Starlings congregate in the trees next to the funfair before swooping down in a party to seize food from the stalls. Some of them were having a wash between raids.
The birds in the leaf yard don't have to worry about raiding, as food is brought to them. Every now and then we need a reminder of how beautiful these common birds are, so here are a Great Tit ...
... a Blue Tit ...
... and a Coal Tit.
There was a Goldcrest in the yew tree at the southwest corner. They won't come to be fed, but they are not particularly shy.
Several Jays were in the trees hoping to be given peanuts. More of them have learnt the trick of snatching peanuts from one's fingers in flight.
A pair of Jackdaws often wait on the urns in the Italian Garden.
A Moorhen at the Lido restaurant was baffled by the lid of a paper coffee cup. This was just as well, as caffeine is probably very bad for birds, as it is for most creatures apart from us.
We hadn't seen the white-faced Blackbird for a while, but she came out in her usual place on the east side of the Long Water and accepted a piece of digestive biscuit.
There was a distant view of a Little Grebe, seen from the opposite side of the water.
The female Little Owl near the Albert Memorial was enjoying the morning sunshine.
The male Little Owl near the Henry Moore sculpture preferred to stay in the shade.
Wasn't there a story, or maybe an urban legend, that coffee was discovered because some goats ate coffee beans and became hysterical as a result?
ReplyDeleteHow pretty unassuming and perfectly ordinary birds can be!
Yes, it's an Arab story about a shepherd in the Yemen who noticed that his goats were leaping about madly after eating the berries of a certain bush, which of course was Coffea arabica.
DeleteMy command of English syntax is going the way of the Dodo. Is it 'how pretty can unassuming birds be', or 'how pretty unassuming birds can be'? Help!
ReplyDeleteIt was right first time. But we don't bother with syntax here.
DeleteBeautiful pictures Ralph, the white faced blackbird again, plus the little grebe, very good. Thank you for your brilliance.
ReplyDeleteSanderson
Thanks for your kind words. I've been trying to make friends with that Blackbird, but like all Blackbirds it's incredibly nervous.
DeleteReaders of a sensitive disposition who are also partial to coffee should at all costs avoid researching "cà phê chồn" (from Vietnam) or "kopi luwak" (from Indonesia) . . . puts the Yemeni goats to shame, really!
ReplyDeleteWell, the Yemeni coffee beans hadn't actually passed through the goats. A goat's volcanic digestion would make short work of them.
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