Saturday 21 September 2019

The Serpentine was a scene of chaos with a mass swimming event. Hundreds of people were thrashing their way around a course extending right along the lake.


The Mute Swans took refuge on the shore.


The teenager from the Long Water, not seen on its home territory for some time, had returned and was with its father at Peter Pan.


I think it had been on the Serpentine, unnoticed because the other teenage swan there is the same age and looks very similar.

The Cormorants had also moved on to the Long Water.


The Great Crested Grebe family from the east end of the island had been driven off their usual place and came in near the shore. The chicks were at their noisiest and most insistent.


Black-Headed Gulls were interfering with feeding. A parent carrying a fish surfaced just in front of a chick to avoid them.


The gull pounced, but the grebe was too fast for it and had already dived.


It's only very seldom that a gull successfully grabs a fish from an agile grebe, but that doesn't stop them from trying.

Another grebe was hemmed into a corner near the Dell restaurant with Blondie the Egyptian Goose.


One of the Spotted Flycatchers could be seen on the larch tree near the bridge.


The local small birds came down to be fed. A Blue Tit gave the camera a serious stare.


A Robin perched on a twig in the shade.


A flock of Long-Tailed Tits passed by.


Farther along the path a Wren lurked in a bush.


There are hens in the allotment again. The previous lot had been taken by a fox that had somehow managed to get through the strong wire netting of their enclosure.


Three Migrant Hawker dragonflies chased each other round the Italian Garden. One paused on an iris leaf just long enough for a quick picture.

4 comments:

  1. Where is the allotment ? (have not yet stumbled across it)

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    1. At the top of Buck Hill next to the park offices.

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  2. The Flycatcher would make a splendid Christmas postcard.

    I confess to being a bit disappointed. I half expected swans to tear into swimmers and put the fear of God into them by breaking a few arms. The distinguished Mr Asbo is sadly missed.

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    1. Before the Olympics in 2012 they kidnapped a large family of swans on the Serpentine and kept them confined at Marlow, up the river, where one of them died. The rest were eventually brought back.

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