In the morning we rang Malcolm the Wildlife Officer, who came over quickly from his base in Richmond Park and borrowed a boat from Bluebird Boats. He quickly netted the goslings and tipped them into the water.
The parents brought them over to the shade of the willow tree near the bridge to recover from their ordeal in the hot sunlight.
But the story is not yet over, because the smallest of the goslings seemed dazed and was wandering about vaguely. We don't know whether it will pull through. The other three seemed fine.
The Starlings nesting in the plane trees near the small boathouse were busily flying across the lake to the Lido restaurant to fetch food for their nestlings. Here a parent comes out of the nest hole for another run.
There are certainly four nests in these two trees, maybe more.
Another Starling had found a grape at a picnic on the edge of the Serpentine, and was crushing it so that it could be swallowed.
A little way up the shore, a Pied Wagtail was collecting insects for its young.
The Black Swan was with his girlfriend at the east end of the Serpentine, where several people were feeding the waterfowl with various unsuitable foods.
The male Little Owl in the chestnut tree was basking on a branch.
The terrapin on the Long Water had also come out to sunbathe on the fallen chestnut tree.
Next to the path above this tree, a Holly Blue butterfly was sunning itself on a leaf.
Thank you Malcolm, and glad you were there to spot the problem. Does he work 7 days a week? Is he the only one? Quite a job.
ReplyDeleteYes, he's the only one, and he does all three Royal Parks: here, Richmond and Bushy.
DeletePlease thank him on behalf of all of us. He is a hero and an example of how to do one's duty.
DeleteVirginia has already spoken with him and thanked him.
DeleteSeems like the adult geese were pretty cool about the whole thing. Don't know why they don't have a small escape hole for young birds. Jim n.L.
DeleteSo happy to see the terrapin, whom we have missed since his original sunning perch crumbled into the water. From which position did you get this happy shot?
ReplyDeleteIt was on the fallen horse chestnut tree, so the picture could be taken from the near side of the lake. But the terrapin still uses the branch on the other side, in spite of part of it having fallen off a short time ago.
DeleteIs there a practical reason the tern raft doesn't have ramps, leading gently to the water? I saw tern rafts in rehabilitated mining lakes that had both little covers for protection of the new chicks from predation from above, as well as dual purpose railing, to keep them from falling off the raft. But, they also had gently sloped ramps, so the chicks could descend or return. It sounds like Malcolm is covering a large area!
ReplyDeleteI think the idea is both to exclude predators and to make the rafts difficult to use by birds except terns. These sheer plastic walls all round seem to be common practice here. Of course the only purpose of making them transparent is to allow people to see in.
DeleteThere still hasn't been a Common Tern on the lake since the latest raft was installed.
Well, without little shelters to hide form the gulls and NO ramps to get back up if they prematurely hop the fence, I have some slight trepidation for them, if they do nest on the raft. But, I definitely have no practical experience of these things, just observations of other models. Maybe the thought is that by the time any chicks can jump the fence, they don't neet to get back in.
DeleteThe idea is that as soon as a Common Tern is seen taking an interest in the raft, Tony Duckett will rush out with some breezeblocks or ridge tiles to provide shelter. I think this is backwards -- why would a tern be interested in a site with no shelter? Anyway, the total absence of visiting terns has made the question academic.
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