In the same bush there was also a female Great Tit, slightly tatty fom nesting, who came out again and again to collect pine nuts for her young.
One of the Grey Wagtails nesting under the little plank bridge at the foot of the Dell waterfall was flying off a rock to catch insects for its young.
Here is a view of the same rock taken from the top of the waterfall. The wagtail has collected a beakful of insects.
This is the kind of insect it is feeding on, a chironomid midge, of which there are millions in the park.
The male Little Owl near the leaf yard was preening.
There's another new brood of Egyptian Geese on the Serpentine near Bluebird Boats. One of the chicks was trying to climb on to its mother's back.
Eventually it managed.
And there's yet another new Egyptian family on the other side of the lake.
The Egyptians at the Triangle car park, which can't get to a patch of grass during the day, were eating various small plants in the shrubbery.
No change in the number of Greylag goslings ...
... or Canada goslings.
The Mute Swans on the Serpentine still have five cygnets. Virginia told me that when she first saw them several days ago there were six.
I couldn't find the swan family on the Long Water, which must have been under a bush somewhere.
If you are a Coot and a swan wants to stand on your nest, you have no option but to give in.
The Coot nest under the Dell restaurant balcony now has two chicks in it. There are still 11 eggs waiting to hatch.
The Great Crested Grebes at the island are trying to nest again. However, they have let the Coot nest they stole fall to pieces and are unlikely to be able to mend it -- which is good news for their half-grown chicks.
Tom sent this interesting picture of a pair of Gadwalls mating. They are gentler ducks than Mallards, where the drake would have grabbed his mate by the scruff of the neck to stop her from escaping.
So the Coots are going to recover their nest and rebuild it after all. Doubtless they will move on to reclaim the abandoned nest. They always win in the end.
ReplyDeleteBrave little Coot, trying to stand up to that giant!
The little Egyptian looks almost smugly triumphant. And great to see a glimpse of the white faced Blackbird's teenager.
Gosling: "We like to hop on top of pop". Mother [however you can tell this] thinks sigh, it's momma.
ReplyDeleteThat's possibly a sawfly on the buttercup, certainly not a midge, wrong pic? Jim.
I'm afraid that isn't what a chironomid midge looks like as that is a sawfly, Ralph!
ReplyDelete