Thursday 12 September 2019

There were three Spotted Flycatchers in Kensington Gardens today. Tom and I spent some time photographing and videoing them. This is Tom's best picture ...


... and this is mine.


I shot this video ...


... and here is Tom's.


A Starling shone in the sunlight on a chair at the Lido restaurant.


There were more at the Dell restaurant, chattering in the hawthorn tree as they waited to raid an unoccupied table for leftovers. One passed the time by picking hawthorn fruit. It dropped two before it got one.


The local Grey Heron was also waiting in the top of the tree.


On the only rowan tree on Buck Hill still to have fruit, this has been eaten right down to the lowest branches, so you can photograph the birds more or less on the level. The usual Mistle Thrushes ...


... were not disturbed by one of the Magpies that live in the trees.


Next to the bridge, a young Great Crested Grebe learned to fish by copying its parent.


The older teenagers on the Long Water can now fly.


An adult Moorhen could easily walk over the top of the little waterfall in the Dell.


But when the chicks tried to follow, look what happened.


Nothing daunted, they just climbed up again.

The gang of five Mallard teenagers are still keeping together. Here they are at Peter Pan.


A sunny autumn day brought a Willow Emerald damselfly out on to the spiked railings of the path below Buck Hill.


Autumn crocuses are out near the bridge.


Yesterday evening saw the millionth page view of this blog. It's taken nearly seven and a half years to get there.

11 comments:

  1. Congratulations, and please do continue!

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  2. Congratulations, from the heart of all of us! One million views for a blog in such times as these is an enormous achievement, and we are so, so proud and happy for you.

    Those adorable tiny wings on the moorhen chick! Mean lean climbing machine, they all are.

    Hoping to see some Flycatchers of our own soon. In the meantime, your and Tom's pictures ought to tide me over.

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  3. Thank you both for your good wishes.

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  4. Congrats, Ralph on your million. Well deserved.These chronicles of local patches are so informative and over time so valuable in recording the ups and downs of the birds and other wildlife.

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  5. Kαὶ ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῶν οἱ θεᾱταί μάτων μυριάδες μυριάδων, ἤκουσα τὸν ἀριθμὸν αὐτῶν. 

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    Replies
    1. Ὁ ἔχων νοῦν ψηφισάτω τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦ θηρίου.

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    2. show-offs, the both o' you.

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    3. Now, don't go apocalyptic on us!

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    4. Sometimes it's hard not to feel like that.

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  6. Only come across your blog recently and it is wonderful. Thank you ever so much and please keep blogging.

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