Saturday 12 October 2019

A dismal drizzly day, but Tufted Ducks don't mind.


More Gadwalls have arrived on the Long Water.


The single Great Crested Grebe chick from the west end of the island wandered around by itself, waiting for its parents to bring a fish. It doesn't have much fun on its own, while the three chicks from the other end of the island play happily together.


A Moorhen at the Lido inspected a purple plant for possible insects ...


... while a Robin sang in an olive tree.


The frantic splashing of a group of bathing Starlings is fun to watch.


The usual Great Tits came out on the holly bush near the bridge.


This Blue Tit was on the other side of the Long Water in a place where I've never fed a Blue Tit before, yet it came to my hand. They are much more cautious than Great Tits about approaching humans.


A Jackdaw on an urn in the Italian Garden deftly caught a peanut I threw to it.


The Rose-Ringed Parakeets have torn down all the pods on the catalpa trees but, being messy and wasteful feeders, they have left a lot of intact pods on the ground from which beans can still be extracted.


A Grey Heron on a perilously thin birch branch on the island ignored a parakeet that had just landed in front of it.


It's difficult to shoot video on a wet day because the little Lumix camera isn't weatherproof, so here's one I made earlier. A fox dozed under the Henry Moore sculpture, another passed through the Dell to lie up in the bushes till nightfall.


Several clumps of dandelions beside the path below the Queen's Temple have sprouted odd white leaves. Update: Conehead54 says they're Creeping Thistle. But that doesn't answer the question of why they've gone white.


The rain has brought up plenty of mushrooms. These Horse Mushrooms were on the lawn east of the Dell.


These small grey ones were growing in a place where a tree stump was grubbed out near the Serpentine Gallery. My best guess is that they are Grey Shag mushrooms, Coprinopsis cinerea, but if they aren't Mario will probably put me right. C. cinerea is one of those species that geneticists enjoy playing around with, and its genome has been sequenced. It is the source of an antibiotic substance that might be medically useful.


Update: Mario thinks it may be the Fairy Inkcap or Trooping Crumble Cap, Coprinellus disseminatus.

A splendid picture by Fran to lighten up a dull day: a Red Deer stag at Bushy Park, roaring and raking up bracken with its antlers, something that stags do as the rutting season approaches.

9 comments:

  1. That is a breathtaking picture of the stag. They can be fearsome when they want to.

    Clever Jackdaw! I wonder if Blue Tits talk to each other about the tall kind man who feeds thema daily, and that is why they they'd approach even in unfamiliar spots.

    Starlings are good at synchronizing with each other, even at bathtime.

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    1. I'm always amazed at the way a flock of Starlings can take off simultaneously, apparently with no leader and no consultation.

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  2. Have been away so haven't seen so much of the blog but some fine photos. The Dandelions look like Creeping Thistle to me though!

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    1. Thanks. Any idea why several clumps several feet apart should suddenly sprout white leaves? If the plant 'creeps' the clumps are probably part of the same individual.

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  3. Difficult to be sure from a photo without looking at other features and at the substratum, but to me the mushroom looks like Coprinellus disseminatus
    Mario

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    1. Coprinopsis cinerea is typically found growing on dung, while Coprinellus disseminatus grows on wood (and you said that there was a tree stump there, bits of which are likely still to be buried)
      Mario

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    2. Thank you. The site is on the path that leads from the bridge past the Serpentine Gallery to Palace Gate, roughly opposite the gallery and on the far side of the path from it. The caps were showing signs of falling apart if not actually deliquescing.

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  4. Apparently these whitish leaves on Creeping Thistle can be caused by either a rust fungus or a particular bacterium- not sure if you can tell which of these without doing pathological tests on them.

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  5. Thanks for the information. It's splendid to have so many expert readers on this blog.

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