The male owl was some distance away in a tree north of the shelter. He's very small even by the standards of male Little Owls, which are smaller than females.
His mate was in a tree nearer the hole, glaring at a Rose-Ringed Parakeet that had cheekily perched in front of her.
Sometimes Little Owls can expel Stock Doves. The pair near the Albert Memorial managed this, and are still in possession of their hole. The female was there today.
The female Little Owl near the leaf yard was also looking out of her hole.
A Mistle Thrush in a tree near Hyde Park Corner was holding a beakful of moss and calling through it rather indistinctly. I think this is an invitation to its mate to start nesting.
In the Rose Garden, the male Chaffinch ...
... and one of the Coal Tits were waiting for me to fill the feeder.
When I did, the first customer was a Blue Tit. It holds the seed down on a twig with its feet and pecks little bits out of it.
A Magpie probed the bark of a tree near Queen's Gate, looking for insects.
This Great Crested Grebe on the Serpentine is still in winter plumage, long after the others have changed into their breeding finery.
A Coot preened on its nest in the willow tree next to the bridge.
The female Egyptian Goose who has never managed to bring up a single gosling in 14 years was also preening nearby.
The Egyptian Geese on the Round Pond still have four young.
A Gadwall drake on the Serpentine looked quietly elegant in the hazy sunshine.
A crocus attracted a honeybee. (I hope it's not yet another hoverfly pretending to be a bee.)
If the end of the world is coming, you might as well have a good rest before it starts.
I hope I will not sound insensitive, but is the sort of English written on the sign indicative of mental illness? Or is it just weak command of the language? It's puzzling. There are no obvious mispellings, and yet it is wholly ungrammatical.
ReplyDeletePoor guy, anyway.
Gadwall drakes are the epitome of elegance. Nothing gaudy or flashy about it. They'd make the top of the best dressed duck list if there was such a thing.
The thought is more disordered than the slightly wonky English, perhaps. If equally ungrammatical English were used on, say, a menu board outside a café, no one would think the writer was mad.
DeleteSeems schizophrenic, hearing voices from whatever their cultural background says they hear voices, usually of doom, or "gods" doom, whatever. Because, if your ability to discriminate real voices from imagined voices is not intact, it hinders your ability to get a job. Sign suggests schizophrenia.
DeleteOff topic, the gull video may hit the 100K views mark soon! https://youtu.be/xRPTBhmcyXY
ReplyDeleteWowee, who'd a thunk it?
DeleteIt's at 100.103 views right now!!
DeleteYay.
DeleteAgree, Honey Bee this time!
ReplyDelete