The Canada Geese are quite accustomed to close-up photographs, and the goslings even seem to find the process interesting. They associate human attention with being fed.
The Greylags with five goslings were cruising in line astern.
The Mandarin family, still with four ducklings, crossed the Vista.
The Mute Swans on the Long Water seemed unconcerned by a Grey Heron close to their cygnets.
The Great Crested Grebe chick on the island was next to the nest where its parent is sitting on eggs. The other parent was also in here. The chick hasn't been out on the lake for days, and I think its parents are finding fish behind the baskets to feed it.
The grebes at the east end of the Serpentine had returned to their own territory, and the male was in the little hole in the middle of one of the rafts.
This would be a good place to build a nest, but the hole is completely enclosed by plants with long roots trailing into the water, and the parents couldn't carry their chicks out. However, it might not be a bad idea to keep the chicks in until they are big enough to swim out themselves. A pair of grebes -- possibly this pair -- started to make a nest in one of these holes a couple of years ago, but gave up.
The warm weather has brought a growth of algae to the lakes and the Round Pond. It is swarming with insects, which is good news for insect-eating birds. Here a Pied Wagtail looks out over a mat of algae on the Round Pond before darting out to catch a bug.
In a bush beside the Long Water, a Blue Tit brought a spider to feed a hungry fledgling.
Young Starlings waited on the umbrellas at the Lido restaurant for their parents to bring them stolen scraps.
A Blackcap sang in a chestnut tree.
Only one of the Little Owls at the leaf yard was visible, the female. She sat in the same place all day.
Virginia sent me some fine photographs. She found this young Carrion Crow on the ground. Still unable to fly, it had fallen out of the nest. She put it up as high as she could to keep it away from dogs, but its prospects don't look good.
A swan charged at a Greylag family.
A grebe caught an enormous perch. After several tries, it just managed to swallow it.
Let's hope the poor Crow will make it. They are so resilient and clever- fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely pictures of the Great Crested Grebes! The colours are so vivid and sharp, it's delightful to see.
Those Canadas are the most lovable beggars I have ever seen.
All the geese and swans know that a parade of fluffy babies is the best way to get food. They mitigate this appalling diet by eating a lot of grass as well.
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