Tuesday 21 November 2017

As winter begins to grip, the small birds are getting hungrier, and plenty of Great Tits ...


... and Blue Tits came out to be fed.


There aren't so many Coal Tits in the park, and they are shyer than the larger birds, but a pair at the bridge often come to my hand when I go by.


Long-Tailed Tits never have anything to do with humans, and forage endlessly through the trees.


A Blackbird was poking around on the edge of Rotten Row, ignoring passing cyclists, and found a worm.


Two Carrion Crows had a crisp packet. One waited till the other one had gone before extracting the last crisp and letting the empty packet blow away.


The boats at Bluebird Boats are being cleaned, and the clumps of algae on the upturned hulls attract insects. A Pied Wagtail found a rowing boat a good place to hunt.


The boats in the water are useful to Great Crested Grebes, as fish lurk under them.


One of the teenage grebes at the bridge was still trying to beg from a parent, who took no notice. The youngsters have been catching their own fish for a couple of months now.


On the other side of the bridge a teenage Moorhen stood on a chain.


For several years the white Mallard drake has been inseparable from a female and one normal coloured drake. There are always more males than females, mainly because females are often predated while nesting, so these threesomes are common.


A Cormorant at Peter Pan somehow managed to perch on a very thin twig. Its webbed feet are better suited to flat surfaces.


This Black-Headed Gull has a ring numbered HA44432, showing that it's from Lithuania. It's a first-winter bird, and this is its first visit to England. It must have been shown the way by older Lithuanian gulls.


An adult was having difficulty swallowing a large piece of bread, but eventually managed it.


The female Little Owl at the Henry Moore statue made a brief appearance.

4 comments:

  1. I went to St James’s Park today and can confirm that the five Black Swans from Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens are all still there and looking well

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wonder how the Lithuanian gull ended up in a park in London. I wish someone would get inside a bird's head and be able to tell us what and how they think.

    The yellow leaf brings out perfectly the vivid yellow of the Great Tit's body.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We get gulls from farther away than that -- Finland, occasionally Russia. When you send in a ring report you get a history of sightings, and often find that the gull has been seen only in two very small areas, one in each country. My pet gull EY09813 has a winter territory that would fit on a pingpong table, and always perches on the same post if possible.

      Delete