... and sometimes together.
They haven't shown any sign of wanting to fly out of the tree, and may not yet be able to fly properly, just to flap and hop to a nearby branch.
Their father was at the top of the tree, sometimes moving to get out of their way when they got too close.
One shouldn't read too much into an owl's expression, but he did look exasperated.
Their mother was in the next tree, peacefully dozing and taking no notice of the youngsters.
The Mute Swan family on the Long Water came over to Peter Pan to be fed. Here are the cygnets with their mother.
Their father had gone off with raised wings to chase away some other swans that were inruding on his territory.
The Black Swan was on the Serpentine side of the bridge. His new wing feathers are developing quickly.
The Mandarin mother and duckling found their usual place too busy on a sunny Sunday, and went to the Long Water side of the bridge, where there is a bit of fenced-off bank free from humans and dogs. The duckling's wings are also growing fast.
Blondie the Egyptian Goose was near the island, with her young huddling close as a Greylag looked irritably at them.
The Great Crested Grebe chick was with a parent in the usual place near the island.
Their usual shelter, the electric boat, had been brought over to the boat hire platform, evidently for repair as it was missing several of its solar panels.
A female Red-Crested Pochard was resting on the edge of the Round Pond. Female ducks are underestimated: she is is very elegant in her cappuccino-coloured plumage.
The pair of Moorhens in the Sunken Garden have built a nest against one of the big lead boxes in the pond which serve as planters and fountains.
There were five terrapins on the fallen horse chestnut tree in the Long Water.
They are all roughly the same size. Evidently the original two Red-Eared Sliders, which were thrown into the lake separately by irresponsible pet owners, were of opposite sex and have bred.
That's a good-looking nest for a moorhen! And no plastic. Does/can the Park do anything about the terrapins? I think they may eat small chicks etc? I've seen them in other parks, too.
ReplyDeleteThe Moorhens' nest is in a well kept royal garden, and any plastic would be instantly collected. Unfortunately that place is a very narrow ledge, and nests tend to fall off. The gardeners put in a floating basket for the Moorhens last year, and they tried nesting first in and then on it, but for some reason the experiment failed.
DeleteYes, terrapins do eat ducklings. But they are elusive and eradicating them would be very difficult.
Sorry your comment appeared twice. Blogger often does this. I will always tidy up duplicates as soon as I spot them.
Terrapins are very bad news indeed. They have been reported to be eating each other in a pond that housed them in the Atocha railway station in Madrid. Too many of them, too little food. Bad business altogether.
DeleteA moorhen could win prizes with a nest like that. Has it not just squatted atop an existing plant to save itself the bother? What happens when they turn the fountains on Ralph? I hope it doesn't rain on their victory parade too much.
DeleteLittle owl chicks are very, very naughty. But nice.
No, there isn't a plant there. The nest is made of iris leaves collected elsewhere in the pond, balanced on a small ledge at the end of the box. The fountains were on when I took this picture, but they are very small and only produce a faint drizzle.
DeleteThe young female Black-Tailed Skimmer was around again in the same spot on Sunday morning. June seems to be their hatching time, so there may well be more (they particularly like slow-moving water).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information. They are quite common in the park and we shall see plenty more soon.
DeleteIt seems that all of our lovely old bird friends and stars of this blog are doing very well with their young. Yay!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, that Little Owl looks exasperated (but then again, he is faced with the equivalent of two rambuctious and rowdy teenagers). More human than humans.
I've been videoing young birds, possibly for a film made by Johanna, but I'm also thinking of starting a YouTube channel.
DeleteOoh, please do!!! (I know that multiple exclamation marks signal insanity, but I do think the occasion deserves emphasis).
DeleteSanity is overrated.
DeleteAny chance of some little owl antics on video Ralph?
ReplyDeleteI have some video, but at the moment not much in the way of antics. They are quite hard to see among the leaves, and still pictures are the result of desperate dashing around to find a gap in the leaves.
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