But there was a clattering sound of young herons begging, and it was coming from the other nest, higher up in a tree to the left. This nest is almost invisible, but aparently it has already produced one young heron earlier this year. Movement could be seen among the leaves, and I tried vainly to get a shot of something happening behind the leaves. Then an adult heron shot out of the top of the tree.
The Great Crested Grebes nesting in the fallen poplar on the Long Water are hard to see from across the lake, and I thought they only had two chicks. But four were on view today. This brings the total of grebe chicks in the park to eleven.
One of the Little Grebes from the Long Water came out from the shelter of the bushes on to the open water of the Serpentine. It wasn't doing anything very interesting, but it was pleasing to see it close up.
The Coots' nest under the balcony of the Dell restaurant was an impressive feat of engineering, stacked up in two feet of water without a branch to support it. The Coots now have four teenage chicks, three of which can be seen here, and don't need a nest any more. But they can't stop adding more and more twigs to their creation.
This is the Coots' nest at the Serpentine outflow, where the chicks fall down the weir. Yesterday a chick was calling from inside the stone arch, at the bottom of the weir. It was still calling today, and a parent emerged, having fed it.
Out of sight behind the nest is a sloping plank which was put in to allow the chicks to get out when they fell down, but for some reason they have never managed to climb up it. But adult Coots can. If this chick survives it should be able to get out at some time. Moorhens have nested actually inside the arch somewhere, before the plank was put in. They are much better climbers than Coots, and adults and chicks were able to come and go as they pleased.
Moorhens have nested under the platform at Bluebird Boats, a good sheltered place. There are four chicks.
I photographed this Moorhen sitting in an odd penguin-like pose three days ago. Today it was in the same position in the same place on the edge of the Serpentine.
The Tufted Duck family with six ducklings were in their usual place east of the Lido.
There was no sign of the family with five. But the family with seven on the Long Water could be viewed from the bridge.
There was also a Mallard here with six ducklings.
Both were busy in the stringy water weed. There are probably small creatures among the weed which attract omnivorous ducks.
However, the weed at the north end of the Long Water has disappeared and been replaced with duckweed, which a family of Coots were enjoying.
The unusual blond Greylag Goose on the Serpentine rinsed its pale feathers. It's still in the middle of moulting and hasn't yet regrown its flight feathers.
The Long-Tailed Tits were back in the little rowan tree beside the leaf yard where I photographed them yesterday. It must have a good population of insects.
The male Little Owl came into sight for a moment before flying into an invisible place in the top of the chestnut tree.
The hot weather brings changes to London's wildlife.
This picture was taken in St Alban's Grove, a few hundred yards south of Kensington Gardens.
Hi Ralph,
ReplyDeleteI found an injured juvenile Egyptian goose this morning when I came down to give them some seeds. He was lying on the ground panting looking poorly. So I picked him up, his leg was wounded at the knee joint and bleeding.... was it a dog attack or collision with a cyclist?
I wanted to take him to the Boathouse but it was too early and no one was in but I managed to meet a park person who looked like an office worker and he said he would take him to the sick pen but since it is a non-native invasive species he will have to be put down. He looked very sick. He also said he could be suffering from avian botulism and subsequently injured by a dog rather than a primary attack on the grass. Apparently they had a problem the disease this year due to how long the heatwave has been going on. Have you heard of any birds dying on the lake this year? Perhaps in other Royal Parks?
A shame about the little Egyptian. They are not a problem in the park and their numbers are falling steadily, probably owing to predation by gulls. It would have been better to leave it alone to take its chances.
DeleteYes, I've heard of cases of avian botulism this year. The organism is always present (take that, Lido bathers) but waterfowl can tolerate low levels. Only when the level rises do some of them become affected.
Perhaps there is a chance that one of the doomed Coot chicks may survive. Let us keep the hope.
ReplyDeleteThat Moorhen is sitting very oddly. I hope there is nothing the matter with it.
I have been puzzling over the picture of the two tigers and I do not know yet what they are, or what they are for. The Lord moves in mysterious ways.
Four grebe chicks! That must be some kind of record, right?
That Moorhen can walk perfectly well when it stands up.
DeleteThe record in the park for the number of chicks hatched and fledged is five, by the same pair in 2003 and again in 2004. The male was recognisable by his very dark colouring. We called him Supergrebe. In 2004 they nested in the open on the chain next to the bridge. It was the year the Diana fountain was opened, greeted by a violent storm that washed away their nest. They rebuilt it. There was a hot spell, as hot as now, and they were so uncomfortable on the nest that they had to change over every ten minutes. As soon as all five eggs were hatched, they took the chicks under the bridge and never went back.
Forgot to say: giant stuffed tigers are given away as fairground prizes here.
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