It's still taking the young Great Crested Grebes on the Serpentine quite a long time to catch each fish, and I've been waiting for a chance of a picture. But today this one caught two in 30 seconds.
The grebe chicks on the Long Water are still being fed by their tireless and devoted parents. The mother came in from the Serpentine carrying a fish and dodged the chick on the right, which had come out in front to be first.
Then she offered to fish to the other two chicks, but it seemed that they were already full and there were no takers. So she gave it to her mate.
I haven't seen this before. Grebes don't normally feed their mates, as they take it in turns to sit on eggs and look after chicks, and they get plenty of opportunity to feed themselves when not on duty.
The Black Swan was on the Long Water but later left, probably chased off by the resident pair of Mute Swans. Here he is on the Serpentine with a retinue of Coots.
The rowan trees on Buck Hill were full of Mistle Thrushes, as they will be till the birds have eaten the last berry.
The Little Owl at the leaf yard gave me a brief sidelong glance and settled back into her comfortable doze.
A Jackdaw struck a regal pose on the crown on top of one of the park's gas lamps.
This is a very ordinary picture of a Robin in the Rose Garden, but it records a moment. It had come to be fed when someone roared down the South Carriage Drive in a noisy Lamborghini, and it turned round and gave the car a look of disgust.
The Rose Garden feeder had a symmetrical pair of Rose-Ringed Parakeets on it. They must have been mates, as they weren't squabbling.
The tree in which the feeder hangs has produced some bizarre blue berries with red sepals. I have no idea what it is.
Update: Justyna C. tells me it's a Harlequin Glorybower, Clerodendrum trichotomum.
In the adjacent flower bed, a Common Carder bee was at work in a purple flower.
On Buck Hill there was large colony of wasps buzzing round an underground nest, probably an abandoned rabbit burrow.
A strange bloom of orange algae has appeared at the north end of the Long Water. I've never seen this kind in the park before.
I think that the shrub with ornamental blue berries is a Clerodendrum trichotomum (Harlequin Glorybower).
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the identification.
DeleteNot a Tree Bumblebee, Ralph which would have a very obvious white rear end. This is a Common Carder Bee, Bombus pascuorum, which seems to be the commonest bumblebee at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Have changed blog. Was actually wondering about it being a Common Carder, but its thorax seemed too fluffy.
DeleteThat Robin has surely a higher I.Q. than the (any?) Lamborghini driver.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to see that Coots are bowing down to their superior in size, beauty, and fighting skills. It shows some measure of self-reflection. On the other hand, the Black Swan has acquired a fearsome collection of bodyguards.