The male Little Owl in the chestnut tree was also available for viewing.
The lone Mute cygnet was following a female Mute Swan around the Serpentine. I don't think it's the cygnet's mother, and indeed she is probably no longer alive -- if so, the cygnet's behaviour is quite understandable.
Later it went back to the Black Swan, and the two rested side by side on the Lido restaurant terrace. When the Black Swan saw me photographing him, he immediately got up and came along for his customary digestive biscuit.
This is one of the three adopted Greylag goslings with its Canada stepbrothers or sisters.
A few feet away the other two were preening. Their wings are already well developed.
This male Pochard at Peter Pan is now the smartest drake on the lake. The males of all the other species of duck are in eclipse and looking sad and tatty, but this doesn't seem to happen to Pochards.
(Red-Crested Pochards do go into eclipse, but they are not closely related.)
There are now two Cormorants on the lake, and they are again fishing in the wire baskets neat the bridge, a sign that the young perch here are now large enough to interest them. Here one resurfaces streaming water after an unsuccessful attempt to catch a fish.
The Great Crested Grebes with three chicks on the Long Water seem to be finding enough fish on their side of the bridge.
The famous pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull was finishing off another victim near the Triangle car park, a long way from his usual hunting ground. The Feral Pigeons here are not used to his behaviour, and less wary and easier to catch.
Some parts of the grass in the park are regularly mown, others are left to grow long. The edges of the patches of long grass are a hunting ground for Blackbirds and other thrushes, which can hop easily across the short grass, looking into the long grass where there may be insects and other edible creatures.
The riot of thistles poking through the railings on the west side of the Long Water have attracted a lot of bees. This is a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee.
Hello Ralph,
ReplyDeleteI tried feed the cygnet's mother last week but she was all tilted to one side and not even interested in her surroundings anymore. I knew she was dyeing but didn't realise it was the baby's mum. She definitely is no longer around and I am tempted to ask wildlife officers whether she might just be recovering in a sanctuary- in the better case.
I feel for the cygnet and at least he is safe in the park as people are aware of his fate.
As far as I know, no one has found a dead swan. But that doesn't prove anything. We just don't know what happened. Anyway, the lone cygnet seems to be coping with life, and three different swans have been looking after him -- the third is the aggressive male who has been giving the Black Swan a hard time.
DeleteSometimes dyeing birds disappear without a trace. Almost as if they found last bits of strength to fly off where they were born and die in peace. A few of my birds disappeared that way from the Serpentine.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the mixed gosling brood, the oldest one belongs to another couple, they had fourt originally but over a week it was down to one and he was doing quite well for over a week again until one night I came he was not there, you know the feeling....after two days I found out from your blog he joined another family whose at that time seven goslings hatched. After a while it was down to four and him and then one day I come and only one of their own left, then the adopted gosling and three greylag babies on top.
The other Canada goose family have three now but one is adopted because another couple had their babies about a week later, four I think and then quickly down to one left which ran off to the current family. It seems like they have an encoded notion of being in a brood so once they are one left and come into a vicinity of a family with multiple goslings they join them in.
This is mighty confusing! I think I need to see a Venn diagram.
DeleteIt's even more confusing on the ground, since the Canadas' mixed brood are going about with another Canada family. And the Greylag family with the most goslings has merged with another smaller one, with both parents present.
DeleteThis is emotional blackmail Ralph!
ReplyDeleteWhat does the black swan's girlfriend make of the new stepkid? Is he scoring good parent points?
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen them both with him at the same time. Perhaps this is just as well, as she's a bully.
DeleteI have seen Canada geese families merge together on the lake before. It was last summer and the summer before in 2014. At first they were competitors but over a shorter space of time they suddenly all swam together. Maybe it makes them feel stronger as a union to fend off predators? Once they merged all their goslings made it into adulthood.
ReplyDeleteCanada geese often share childminding duties. I've seen a pair looking after 21 goslings, and have seen a photograph of a pair with 50.
DeleteI was wondering how old you think the baby grebes are? It's good that there are a lot more fish now and this family should survive.
ReplyDeleteI'd say they were about 20 days old. They were first seen on the 16th, but were by no means brand new then.
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