He was chased by another Greylag, but restored his pride by chasing a third one before returning to his mate.
A Canada Goose is again nesting on the tern raft in the Long Water, and I think I could see an egg, which appears in several of the pictures I took. There is no way for goslings to get off the raft, and when this happened a couple of years ago the family had to be rescued.
Some Red-Crested Pochards have returned to the Serpentine after several weeks' absence. They fly in from Regent's Park or St James's Park at random, as the mood takes them.
The Great Crested Grebes at the island are hanging on to the Coots' nest they have stolen. One stayed on guard while the other was off fishing, returning with a green Harrods bag to add to the nest.
Coots often nest in silly places, but this is the silliest yet. Virginia took this picture on her smartphone.
A Moorhen seems to be nesting in a patch of irises in the Sunken Garden. It's too early to tell whether it has decided to stay there.
The Moorhen nesting on a rock in the Dell seems to be staying put.
A small flock of Pied Wagtails flew down on to the grass near the small boathouses, where they ran around looking for insects. It's impossible to film the flock together, as they keep their distance from each other when hunting.
The pair of Blackbirds on the south side of the Dell were looking for worms in the muddy verge of the bicycle track.
A Dunnock searched for bugs in the shrubbery next to the bridge.
One of the Nuthatches in the leaf yard came down to my hand several times.
The familiar Blue Tit in the Rose Garden could hardly wait for the feeder to be filled, and was on it in seconds to get a sunflower seed.
A Robin perched on a new wooden fence at Kensington Palace.
When I arrived at the Little Owls' tree near the leaf yard, I just saw the tail of an owl disappearing into the hole as a Magpie landed on the edge.
But a few minutes later, when the Magpie had gone, the female owl came out and perched on the little dead branch above the hole.
Ok, we have a case worthy of a Guinness record: most absurd nesting site. I shudder to think what they'll do next to top this.
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty of dangerous machines in the park. I don't think we've reached peak foolishness yet.
DeleteThose canada geese nest in some silly places! Last sunday i seen a flock of about 8 RC pochard in the serpentine, so they have been about. The female little owl near the leaf yard that i seen last weekend was getting tortured by a magpie, and thats what alerted me to her presence. Any sign of the tawny owls ralph?
ReplyDeleteThe Tawnies have often been heard at night, but no one can find their trees despite a lot of searching. We think from sound alone that there are three pairs in Kensington Gardens, and a minimum of one pair in Hyde Park. And yet we can't see them. It's annoying.
ReplyDeleteHmm thats interesting! Tawnies are usually quite easy to find. I seen a nice tawny looking tree at the edge of the round pond infront of the palace last weekend. What brought my attention to it was a magpie going crazy and swooping at something in the fork, just out of view.
ReplyDeleteA few months ago a gardener saw a Tawny Owl in a young oak tree at the corner of the Sunken Garden. This wouldn't have been a nest tree, though, as it was too young to have holes. Plenty of mature trees nearby. A Tawny has also been seen in a horse chestnut at the NW corner of the Diana playground, inside the paling fence that surrounds the playground here. But these are single sightings and no one has been able to repeat them.
DeleteIf i loved close to hyde park and not in Northern Ireland then id make it my duty to find a tawny nest as i love them. We dont get tawnies or little owls here so when i do see them in england its a real treat.
ReplyDeleteSeveral people have spent many hours trying to find the Tawnies' day roosts in Kensington Gardens, without success.
Delete