Wednesday 21 December 2016

An early shower had softened the ground, and conditions were ideal for Blackbirds to pick up small grubs ...


... and large worms.


A Common Gull in the Diana fountain enclosure was having to work harder for its worms, and was pattering its feet to bring them to the surface.


It's strange that Common Gulls and Herring Gulls do the worm dance, but Lesser Black-Backed Gulls never do, as far as I have been able to see.

A Pied Wagtail was searching for insects in the fallen leaves near the Reformers' Tree.


A Wood Pigeon in the Rose Garden was eating pansies.


A Great Tit near the bridge was eating a pine nut I had given it, holding it with both feet and delicately pecking bits out of it.


A Goldcrest was flitting about in the nearby yew tree.


A flock of Long-Tailed Tits passed along the other side of the Long Water.


A Wren came out for a moment from the reed bed at the east end of the Serpentine. There is a large colony of Wrens here, extending over the path into the Dell.


A Moorhen in the Dell had found a bit of bread, and was being chased by two of its family. It considered that they were quite old enough to find their own food, and trotted off to find a private place to enjoy its meal.


A pair of Shovellers worked their way along the south side of the Serpentine.


There were a lot of Grey Herons near the island again, including these three perched on the roof of one of the boathouses, as close together as they could get without fighting.


In the oak tree near the Albert Memorial, it was the male Little Owl's turn to look out of the hole.

7 comments:

  1. When I last visited I also saw a Wren in the reedbed; this was in November.
    For one crazy moment I had to check that it wasn't a Reed or Sedge Warbler as I was on the bridge, and didn't expect a Wren to be there!
    Did you find any Wren nests this year Ralph?

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    1. Wrens seem to like reeds, and you can hear them in the other reed beds in the park. I nearly got a picture of one in the Diana memorial reed bed today, but wasn't quick enough. I've never found a nest in the park. The sensible birds hide them well.

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  2. Lovely heron pic. Once saw 3 in a field near Hambledon Lock on the Thames - but widely spaced out!

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  3. Hello Ralph,

    circa. 40 starling (over) Lido café. 2 Shoveler (pair on Serpentine Island). LBB, Herring and GBB I'm sure too. 10 Tufted Duck (on Serpentine). Common Gull x 10 (serpentine) 1 x Coal Tit On Feeder in the Dell? is this what you call it !? 2 gadwall (pair on the easternmost fringe of the Lido reedbed

    Thanks,

    James

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    1. Thanks. I missed the Great Black-Backed Gull. They are only occasional visitors.

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  4. How funny ! I saw your black headed gull photo and do recall seeing a long lens equipped man approaching the bird ever so slightly ! Must have been you ! Came up to London today on trip with family from Kent. sevenoaksbirder.wordpress.com my bird blog above...

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    1. You may often see me creeping up to birds looking the other way and pretending I haven't seen them. It works, at least sometimes.

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