Earlier they had had a territorial dispute with the pair from the east end of the lake. In this sequence the island is to the right and the challengers are coming in from the left. The incoming pair display to each other, but one of the island pair goes out and drives them back. Neither pair got close to each other, and the whole dispute was carried out by gestures and calls.
The three grebe chicks on the Long Water were busily rummaging in some algae just below the surface. It must be full of small water creatures, perhaps insect larvae.
The Coots nesting near the bridge were feeding their three chicks, with the father bringing food and passing it to the mother to distribute.
A Cormorant jumped on to one of the wooden posts at Peter Pan. It is a desperate scramble, since the bird has to jump two feet straight up and struggle for a foothold with its not very grippy webbed feet. This time it was successful, but they often fall off.
The Black Swan was under the bridge, gazing on to the Long Water. The surroundings are more agreeable on that side, but he will be remembering his hard fight with the resident male swan last year, which he lost and left the park soon afterwards, not returning for months.
The Greylag Goose with the white head was appealing to a visitor for a share of his sandwich, giving a good view of its remarkable blue eye.
There were three returning Black-Headed Gulls on the posts at the Serpentine island. This one is a year old, with the dark brown head of its breeding plumage but still some tweedy juvenile feathers on its wings.
An adult Magpie, in the centre of this picture, was being noisily pestered by two youngsters. It looks exasperated. But the young ones will be feeding themselves soon.
A young Wren was begging loudly at the back of the Lido.
The female Little Owl at the leaf yard was sitting impassively in her tree, taking no notice of the people staring at her from the ground.
I wish all confrontations in all manners of creatures were carried out Grebe-style. There would be much less suffering in the world.
ReplyDeleteThat poor, poor Magpie. She looks like parents everywhere who must face a member of the Terrible Two persuasion.
It's a great defect of humans that they don't have an effective threat display.
DeleteCan Cormorants land on the posts from the air?
ReplyDeleteOnly bigger posts than these. They are not skilled at slow flight in the way that herons are.
DeleteHandsome gull photo in what looks like subdued light, which turned out great.
ReplyDeleteIt was in the shadow of the island, a difficult place. I had to do some work on the picture.
DeleteLovely to see the Black Swan! Did you evenutally find out where he went when he left last year (before you checked him out in Regents Park)? I'm in London this weekend and looking forward to seeing the grebe chicks and the little owls. Could you remind me of the locations of the little owls nesting please? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWe think the Black Swan went upriver to Barnes and Kingston before coming back to the city and moulting on the lake in St James's Park during May.
DeleteThe Little Owls are in a tree near the leaf yard, which is the railed enclosure that has the Peter Pan statue on the east side. The tree is an old, very broken sweet chestnut 50 yards from the middle of the south side of the yard, and it has brambles around its base. View it from the west side. On the left of the trunk, the second thick branch from the bottom has two horizontal slits in it next to the trunk. The upper one is the entrance to the owls' hole.
That's very helpful - many thanks.
ReplyDelete