Thursday 19 January 2017

There was a lot to see on a sunny day. Enough ice had melted under the dead willow tree to let the Kingfisher carry on as usual.


A Little Grebe was also fishing and could be seen distantly from the bridge.


Some Great Crested Grebes were flying along the lake. More frosty weather is on the way, and they may have been limbering up to fly to the Thames to avoid being iced in, a serious matter for a bird that needs a 50 yard takeoff run.


There was a second-winter Great Black-Backed Gull on a tarpaulin-covered pedalo.


The female Kestrel reappeared on Buck Hill, which she visits from time to time and catches mice in the long grass.


The newly found Little Owl was in the next tree, not worried by the raptor.


Other owls could also be seen in the lime tree near the Henry Moore sculpture ...


... and in the oak tree near the Albert Memorial.


Two young foxes were resting in the same place as yesterday, just north of the east side of the Vista.


While we were photographing them, a Wren came out of the dead leaves, looking almost fox-coloured in the sunlight.


At the bottom of Buck Hill the same tree contained a Treecreeper ...


... and a Long-Tailed Tit.


At Peter Pan, someone had thrown some extremely stale and mouldy bread on the ice. A Lesser Black-Backed Gull was having a hard time pecking bits out of it, and the bread kept skittering across the ice.


A Black-Headed Gull had found a better way to do it by balancing on a roll, which rocked about but didn't escape.

2 comments:

  1. Fantastic picture of the Kingfisher. Your blog is great. I used to live next to Hyde Park and learned a lot about the birds in the park from your blog. Now I live in another part of London and I still read it! Lucy.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you. It was a very lucky day, most unexpected in January. Hope you are finding interesting birds where you are. They are always there if you look.

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