Further up the hill, away from the disturbance, the Nuthatches were coming down to take food from the railings.
Long-Tailed Tits were waiting in the trees beside the Vista before the whole flock arrived and they could cross the open gap in the relative safety of numbers.
A Robin was staying in the undergrowth.
There were two Grey Herons in one of the nests on the island ...
... and one in the other one.
They are certainly at least claiming nest sites now rather than just standing around. But in past years we have seen them fussing around for a long time before actually getting down to nesting.
An Egyptian Goose was drinking from the Diana fountain.
A young Mute Swan was preening at the Lido.
And a Mallard drake had a good flap in one of the Italian Garden ponds.
The female Little Owl in the chestnut tree came out of the hole.
The one in the oak tree was also having a look around.
A rabbit, always the same one, appears from time to time beside the Henry Moore sculpture. It looks as if the foxes and myxomatosis have accounted for most of the rest. But the population always bounces back in the new year.
no rest for Ralph? out even on xmas day. hope you got a nice christmas lunch?
ReplyDeleteonly recently am i seeing parakeets in the gardens & garden squares of bayswater. a couple seem to have discovered my neighbour's bird feeder. unusually they do not squawk at all! maybe theyve learned not to share the food stash? i'm not aware of any nesting in bayswater outside the parks though. are you?
No rest for the wicked. Now cooking Christmas dinner.
DeleteThere are parakeets in Holland Park, and I would have expected them to be in all the larger garden squares around this area. There's a flyway over Kensington Church Street near the top of the hill, but I don't know any of their other routes.
that rabbit will have a job bouncing back if it's the only one left.. Do foxes get ill if they eat an infected rabbit, do you know?
ReplyDeleteP.S. the drake looks rather chunky.
I'm sure there is at least one rabbit of the opposite sex lurking in the shrubbery. The colony has looked just as bad as this in previous years, and it has always come back.
DeletePerhaps chunky is a good look for ducks.