The female Little Owl near the Albert Memorial also ignored the weather.
Later the sun came out for a while, but the strong chilly wind kept up, and ruffled this Robin beside the Long Water.
On the other side of the Long Water, the Kingfisher was visible, though the light was poor at this time and it was hard to get a picture at this distance.
A Jay came out of the bushes to apply for a peanut.
Two Feral Pigeons were fighting under the feeder in the Rose Garden.
The local Dunnock sheltered behind a leaf till it was over.
A stripped pigeon caracase near the Dell restaurant showed that the notorious Lesser Black-Backed Gull and his mate had breakfasted. She was having a rest while she digested another heavy meal. When he turned towards her, the wind picked up his feathers.
The Diana fountain, deserted by people in the foul weather, was full of Herring Gulls looking for worms, drinking, washing, and looning about.
Customers at the Triangle snack bar have to run the gauntlet of an increasing number of Mute Swans.
The Pochard-Tufted Duck hybrid was on one of the ponds in the Italian Garden.
On the lake below, two Shoveller drakes were bobbing their heads to try to attract a female. A fight broke out.
When the winner swam over to the female she was not impressed, and shooed him away.
I love your dry commentary Ralph. Every day a different story to tell.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I do hope it's different every day. There's really not much going on at the moment.
DeleteIt's always interesting reading the blog.
ReplyDeleteQuite; every day.
DeleteThank you both. But I really look forward to things beginning to happen again in a month or two.
DeleteDear Ralph, I am a regular reader but rarely comment. However, as a Canadian, I couldn't resist saying that 'looning' is a verb I have not run into. Loons do not behave that way, in my experience. You readers might be interested in the Canadian National Bird selection that took place last year (where Loons featured, of course, but did not ultimately win):://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/meet-our-national-bird-gray-jay
ReplyDelete'Loon' has another meaning: a worthless lazy fellow, or, as a verb, to act in an idle or silly way. Unclear whether this refers to the supposed behaviour of the bird, or is from 'lunatic'.
DeleteJust to make it even more complicated, loons are called 'divers' in the UK - which I think is a nicer name for such a handsome bird.
DeleteUntil recently, the bird was called a Great Northern Diver here and a Common Loon in North America. But now ornithologists have compromised, and officially it's called a Great Northern Loon. Actually the Yellow-Billed Loon, an Arctic species, is bigger.
DeleteThat's gladdened my day, to read that it's not just a one-way street of us Brits losing names such as "sulphur" to transatlantic forms. Maybe a portion of thanks should go to Arthur Ransome for "Great Northern" going global. Incidentally I have thought a better name for Egyptian Goose would be Great African Tree Duck, if it weren't such a mouthful. Jim
Delete'Great African Tree Duck' sounds more like an exclamation of surprise than the name of a bird. But the name should reflect that they are found all round Africa and not just in Egypt.
DeleteIn Spanish they are called Nile Geese. Slightly better, but not by much.
DeleteBeautiful picture of my favourite bird, the kingfisher, by the way.
ReplyDelete