Friday 8 July 2016

A Common Tern arrived on the Round Pond yesterday. There are plenty of smallish fish in the pond, which encouraged it to stay, and it was still there this morning. It caught a fish as we watched.


Several Pied Wagtails were running around the edge of the fond, calling to each other.


Two young Rose-Ringed Parakeets were also calling to a parent for food.


There were several people underneath this tree holding up peanuts and apples, but the young birds haven't yet started feeding themselves.

There is a new family of Moorhens with five chicks on one of the Italian Garden ponds, being fed with algae that they could easily pick up themselves.


Presumably being fed teaches the chicks what is and what is not edible -- though Moorhens seem to eat practically anything.

This is one of the older Greylag families on the Serpentine. The goslings are growing up fast.


The Black Swan saw me and came over at once for a digestive biscuit.


There was a beautiful blonde female Mallard on the shore.


The young Grey Heron in the lower of the two nests is spending most of its time on the ground now, only flying up to the nest occasionally. I've never seen its parents feeding it, but suppose a fish lasts it for quite a while.


It isn't clear whether there are still three young herons. The other nest had two in it, but only one is visible whenever I pass. It's possible that the other one is on the island out of sight.

An adult was standing on a post scratching its ear.


The male Little Owl was on his usual branch.


One of the owlets was in the other chestnut tree, on the branch where its mother likes to sit.


There was no sign of her, but the other owlet was calling from deep inside the horse chestnut on the other side of the path.

This Blue-Tailed Damselfly on one of the Italian Garden ponds was holding a mysterious object, maybe some kind of pupa. The insect considered it edible anyway, as it flew away holding it.

2 comments:

  1. I saw a Little Egret at the park today - perhaps the one you saw earlier in the week? It was at 3.30pm on the east side of the Long Water, a little north of Henry Moore. It only stayed very briefly and flew off over the lake, possibly scared by a very loud helicopter.

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    Replies
    1. Interesting that it should still be here. Will keep an eye out for it.

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