Friday 31 August 2018

The two young Grey Herons were on the boathouse roof. They remain very friendly with each other. An adult heron, out of shot farther along the ridge, was probably one of their parents.


One carefully examined an ornamental wooden knob.


Later, one of them was down on the edge of the island picking small edible things out of the water, probably insect larvae. It will take it a while to learn an adult's fishing skills. Meanwhile it has to survive on what smaller items it can find.


A Cormorant was fishing in the mat of algae on the Long Water. There are plenty of fish sheltering in here, but the Cormorant's task is harder than it looks, as the algae extend up from the bottom of the lake and the Cormorant has to make its way through a dense underwater forest.


Soon it gave up and jumped on to a post at Peter Pan ...


... only just making it. Sometimes they fail and crash ignominiously into the water.


Some of the Tufted ducklings were diving nearer the shore.


It took three visits to Buck Hill to find the Kestrel, but eventually she appeared.


David Element took this fine picture yesterday as she flew out from the same tree.


The Mistle Thrushes were on the ground hunting for worms ...


... and the only visitors to the Buck Hill rowan trees were a Magpie ...


... and a Great Tit picking out larvae from the bark.


A Magpie had a brief splash in the little pool at the top of the Dell waterfall and flew off to dry.


A prettily marked black and white Feral Pigeon trotted around on the edge of the Serpentine.

2 comments:

  1. That's a very beautiful pigeon. Love its pretty red feet against the black and white.

    Cormorants look usually so ungainly when out of the water. In the water though they behave like little torpedoes, if torpedoes could fish.

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  2. It's easy to overlook the common urban pigeons, but some of them are very handsome creatures.

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