Monday 30 September 2019

The Reed Warbler family at the east end of the Lido are still here. Three of them could be glimpsed flitting around the red stems of a patch of dogwood. (Update: Tom thinks it's a Chiffchaff, and he's probably right, though this is certainly where the Reed Warbler family was earlier.)


A Dunnock lurked under a bench beside the Lido ticket office.


A Wren hopped about in the undergrowth beside the Long Water.


A Long-Tailed Tit hung upside down from a twig.


Mistle Thrushes landed in the dark-leafed maple tree on Buck Hill.


Two Jackdaws waited on the bridge to be given peanuts.


A Carrion Crow bathed in the Serpentine.


A Moorhen in the Dell built a day nest while one of the three chicks wandered through the plants on the bank.


Two of the three Great Crested Grebe chicks at the east end of the island practised fishing together. Of course they aren't catching anything yet. Their devoted parents are still on hand to feed them, though a Black-Headed Gull tried to interfere.


The chick from the other end of the island was pulling at a floating twig. Maybe it was playing, or perhaps some snails had collected on the twig, as they tend to do on any floating object.


I'm not sure whether this Greylag Goose was playing with a stick, or whether it was trying to chew off the bark and eat it.


A young Egyptian Goose at the Vista, not yet full grown, extended its large wings. It seems strange that the Egyptians in the park, so well equipped for flight, never seem to go anywhere.


Pochards rested under the trees beside the Vista. There are about forty of them on the Long Water now.

4 comments:

  1. Agree top bird is a Chiffchaff- quite a few now moving around in mixed tit flocks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, if I were an Egyptian, I wouldn't want to leave the park, either!

    Do Grebes play with twigs usually, as gulls do?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not usually. Young grebes play games with each other. It's also unusual in geese.

      Delete