... and exchanging a twig.
It's not the nesting season and they never nest in the park anyway. They must have been carried away by the warm sunny day.
The young Great Crested Grebes on the Long Water were under the willow tree next to the bridge ...
... occasionally emerging into the open water where they could be seen from the parapet.
A Mute Swan having an enthusiastic wash on the Serpentine did two somersaults.
The Black Swan was just mooching around, but doing it with his usual elegance.
Two Nuthatches in the leaf yard came to take food from the railings.
The Little Owl was on a different branch of the chestnut tree, but after a certain amount of thrashing around in the brambles it was possible to find an angle to photograph her from.
A Long-Tailed Tit paused for a second in a horse chestnut tree at the bottom of Buck Hill.
The tree has been badly hit by leaf miner moth. The worst affected trees are in places where the grass isn't regularly mown, because the caterpillars collect here before walking up the trunk and on to the branches to eat the leaves. I feel sure that there is a sticky or poisonous substance that could be painted on to the trunk of the trees to intercept the caterpillars.
At the top of the hill, the annual harvest festival was in full swing, with stalls and displays of farm animals. A donkey and her foal were irresistible.
There was a pleasing giant Honeybee on one of the stalls.
A Garden Spider in the Dell was eating a fly.
I, too wonder what could be done to help the horse chestnuts; practically all I've seen in the last few years have been affected, every year. Worrying to think how long they can cope with this; I've read recently that the leaf miner itself doesn't kill them , but they can get weakened by it, and then they can get 'bloody canker', which does kill them. Worrying indeed.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visually very enjoyable swan washing and spider eating films.
It is indeed worrying.
DeleteThe swan's ablutions were hysterical. They are SO enthusiastic - I try watching GC Grebes washing, and always have to leave before the end of the performance, as they are incredibly thorough! I do enjoy the video clips - I'd be interested in footage (when available) of pochards, teal or shovelers, as I am working on my duck identification skills this winter.
ReplyDeleteI don't think our Black Swan would be caught dead doing something as undignified as turning somersaults. It must be granted, though, that what the Mute Swan lacks in elegance it more than makes up for it in enthusiasm.
ReplyDeleteLovely weather-confused Cormorants!
I think this -"The worst affected trees are in places where the grass isn't regularly mown, because the caterpillars collect here before walking up the trunk and on to the branches to eat the leaves. I feel sure that there is a sticky or poisonous substance that could be painted on to the trunk of the trees to intercept the caterpillars."
ReplyDelete- is wrong, they overwinter as pupae and then fly on the trees to lay more eggs in the leafs.
I think that mowing destroys some of the leaves (or they removed). The solution is to
"Collecting and burning fallen leaves in autumn will reduce the overwintering pupae
Alternatively, the leaves can be composted in sealed bags which should be kept closed until the following July, by which time any adult moths will have emerged and died "
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=533
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse-chestnut_leaf_miner
Thanks for the information. But practically, bagging the leaves of a very large park is impossible. Possibly the heat generated in the enormous compost heap in the leaf yard will kill the pupae. It's very noticeable in the park that trees under which the grass is mown are less affected than trees standing in rough grass.
DeleteSadly I think you are right, I wonder if mowing the grass moves the problem somewhere else or kills the moths.
ReplyDeletePersonally I suspect you are right and that the heat kills the pupae.