That was the only Little Owl I found today. The one at the leaf yard wasn't visible.
There are still some House Martins over the Serpentine.
But the Sand Martins have left. They are only day visitors here, as they have nowhere to nest.
The younger of the two juvenile Robins in the Rose Garden stared intently into the camera.
The Great Crested Grebe chicks from the nest on the Long Water have not quite stopped feeding their two chicks. One was grudgingly fed once by its parent and then, despite its plaintive calls, ignored. Eventually it dived to try to feed itself.
The Moorhens on the raft at the east end of the Serpentine, who lost all their chicks, have bred again but are already down to one chick. It isn't a good place, without much cover and surrounded by Herring Gulls.
The Coots' nest in the middle of the Long Water was washed away by heavy rain yesterday, and no trace of it remains. One of the indefatigable birds picked up a plastic bag in a futile attempt to rebuild it.
A big mob of Coots massed on the gravel bank in the Long Water.
I hope they don't make a habit of gathering on the bank. The purpose of building it was to attrract wading birds. Apart from the occasional visit from Common Sandpipers, and one Sanderling, it hasn't succeeded.
Blondie is moulting. Egyptian Geese, which are African birds, have no idea of the northern seasons and can moult -- and breed -- at any time.
No sign of the Black Swan today.
There was an exciting moment when I glimpsed this silhouette over a building in Knightsbridge. But it's just a falcon-shaped kite sent up to deter pigeons. The wings flutter in a realistic Kestrel-like way.
A woman was conducting a census of the bumblebees in the Rose Garden, of which there are a good many. Apart from these, I saw a Marmalade fly, a small wasp-mimicking hoverfly.
The patch of wildflowers behind the Lido also attracts bees and other insects. There was a Honeybee on a marigold ...
... and two Greenbottle flies.
I thought a patch of mushrooms near Queen's Gate were Ceps (Boletus edulis).
But when picked, they turned out to have yellow pores and red-streaked stems.
I think they're B. chrysenteron. This is an edible species but is said to be a bit slimy. Anyway, I'm not sure of this identification, so I won't eat them.
I never would have thought that a bumblebee census could be conducted. It must have been fascinating to see.
ReplyDeleteThe northern part of where I live is renowned for its mushrooms. Many of them are culinary delicacies. And yet, every other year there is a couple of casualties (as people end up dead) among mushroom hunters.
The bumblebee counter was just sitting there with a clipboard. She had divided the place into transects and was spending a certain time in front of every bumblebee-attracting plant on the line -- which in the Rose Garden meant a lot of plants. It was not exciting to watch.
DeleteIn Norway, people take the train from Oslo to Holmenkollen to gather mushrooms. When they come back they have to pass through a control where their mushrooms are examined. Terribly organised.
I'll add my voice to those thanking you for going out yesterday in the persistent rain! As regards fake falcons, I recently discovered the falcons on the smart redeveloped terrace on the Bayswater road - on a ledge of the type that might be favoured by real falcons - were plastic! Embarrassingly, took binoculars to confirm it.
ReplyDeleteI must look at that terrace. Hadn't noticed the plastic falcons. Probably the pigeons are wise to the deception and just stroll past them.
DeleteMy understanding has always been that with the pored/tubed Boletaceae you should avoid everything with red tubes/pores, or that stain red on bruising; and also any where the flesh turn vivid blue *immediately on cutting. But it remains a very good rule not to eat anything if you don't know what it is (as e.g. Tesco's mince). In France all chemists can identify mushrooms for you; I wish they did that here!
ReplyDeleteThanks. B. chrysenteron does stain red when bruised, and there was red around the edges of the cap. Anything that turned bright blue would make you instinctively fling it away with an oath.
DeleteThe plastic falcons are at the western edge of the refurbished terrace on Leinster Terrace.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I initially thought you mean the enormous terrace in Bayswater Road called The Lancasters (which sounds more like a bombing raid than a housing development). Will go and look.
ReplyDeleteYes, that is the one - the falcons are on the western end of the Lancasters that is at the junction of Leinster Terrace and Bayswater Road.
ReplyDeleteIt would be pleasing to have fake falcons on the fake houses just up the street where it becomes Leinster Gardens.
DeleteI had decided to leave your id as it was, but since quite few people have intervened, I will say the following:
ReplyDeleteXerocomellus chrysenteron (= Boletus chrysenteron) from being once the commonest species in popular guide books we now know that it is in fact quite restricted in habitat (confined almost entirely to coniferous woods), and that other species are much more frequently encountered (for ex. Xerocomellus cisalpinus). The identification of the various species is a microscopy job, as it require looking at the shape of the spores.
The are all sort of old wives' tales on how to determine if a mushroom is edible or not. The only way is to be sure of the species (and even then you find that mushrooms that were once thought to be safe we now know are unsafe in the long term)
There are all sort....
ReplyDeleteMario
There certainly are. Even in the confines of the park, most of the fungi I came across are ones that I have never seen before and can't identify from guides on the web.
Delete"There are all sort..." was just a typo correction in my previous comment
ReplyDeleteMario
Yes, I did realise. But it seemed more sensible to put my reply after both comments.
DeleteThere are edible Boleti that stain blue, less violently and over time rather than immediately, that are edible and delicious (as e.g. B. appendiculatus or B. badius). I've eaten both and am still here. But, yep, blue food *is disconcerting; and it is assuredly a bad idea to eat something when you don't know what it is. (Which said, I have just had a Tunnock's teacake, and the filling in those is very evidently not from this planet...)
ReplyDeleteMade with real tunnocks?
DeleteNot these days. There's a factory outside Ecclefechan where they synthesise the 'flavor' (as likewise for Eccle cake). At least they're not still made from dunnock, though...
ReplyDelete