Robins don't sing quite all the year round. They take a break in July, after they have brought up their young. Now the couples have split up till the next breeding season and taken their separate territories, which both sexes sing to defend.
Both the Little Owls in the oak tree near the Albert Memorial were on view, though one remained obstinately turned away.
Young Black-Headed Gulls look misleadingly gentle with their soft colours and big dark eyes.
The Great Crested Grebe chick at the island is now old enough to spend most of its time in the water.
One of the two chicks from the nest on the fallen poplar constantly stays away from the parent guarding them. It is expecting the other parent to come along with a fish, and wants a head start to get to it first.
Grebe parents are wise to this trick, and if a chick has been fed more than the other one they will dodge around it.
A grebe on the Serpentine was carrying a bit of weed in a purposeful manner towards the reed bed at the east end of the lake.
This would be a good place for a nest if only they had the good sense to go behind the netting surrounding the reeds, which only reaches down to water level. But they have never grasped the idea, and build in an exposed position on the outside of the net.
A Moorhen hurried across the Vista with a piece of bread ...
... which it fed to a chick in the shelter of the bushes. There are two chicks here.
One of the new Coot chicks under the marble fountain on the edge of the Italian Garden gets fed occasionally, but duckweed is so easy to eat that it really doesn't need any help.
The Coots with a nest on the posts at Peter Pan, having lost three broods to the gulls in this impossible place, are now building up their nest yet again.
The Mallard with two ducklings came over to Peter Pan.
The other Mallard mother, not seen for a while, was there too. She has lost one and is down to five, but it's still a remarkable effort.
The Pochard was out in the middle of the lake near the Vista, still with two ducklings.
I've been neglecting the Egyptian Geese lately. There is a new family near the island with five goslings.
A singing Robin, yaaaay!! I miss them so much.
ReplyDeleteThat mother Mallard is doing an unexpectedly splendid job with its ducklings.
I wonder if Grebe chicks doze on the water quite like adults do? It is very funny to see them gently bounced up and down by the water as if they were so many pieces of cork.
I have seen Great Crested Grebe chicks dozing, but I think their constant hunger keeps them awake more than adults.
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