Sunday 12 November 2017

Our old friend the Black Swan was making eyes at one of the new teenagers ...


... who had become detached from the other three.


He may be choosing a girlfriend, but it's too early to say.

A Black-Headed Gull stared down from an umbrella at the Lido restaurant. They have beautiful soft dark eyes which give them a misleadingly gentle expression.


The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull was enjoying his latest kill in his usual spoit near the Dell restaurant. In this sunlit picture he looks almost as pale grey as a Herring Gull, but you can see his distinctive bright yellow feet. The angle of sunlight on a gull's feathers makes a great difference to its apparent colour.


He was circled by some hungry young gulls. Although you can never be sure with immature gulls if you can't see their wings, I think they are Lesser Black-Backs too, not just from their compact size and dark coloration, but because if a Herring Gull comes near when he's eating he usually attacks it.


Meanwhile on a nearby raft, a pair of Carrion Crows were finishing off his previous Feral Pigeon.


Another Carrion Crow was excited about something in a red maple tree beside the Serpentine. I couldn't see any reason for it.


A Jay stared from a tree, expecting a peanut ...


... and so did a Jackdaw. Bribery is the secret of getting birds to pose for the camera.


Starlings seem oddly fond of the small ornamental conifers in pots at the Lido restaurant. Evidently they harbour plenty of insects.


Not a large flock, but just two Long-Tailed Tits were flitting around inside the row of pleached lime trees at the edge of the Rose Garden. This is probably the pair that nested in a nearby bush this spring.


One of the pair of Coal Tits near the bridge perched in front of a pink-leafed bush.


The female Little Owl near the Henry Moore sculpture was outside her hole in spite of the keen chilly wind.

2 comments:

  1. When I was in the park last Monday, I watched the notorious Lesser Black-Backed Gull hunting pigeons by the restaurant. He caught one and took it into in the water. After a lot of flapping it escaped, and returned to feeding as if nothing had happened. I was secretly relieved because I didn’t really want to watch the gory spectacle!

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    Replies
    1. It's remarkable how they get away when all seems lost.

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