Tuesday 25 June 2019

Two Common Pochard ducklings on the Long Water are already skilled divers. But sadly, only these two remain of the original four.


The Mallard on the Serpentine has managed to keep her two.


Egyptians have moved into the palace. Virginia found this family in the Sunken Garden, where they had taken refuge after being chased off the Round Pond by the dominant pair with nine goslings.


An Egyptian at the island has seven goslings.


There are two pale Greylags that come every year to the lake to moult. We've seen the paler of the two. This is the other one, with a few darker feathers.


A Greylag is on the way to regrowing its flight feathers.


So is a Canada-Greylag hybrid.


A pair of Coots on the Long Water, made even more aggressive than usual by having chicks, attacked two Moorhens that were just minding their own business.


A Carrion Crow fed a loud demanding teenager beside the Serpentine.


Young Reed Warblers can be heard in the reed bed by the Diana fountain. One of the adults appeared for a few seconds.


The Little Owl near the Albert Memorial moved into a more visible place in the afternoon.


Mark took this pleasing picture of a Wren in the Flower Walk.


Tom was at Rainham Marshes, where he got a fine picture of a young Bearded Tit ...


... and a beautiful Marbled White butterfly.


He also got this remarkable shot of an Elephant Hawk-Moth and a Small Elephant Hawk-Moth.


Back in Kensington Gardens, this really is a Common Carder bumblebee, after I was deceived by a hoverfly mimic the last time I thought I'd found one. There were several in the wildflower patch at Peter Pan.

4 comments:

  1. That's a spectacular picture of both moths. But I'd really like to pet the Bumblebee, so fuzzy and hairy and rounded.

    Hell hath no fury like a Coot with young, it seems. Sheesh.

    Crow youngsters are too much like human youngsters.

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    1. Bumblebees are small flying teddy bears. It's impossible to resist their charm.

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  2. The delightful video of the diving pochard young reminded me of the equally compelling tufted duck young last year. Do we know what was behind the glut of tufted young and is it absent this year?
    The Egyptians must have braved the Broadway to get to the Sunken Garden. That would have been a sight.

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    1. No sign of breeding by the Tufted Ducks this year. Last year was a one off, for completely unknown reasons.

      I imagine the Egyptians made the perilous journey before the park opened at 6am.

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