Monday, 30 January 2017

A pair of Egyptian Geese near the Henry Moore sculpture have a new brood. But this is not the usual pair of Egyptians that are often seen here -- the hopeless ones who lose all their young in a couple of days. So, although this is a most unsuitable time of year for breeding, it's possible that some may survive.


I met Jenna, who was feeding some geese near the Serpentine island. She pointed out the Greylag from the mixed brood of Greylags and Canadas which we followed last year. It is noticeable for being a bit undersized.


It was still with the mixed family, including its stepmother and this Canada, which is another of the mixed brood. It had, and still has, a slight brown discoloration of the white parts of its plumage.


On the island, a Grey Heron in the lowest nest was arranging some small twigs inside the spiky construction to make it a bit more comfortable. Then it settled down to test the result. It can't be seen when it's sitting here.


A pair of Mute Swans were courting at the east end of the Serpentine.


The dominant swan of this area didn't like that kind of thing going on in his territory, and sailed in to break up the couple.


There were plenty of Redwings on the Parade Ground, though they stayed rather far away.


A Pied Wagtail had come down to the lake to hunt along the shore.


A flock of Goldfinches was twittering in the tops of the alder trees near the Italian Garden.


The usual Dunnock was in the Rose Garden picking up spilt food from under the feeder. I have never seen such a confident Dunnock -- it takes absolutely no notice of me or the camera.


The pair of Coal Tits near the bridge have switched to the Hyde Park side, and were hopping around in an arbutus tree, calling to each other. They both came down to be fed.


The Little Owl in the lime tree near the Henry Moore was showing better than yesterday.


But the one near the Albert Memorial lurked at the back of her hole.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Ralph i was there yesterday and i found both little owl holes and no joy and noticed there a juv grey heron by the dell cafe and it,s got a real bad foot and holds it up all the time and i did not know grey heron eat bread and great place for your patch and i found the area behind peter oan and they were brilliant to feed and i was amazed by how many people had not seen them before and had 4 great crested grebe and last thing i had a adult black headed gull with a ring and was going to report it and i thought i would ask you first if you already had him 28p1 and cheers for the help and cannot wait to come back up again .

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I've seen that heron. It may recover, or not. You just have to let nature take its course.

      Sorry you had bad luck with the owls. They were both out on Monday.

      I saw and reported the gull with the 28P1 ring. It turned out to be from Reading. Sometimes colour rings are from somewhere exotic, and sometimes from somewhere utterly boring.

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  2. How pretty the little Egyptians are! Let us hope they will make it in abundance.

    The dominant Mute Swan looks churlish.

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