Sunday 21 May 2017

The recovering Grey Wagtail near the Diana fountain had a narrow escape when it fell into the water and was chased by a Coot. Too wet to take off, it fluttered ashore and the Coot left it alone. It may have lost its tail feathers in a similar incident.


A young Pied Wagtail at the Round Pond, unaware of life's challenges, was waiting for its parents to feed it.


The Coots nesting on the post at Peter Pan were having a serious battle with Herring Gulls.


This view of a Grey Heron is the last thing that a fish sees.


The Great Crested Grebe chick on the island was reclining regally on its parents' nest.


The Moorhens nesting on the raft at the east end of the Serpentine have hatched three chicks. They wouldn't all get into the picture, so here is one of them being fed.


The Mute Swan family was under the parapet of the Italian Garden.


On the south shore of the Serpentine the Greylag goslings were guarded by four watchful parents.


We haven't had a picture of Blondie's family for some time. Here she is complacently gazing at her five strapping teenagers.


Another blonde: the female Mallard was preening near the Dell restaurant. Normal Mallards have iridescent blue secondary feathers, but hers are brown.


The notorious Lesser Black-Backed Gull was sharing his latest pigeon with his mate.


Two Reed Warblers came out on the net at the end of the Diana fountain reed bed. They chased each other in a flirtatious way and went into the trees to find insects.


One of the Blue Tits nesting in the lamp post in the Rose Garden was on sanitary duty, carrying away a faecal sac from one of the chicks. It took it a safe distance away from the nest before dropping it, so as not to disclose the whereabouts of the nest (though actually the nest is remarkably secure, being made of solid iron).


A Wren was singing loudly from a stem in the Dell.


Nearby, a Small White butterfly perched on a purple wallflower.


The Little Owl at the leaf yard was on his usual branch but was chased into his hole by a Magpie. He was not looking happy.

4 comments:

  1. Thank you for the lovely pictures and all the stories of life in the park. Walking there yesterday (20th May) could I have heard a Cetti's Warbler bursting into song by the Serpentine path just to the west of the road bridge? I'm pretty sure that's what I heard. I used to hear them in Spain many years ago but have never heard one in England.

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  2. Yes, we do have one, usually in the scrub between the southwest corner of the bridge and the Vista. It's been here for a couple of years, and we think there's a pair as once was seen carrying nesting material. See pictures here.

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  3. Oh my God, I nearly had a heart attack looking at the poor Grey Wagtail. The picture is so dramatic. Thank Goodness it was able to get away.

    The Geese (and to a certain extent the Coors) look like something out of a western film: circling the wagons.

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    1. There really was rather a lot of fighting going on today, alarming to watch.

      I confess that I carefully selected the Greylag picture to get a moment when all of them were looking out. Usually they only have one watcher, taking it in turns.

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