Tuesday 6 August 2019

The Tufted Duck with her six ducklings passed under the bridge, giving a top view from the parapet. At last the tiny ducklings are beginning to get a bit larger.


The single duckling on the Serpentine was with its mother.


The two Mallard ducklings on the Long Water are growing up fast, and already have most of their adult plumage.


I didn't see the family of five, nor the Pochard family which is now hard to spot as quite a lot of Pochards have now arrived on the lake.


The Great Crested Grebes from the new nest on the Long Water definitely have at least two chicks. This very distant picture is the first one I've got that clearly shows two little stripy heads on the parent's back.


The two chicks from the nest on the fallen poplar were playing together.


It's only just possible to see the nest at the east end of the island through the purple loosestrife.


Some of the newly arrived group on the Serpentine are still staying together.


The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull knows perfectly well that if he runs straight at a group of pigeons in the open they will scatter faster than he can grab one. But the temptation is impossible to resist.


The Reed Warbler family were still audible in the reed bed under the Diana fountain, and the parents were coming out to get insects from the flower bed across the path.


There was a young Jay in a tree near the Italian Garden.


Its parents are still feeding it, and this one has lost most of the feathers on its face from the youngster's frantic grabs.


Some of the young Carrion Crows are still begging in their noisy and theatrical way.


There are now plenty of ripe berries of various kinds, and the Blackbirds are enjoying them.


This morning I couldn't find the Little Owl until a Stock Dove, which hadn't seen it either, accidentally landed almost on top of it. The owl fled, and the Stock Dove stood on the branch looking bemused.


Later the male owl came out on a branch for a short time, but by then the wind was beginning to get up and it didn't stay out.

2 comments:

  1. I swear doves are more intelligent than most human teenagers, but that particular doves does not look very bright.

    What do young grebes do for play?

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    Replies
    1. They practise the adult greeting ritual, or just chase each other about. And of course they dive, presumably practising fishing. It's hard to separate practice and play.

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