Friday 15 December 2017

The female Little Owl near the Albert Memorial was looking nervous ...


... because she was being scolded by two Mistle Thrushes ...


... a Blackbird ...


... and a pair of Jackdaws, all in her tree.


She stood her ground. If necessary, she could pop back into the hole.

The female owl at the Henry Moore sculpture also has a hole to retreat into, unlike her unfortunate mate whom I photographed the other day while he was being chased around by a Magpie.


A pair of Carrion Crows were affectionately preening each other near the Dell restaurant.


Later, more practical matters prevailed, and they flew down to grab some bread that someone was feeding to the Mute Swans.


A Magpie searched for worms and insects in fallen red maple leaves.


The wet area at the corner of the Dell is an ideal place to find worms, and a pair of Blackbirds is constantly at work there.


The splendid woman (whose name I still haven't discovered) who puts feeders in the Rose Garden which are constantly stolen has defiantly put two new feeders in the bush near the fountain. The pair of Coal Tits has returned, a welcome sight.


A Rose-Ringed Parakeet examined a hole in a plane tree, wondering if it would make a good shelter for cold winter nights.


A Moorhen flew on to a deserted table at the Lido restaurant to see if any food had been left. But it was only a pot of tea, so it went away.


None of the birds, not even the clever crows, have yet realised that the little paper tubes contain sugar and can easily be pecked open. I'm sure they will.

A young Herring Gull found an amusing toy and flew off to drop it into the water and pick it up again.


The plastic buoys at the Lido are endlessly fascinating to gulls. Here a Black-Headed Gull pecks a blue one.


A teenage Great Crested Grebe was fishing under the willow tree near the bridge. This is where the Little Grebes also fish, and the submerged branches are clearly a productive place.

9 comments:

  1. Funny you mention the sugar packets, because here in California I saw a Western scrub jay that must have figured it out, because s/he was collecting them 2 at a time and flying off with them, although they were flat sugar packets. I didn't see him open them, but he may have been stashing them away, which is what they do with acorns.

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    1. Interesting. I don't think the packets are waterproof enough to bury here, but it may be feasible in California.

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  2. Thank you for 'Blackbird Eats Worm'.

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  3. Not a video masterpiece but it captures a moment.

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    1. and for the 'hold the front page' title!

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    2. No, that would have been 'Worm eats Blackbird'.

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    3. in the case of the News of the World

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    4. Or, in the Sunday Sport, 'Space Worm Eats Blackbird on Moon.'

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    5. I'd forgotten about that lot. What a loss.

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