge were in good order, despite having another Grey Heron standing on the next post. The male thought that the female would like a present of a nasty bit of plastic that had originally held four cans of cider together. Every time he gave it to her she scornfully tossed it into the lake. Then he flew down, picked it up and tried again.


A Magpie was examining some bluebells.


 The male Little Owl could be seen looking out of his nest hole.


But no one has found the male Tawny Owl since he moved, and his possible family remains even more enigmatic.

These small fungi were growing in the grass near the Little Owls' tree. I can't identify them. They looked rather like Yellow Fieldcaps (Bolbitius titubans) that have faded to white, but none of them had a trace of yellow on their caps.

6 comments:

  1. So is that a young grey wagtail from last year that won't be mature till next? A long time for a small bird. Jim n.L.

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    1. Yes, surprisingly. I couldn't get an unobstructed front view today, but it still doesn't have the black bib of an adult. It could be an unusually light-coloured female, I suppose -- sometimes they have almost no bib. Anyway, I have been watching it for some time and am pretty sure that it is from last year's nest under the bridge in the Dell.

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  2. Difficult to tell from the photo, but the mushroom could be the rare Bolbitius lacteus, previously recorded in London in Richmond Park.
    Mario

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    1. Thanks. Very interesting if it is rare. There are quite a lot of these in the long grass between the Little Owls' chestnut tree and the south side of the leaf yard, They are widely separated, and when I accidentally broke one -- they are very fragile -- I put it next to a standing one to give a view of the gills.

      Sorry about the picture. Now that I have a camera with a long lens I have to take close-ups with my smartphone, and although these are quite sharp they have a flat look.

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    2. I went to the park on Saturday, and to the area you mentioned in particular, and the mushrooms are the common Bolbitius titubans (=Bolbitius vitellinus). The young ones are very yellow, but in getting old the yellow gets washed out.
      Mario

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    3. Many thanks. I didn't see any yellow ones when I was there, but all the ones I saw were rather old, as in the photograph, so perhaps that isn't surprising.

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