While I was there one of the shy owlets darted across the nest hole, but didn't stay long enough for a picture. There was no sign of the Little Owl family in the chestnut tree at the leaf yard, or in the maple they sometimes use, and we think they had all gone into the leaf yard to get away from the Magpies.
A pair of Carrion Crows always intercept me when I go to the oak tree. This is almost certainly the male of the pair. When I threw them both a peanut he took hers too, and then another one I threw to her, so he had three, the most he could carry. He hid them in a lump of grass mowings, then the scheming bird strolled up to me looking innocent and hungry.
The white-faced Blackbird near the Italian Garden was methodically collecting a large lump of mud. There must have been insects or worms in it to feed to her nestlings.
A Reed Warbler was singing in the reed bed east of the Lido swimming area.
Just up the hill from here is the Greylag Goose nursery. Here is the family with nine goslings, now growing well, with another younger family in the background.
Blondie the Egyptian Goose was down on the shore with her three, which are also getting quite large now.
This is a picture taken by Fran yesterday. An Egyptian with just one small chick was bathing in the Diana fountain, and the baby got washed away down the rapids. A visitor retrieved it and brought it back to her.
I couldn't find the Black Swan, although I went round the lake twice. Probably he was on the island.
A Mute Swan was having a wash, enthusiastically flapping its wings with newly grown feathers.
The Coots on the little island in the Long Water have been encouraged by their magnificent nest ornament and have produced two chicks.
This close-up of another Coot family shows that when the parents dive the the bottom they don't just bring up algae. They also find nutritious grubs for the chicks.
A white Feral Pigeon on the landing stage at the Diana fountain gave me a beady look. It is leucistic but not an albino, as it has dark eyes.
There are Small Red-Eyed Damselflies on a patch of duckweed under the balustrade of the Italian Garden, but they are so far away that it's impossible to get a good picture of one.
Whatever happened to Charlie and Melissa? I'm not very good at discerning crow faces, but it doesn't look like either of them.
ReplyDeleteThat Coot nest could make a great cover for Architectural Digest-Bird edition.
Charlie and Melissa are still around. They often pick me up on the east side of the Long Water and follow me into Hyde Park demanding peanuts. They have a new young one, still keeping its distance and not yet named.
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