The Coot family moved to the shore under the parapet of the Italian Garden, where the parents were busily feeding the chicks.
There is also a swan nest in the reed bed near the Diana fountain.
And the one inside the net east of the Lido was also going ahead.
The Black Swan cruised briskly down the Serpentine, calling for his girlfriend who was at the bottom end.
Someone had hung a bit of bacon rind in a tree on the east side of the Long Water, for tits and other small birds to eat. A Carrion Crow wanted some too, but was too big to hang on the piece of rind, so it kept flying up and pecking bits out of it.
The Mistle Thrush on the east side of the Albert Memorial is surprisingly tolerant of people if approached carefully, and allowed me to take quite a close shot.
Little Owls were visible today in all three places, enjoying the warm sunshine. Here is the original male owl in the chestnut tree near the leaf yard, who was the subject of the first picture in my blog on 6 April 2012.
This is the owl in the oak tree near the Albert Memorial.
And here is the owl in the lime tree near the Henry Moore sculpture.
Probably these two are also the males of the pairs.
Harry G., commenting on yesterday's sighting of a Swallow, cited an ancient Greek proverb, μία γὰρ χελιδὼν ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ, 'One swallow does not make spring', which was quoted by Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics (1098a.17) and is now current in many modern languages -- the English say 'summer' rather than 'spring', which is less sensible.
A Greek vase of about 510 BC, 120 years older than Aristotle and now in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, shows three people looking at the first swallow of spring. Inscriptions too faint to show in the photograph, and written in the peculiar spelling of the Athenian dialect, say:
ΙΔΟ ΧΕΛΙΔΟΝ / ΝΕ ΤΟΝ ΗΕΡΑΚΛΕΑ / ΗΑΥΤΕΙ / ΕΑΡ ΕΔΕ
Look, a swallow / Yes, by Herakles / There it is / Spring already!
That is one of my favourite vases. So realistic and vivid. Whoever painted it loved birds, I think.
ReplyDeleteWish I could get a better picture of the scene. But this seems to be the only one available.
DeleteWhat stunning owl and swan photos! And thanks to your patient directions I easily managed to locate the Green Woodpecker(s) and nesting Grebes today. Much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteThank you, and glad you were able to find the places.
DeleteThank you for introducing me to the birds this past Friday! It was the highlight of my visit, and the rain just made it more of an adventure. I'm so glad I can continue to follow along at home via your blog; it's such a wonderful offering.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words. It was a pleasure meeting you, and cheered up a very soggy day.
DeleteiI've always thought that the distinction between 'spring' (in Greece) and 'summer' (here) would have enabled classicists, if they'd been birdwatchers, to infer migration; or, likewise, birdwatchers, if they'd been classicists. Not that I believe in migration, anyway; I'm with Gilbert White, looking at house-martins: "is it not more probable that the next church, ruin, chalk-cliff, steep covert, or perhaps sandbank, lake or pool … may become their hybernaculum, and afford them a ready and obvious retreat?"
ReplyDeleteI think Gibert White finally accepted the general concept of migration (letters to Thos. Pennant and Daines Barrington) whilst remaining incredulous at the idea of small birds travelling thousands of miles.... I like the point you make, though!
DeleteDr Johnson believed that 'Swallows certainly sleep in the winter. A number of them conglobulate together by flying around and round and then all in a heap throw themselves underwater and lie on the bed of the river.'
DeleteHi there! Elizabeth is back again, but only, so far, when being pushed in her 'clean', indoor wheelchair by Łukasz, who derives much enjoyment from feeding the birds and squirrels and is willing to clean the chair for me when we get home. It was he who hung the old piece of pork skin / fat on the tree, in the hope that his little friends the tits and robins in the area would enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteHooray. Please email me when you would like a tour in the dirty all-terrain wheelchair. In desperate circumstances it can be put in the bath and hosed down afterwards.
DeleteThank you. Yes, indeed I am really looking forward to my next tour with you - just waiting for slightly warmer, more reliable weather and my return from my second trip this year c 9th May.
ReplyDelete