Monday 8 July 2019

The Coot nest on the weir, repeatedly rebuilt after being washed away, finally has a chick in it. This video was shot straight downwards from the balustrade.


Two pictures from another angle. As usual with Coots, when one bird brings food -- in this case a larva -- it's passed to the other one to give to the chick.



The nest nearby at the Dell restaurant is decorated with a crisp packet. But, typically for the park, it's from Oman.


The nest in the boathouse has two chicks in it. Sad to say, they don't have a chance, because when they fall off the platform into the water they can't get back.


The Great Crested Grebes at the island fed a feather to their chick.


The Mallard with six ducklings brought them up under the parapet of the Italian Garden, where the big fountain stirs up the silt and all kinds of nutritious food is to be found.



A Grey Heron in the Italian Garden fountains stared hungrily down at passing carp, but they are all too big for it to catch.


A Lesser Black-Backed Gull beside the Serpentine pecked at a crayfish head.


Just next to it, a Carrion Crow extracted the last drops of ice cream from the tip of a cone.


Another pulled a Red Bull can out of a bag. It absolutely does not need something that 'gives you wings'.


A Great Spotted Woodpecker perched in an awkward place at the top of a tree beside the Long Water.


The Little Owl was out on the oak tree near the Albert Memorial.


Ahmet Amerikali found what must have been a family of Chiffchaffs in the Rose Garden, but the different angles of the light make them look quite different from each other, and from the accepted image of a Chiffchaff.



He also took this fine shot of a male Black-Tailed Skimmer dragonfly, looking much smarter than these rather drab blue-grey insects usually do.


It was the day the winged ants come out, and they could be seen in several places around the lake. This one was in the Italian Garden.

2 comments:

  1. Are Red Bulls dangerous for birds? I guess so, considering the caffeine content.

    The Little Owl looks so adorable it almost hurts.

    Weird thing about Coots is their expression. They have such an innocent look in their faces, few would take them for the war machines they are.

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    Replies
    1. Starlings drink the undissolved sugar from coffee cups without apparent ill effects. But I wouldn't like to see how a crow full of caffeine would behave.

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