The other Coot family at the east end of the Serpentine enjoyed an idle moment on a warm afternoon.
The Moorhen pair in the Dell and their three chicks were wandering around on the grass.
Two Moorhens with the same parents, but from different broods, rested together on the edge of the Serpentine. The older one is just emerging from its teenage brown phase and is getting back the colour in its bill. The younger one is fading into the brown phase and losing colour.
One of the young Grey Herons from the nest on the island prowled around under the small waterfall in the Dell. There is a good assortment of fish of all sizes in this little stream.
The other one was at the island, preening on a post. The two, once inseparable, have now retreated into the usual heron isolation.
A pair of Mute Swans courted at the Vista.
The Mallard family at the Round Pond rested on the edge, eyed by an inquisitive Feral Pigeon. The young drakes are just beginning to get their green heads. They are still too young to fly.
Long-Tailed Tits passed through the horse chestnut trees in front of the Serpentine Gallery.
A Blue Tit came down to the little pool at the top of the Dell waterfall.
At the bottom of the Dell, a Grey Wagtail raced up and down the little stream, and paused for a moment on a rock.
A young Pied Wagtail hunted along the edge of the lake under the Lido restaurant terrace.
Several Migrant Hawker dragonflies were flying around the reed bed to the east of the Lido.
A pair of Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters charged up the lake at low altitude.
Don't the Wildcats look a bit like the Hawker dragonfly? There is some family resemblance.
ReplyDeleteHerons are such strange creatures. Gawky and yet lelegantly lethal, companionable at first and later going strictly their own way.
There are helicopters that do look quite like dragonflies, especially the old Bell 47 and Alouette II, but the Wildcat is a pig-ugly lump of a thing covered with bizarre protuberances.
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