... the female in the oak tree near the Albert Memorial ...
... and, high in the same tree, her mate.
A flock of Long-Tailed Tits passed by.
We've had video of Starlings having a mass bath before, but it's still a pleasing spectacle.
Recently we had a picture of a Black-Headed Gull that had flown here from Lithuania. But this one's rings show that it's an Essex gull, hatched on a rubbish dump near Basildon.
A Lesser Black-Backed Gull was looking for worms in the enclosure of the Diana fountain. Unlike Herring Gulls, they don't patter their feet to bring up worms. They just peck at the ground, and seem to find plenty.
An Egyptian Goose was in the rapids bathing and scratching its head. I think it must have been itchy.
This is the original Diana fountain, now sited in the Rose Garden. But it has been in the park long before the princess was born. The statue on top is of the goddess Diana. She is shooting an arrow in the direction of the statue of Lord Byron in Park Lane, quite understandably.
The fountain has now become the home of a pair of Egyptian Geese.
There were four Grey Herons on the parapet of the Serpentine bridge.
The resident heron in the Dell finds fish both above the little waterfall ...
... and below it.
But for the fish it's a one-way journey, swept first over the weir from the Serpentine and down the big waterfall, then over this little one. For the rest of its course the Westbourne river flows in a uninviting pipe until it discharges into the Thames just above Chelsea Bridge.
The river used to flow into the Long Water where the Italian Garden is now, but when the Italian Garden was built around 1850 the water, which had become foul, was rerouted around the north edge of the park and now joins, and is diluted by, the little Tyburn Brook (not the same as the Tyburn river a mile to the east) and flows into the Serpentine near the Ranger's Lodge. The Long Water is now fed from a borehole.
Below the Italian Garden, a Cormorant caught a perch.
Have you ever thought of entering a photo competition? Some of the heron photos today are really great.
ReplyDeleteThe Dell does the job for you. It's been set up to be picturesque. All you do it point the camera at it and press the button.
DeleteI agree. Ralph would get a prize in any self-respecting photo competition.
DeleteYou do have the eye though, that knows when to press the shutter button. Not just chance ,I don't believe. (or the weeding out of lots on pics)
ReplyDelete