Sunday 9 August 2015

There are now two chicks in the Great Crested Grebes' nest under the bridge. This brings the total number of chicks on both lakes to eight, better than previous years.


There is no shortage of fish to feed them. Here one of the grebes from the island, having just fed the two chicks in the picture, dodges round them to feed the third.


And yes, the chick did manage to swallow this medium-sized perch, with some effort.

The Mallard on the Round Pond has also been successful, and has brought four ducklings up to a size where they are out of danger from gulls, by keeping them in an old Coots' nest sheltered by a solar panel. Here she quacks proudly as she surveys her brood.


The three young Reed Warblers from the nest near the bridge were climbing around busily. They are feeding themselves now, and you no longer hear them calling to be fed.


Just underneath, a hoverfly was managing to scratch its back with both hind legs.


The holly tree halfway between Peter Pan and the Italian Garden was packed with Starlings chattering loudly. Sometimes they flew down to eat blackberries from the brambles below ...


... or sometimes they ate hawthorn berries from a small tree in front of the holly, but mostly they just hung out inside the holly.

The rowan trees on Buck Hill had attracted some Mistle Thrushes.


The Starlings also know about these trees, so the berries won't last long.

Just across the path from here there are two maple trees with slightly pink-tinged leaves. These are where the Kestrel likes to perch.


I visited her twice, and each time she was pushed off her perch, first by three Carrion Crows and then by a pair of Magpies. But they couldn't touch her in the air.

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