Saturday 25 August 2018

A pair of Whinchats perched on a scrubby plant on Buck Hill. They were the first Whinchats I've seen in the park, though they are already in the long-term list in the right column.


The female Kestrel perched in several trees around the edge of the hill to plunge down into the long grass after her prey.


She was persistently harrassed by a Magpie ...


... but there was time to have a scratch ...


... and catch a mouse.


She also crossed the Long Water and posed beautifully in a chestnut tree near the Italian Garden.


There were Mistle Thrushes in the rowan trees on Buck Hill ...


... and a Jay, which abandoned looking for fruit to beg for a peanut.


A young Wren perched on a bramble at the bottom of the hill.


There was a young Blackbird in the yew tree near the bridge, which must have hatched later than the others as it is still very juvenile in appearance.


A Treecreeper climbed an oak tree in the leaf yard.


The usual Rose-Ringed Parakeets were here to be fed by a crowd of weekend visitors. Some were on the ground looking for dandelion leaves, one of their favourite foods. There was competition for the few leaves left. One parakeet pulled another's tail to shoo it away.


A Wood Pigeon ate berries in a cotoneaster bush beside the Serpentine. They were a bit withered by the drought, but Wood Pigeons aren't fussy. Eventually she reached too far and fell down.


The second young Grey Heron has finally come down from the nest, and was looking for food along the shore of the island. The two siblings used to look exactly alike, but during its extra time in the nest this one's neck has got dark and dishevelled.


One of the Great Crested Grebe chicks from the west end of the island pestered its father, who pretended to be asleep.


A young Coot at Peter Pan pecked bark off a twig, perhaps to see if there were insects underneath.

9 comments:

  1. Hi! I just discovered your blog and I find it really great and very helpful :-) I am not very familiar with the different parts of the park: according to google maps, Buck Hill is near the Italian gardens, is that right? I have never seen whinchats! I will come in London on Monday and hearing the little owl would be awesome too. Thank you!

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    1. Thank you. Buck Hill is the hill that rises on the east side of the Long Water, with the West Carriage Drive -- the motor road through the park -- at its top. The Kestrel may be anywhere in this area. We heard a Little Owl calling from a tree at the southwest corner of the hill, and know that a pair has bred here, but it's a horse chestnut and the thick leaves make viewing impossible. Our Little Owls are being difficult at the moment.

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    2. Thank you! As planned I was in the park yesterday morning, I met the kestrel on Buck Hill :-) No luck with the Little Owls but I spotted a Coal Tit and some flocks of Long-tailed Tits.

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  2. Well done on the whinchat. Right place right time and bingo. It's a hard to find bird even in areas where it breeds.

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    1. It was one of Tom's friends who found the Whinchats, as he was sitting on a bench waiting for Tom to turn up. There eems to have been a general arrival of Whinchats, according to the London Bird Club Wiki.

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  3. Oh wow, congratulations on the Whinchats! It must have been a very thrilling momen when you first saw the pair.

    I love to bits today's photoshoot of the female Kestrel. She is the Park's supermodel. Eat your heart out, Cindy Crawford!

    Perhaps the Grebe parent is truly asleep?

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    1. Birds seldom go completely to sleep, and I'm sure that the grebe parent knows the chick is there and just doesn't want to be bothered any more. The chicks are very well fed, but they just won't shut up.

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  4. Excellent sighting of the whinchats

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    1. Quite a lot were seen in different parts of London.

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