Friday 8 April 2016

Several Blackcaps were visible around the Long Water. This male near the Italian Garden was one of two that were having a song duel.


A Little Owl in the lime tree near the Henry Moore sculpture stared at me severely.


One of the Little Owls in the oak tree near the Albert memorial was visible for a moment but rushed in when I looked at it. As with the original Little Owls near the leaf yard, one partner is bold and the other is shy. Paul Turner saw both of them earlier, and again one of them fled. Paul thinks that the shy one is the female, and she is sitting on eggs.

However, I did get a picture of a Treecreeper on the next oak tree.


Near the bridge, a Long-Tailed Tit was carrying a cobweb for a nest.


The tunnel under the bridge has cobwebs in its ceiling, and Long-Tailed Tits often go there to collect them. There are a lot of Long-Tailed Tits in the park and they build big nests, so spring must hit the spider population pretty hard.

The Great Crested Grebes' nest near the bridge is now quite a large affair, with plenty of twigs to strengthen the soggy heap.


The grebe sitting on the nest at the east end of the island got off for a moment. I couldn't see any eggs in the nest.


The Mute Swans' nest beside the small boathouse had a swan guarding it. But when the swan moved round the corner of the boathouse, a Coot hurried in and started stealing twigs for its own nest.


A young Herring Gull beside the Serpentine played with a stone, several sticks and some leaves.


None of these toys satisfied it, and it flew away.

I didn't see the Black Swan, who must have been lurking somewhere. But I only had time for one circuit of the lake.

This was because several of us took a trip to Regent's Park to try to see the Kestrels that are nesting in a box near Nuffield Lodge. We failed.

But as a compensation, there has a very obliging Goldcrest which came out on the front of the bushes and stayed still for long enough to be photographed.


And a Grey Wagtail was bathing in the waterfall.


Some Red-Crested Pochard drakes were getting very boisterous.


As a rule with ducks, the more colourful the male the wilder his conduct. Sober grey Gadwalls would never behave like this.

7 comments:

  1. Beautiful goldcrest pic, Ralph!

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    1. Thanks. It was a very accommodating bird, and almost posed.

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  2. How do birds which utilise spiders' silk disentangle it before weaving it into the construction I wonder? Very clever.

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    1. A mystery, as it's sticky and they have to bundle it up to carry it. It must come at least partly unbundled when pulled.

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    2. This video offers some clues:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx5ftGz6lFA

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