The other Little Owls had also come out to enjoy the sunshine, but the one in the oak tree was having trouble with three Stock Doves that were looking enviously at his nest hole.
He flew at them several times to chase them out of the tree, and then perched on a branch.
The Little Owl in the lime tree was sitting serenely in his hole. Nothing seems to bother him except the approach of humans, though he will tolerate even these if they stand still.
There was a curious incident on the Long Water when a Canada Goose, annoyed by a Mute Swan, took a firm grip on the swan's tail and chased it for 50 yards.
The Black Swan, who had earlier been on gravel bank on the the Long Water with his girlfriend, returned to the Serpentine. Someone threw several digestive biscuits in the water for them. They are particularly fond of these.
This picture was taken through green nylon netting. A pair of Mute Swans have made a nest in the net covering the partly dead reed bed east of the Lido, and are entirely enclosed except for a small hole on the waterside that they can squeeze through.
It's not a bad place. A determined fox could reach over the heavy netting at the side and rip through the lighter netting on top, but it would get quite tangled up in the process, and of course would alert the swans.
The crisp packet couldn't have been thrown on to the nest site by people, because of the netting. So a swan has brought it in as an ornament. As William Morris said, 'Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.'
The Great Crested Grebes nesting near the bridge have eggs. Two are visible in this picture of a grebe turning them to keep them evenly warmed, and from the way the bird was poking to the left of them, it seems that there is a third one out of sight.
A Starling in the leaf yard was looking shiny.
And a Nuthatch was looking up while facing down.
Nearby, a Blue Tit was singing.
Canada geese have certainly earned their reputation of tough guys!
ReplyDeleteHard time today, picking one's favourite picture. The Little Owls are looking peculiarly lovely and endearingly funny, as always.
Even so, I think it's the first time I've seen one giving a full sized Mute Swan the bum's rush.
DeleteAny tips of getting pics of Treecreepers and Nuthatches?
ReplyDeleteI often find them but can never get a satisfactory photo!
We can get Nuthtaches to come down to the leaf yard railings by putting nuts on the fence. But Treecreepers just have to happen. They are more likely to be on a tree with rough, deeply fissured bark, because there are insects in the crevices.
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