Wednesday 25 January 2017

Several Pied Wagtails were running around on the ice, evidently finding some kind of bugs on it or they wouldn't have bothered. They never lose their footing on the slippery surface.


The Grey Wagtail was hunting under a tree at the bottom of the Parade Ground. It found three larvae in the space of a minute.


A Carrion Crow was digging a hole in the Parade Ground in search of worms.


There are now four Great Crested Grebes on the Serpentine, as many as there were before it froze. This one was fishing in the cover of a group of Coots.


The Coots resented its presence. But the grebe ignored this insolent assault and went on fishing.


The person who throws very stale bread to the birds at Peter Pan was back. The Mallard and Coot weren't fighting over this rigid roll. They were equally baffled about how to peck a bit out of it. Both abandoned it.


The two Canada--Greylag hybrid geese which are siblings were back on the Serpentine.


Shovellers were perfectly reflected in the water covering the melting ice.


A Mute Swan courted an underage female.


Both Nuthatches came down to take food from the leaf yard railings.


A Robin waited expectantly in a holly bush.


When a Robin has taken a pine nut from your hand, it's polite to wait for it to come back, as they usually want a second helping.

The newly found Little Owl was back in the oak tree near the Italian Garden after five days' absence.


He's a nervous bird, and fled when I was still fifty yards away. He flew across the lake in the direction of the chestnut tree where the first pair of Little Owls was seen almost five years ago. But I don't think he was the male from that tree, because that is a very calm owl and just stares at you when you come to take a picture.

The female owl in the lime tree near the Henry Moore sculpture was sitting outside her hole.


The owl near the Albert Memorial saw no reason to come out of her hole on a dismal grey day, so there's no picture of her.

2 comments:

  1. I'm sure you could open your own gallery of Robin portraits, Ralph. So many funny and lovely pictures of them! Great to lighten any mood, however foul.

    Last week we saw a Grey Wagtail that looked for all the world as if it was walking on water.

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    1. I've seen Pied Wagtails running over floating algae. They can stay up as long as they keep running, but if they stop to think they sink, rather like St Peter.

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