Paul gave me this pleasing picture of a Dunnock that he had taken near the bridge.
A Long-Tailed Tit found a larva on a dead twig.
A Pied Wagtail was looking for insects in the crevices of the grooved planking of the Bluebird Boats platform. Seeing one, she made a lunge for it.
The female Little Owl in the chestnut tree turned round and gave me a severe stare.
A young Great Crested Grebe fishing by itself was also mildly interested.
So was the speckled hybrid goose, but in this case the interest was that someone was throwing bread.
The white Mallard, who had come up the lake as far as the Lido, arrived for his share.
The Black Swan was with the Mute Swan cygnets. Their father was off bullying some other swans, so he had a few minutes of peace.
He used to like digestive biscuits, but has gone off them. But now he seems very keen on ordinary birdseed, which is better for him than biscuits.
At the east end of the Serpentine, a Cormorant balancing on a broken fence to dry its wings was caught by a sudden gust of wind, and had to flap furiously to avoid falling off.
The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull was on his usual perch on the Dell restaurant roof with his mate, and turned to look at her. It seems very odd to see a gull being affectionate, but they really do seem to be fond of each other.
That Gull's behaviour is so entirely unlike other gulls. He's a killing machine and a doting 'husband'. I would wish to know what an ethologist would make both of this gull's and the Black Swan's behaviour.
ReplyDeleteLots of birds looking at you with interest, Ralph. I think for them you're safely in the "good human - no need to flee" camp.
There's someone called Mario Ragucci who is commenting on the gull videos on my YouTube channel and seems to know a lot about the subject. I am beginning to think that, although this gull is bigger, stronger and more skilled at killing than other LBBs, if you studied any individual gull closely you would find much the same. This one is easy to observe because of the deep yellow colour of his legs and, of course, because I now know about his favourite places.
DeleteThanks for letting me know. He appears to know a good bit about gulls, so I'll be on the lookout for his comments.
DeleteI'm reading "Divorce among the gulls. An Uncommon Look at Human Nature" by William Jordan, but I haven't got to the gull part yet. It is a fascinating read though.
We (Łukasz and I) were back in the Park on Monday afternoon and met the Black Swan, who seemed unwilling to take digestive bix, but then discoverd they were quite nice if 'dunked' well first. I wishes I had taken a video. In the absence of this I will email my individual photos.
ReplyDeleteGlad you have reestablished contact with the Black Swan, and thanks for the pictures. Maybe he's remembering his old ways. When he was newly arrived he wouldn't touch digestive biscuits, dunked or not.
DeleteThank you for rediscovering the owl above the Albert memorial. An impudent parakeet was loitering around en empty hole yesterday morning (Wed) but she was there this morning,a little cross to find me looking up. Kim Fletcher
ReplyDeleteShe doesn't seem to be spending much time in the hole, and heaven knows where her mate is. I had a brief glimpse of a Little Owl flying lower down the hill this morning.
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