Friday 4 October 2019

Another day, another Little Owl. This time it was the male of the pair near the Albert Memorial, in the same horse chestnut tree as the last sighting four weeks ago.


Even on a chilly autumn day a sunny spell starts the Starlings singing, an odd mixture of chattering, whistling and knocking sounds.


A Blackbird ate yew berries in the tree near the bridge.


The usual Coal Tit was here waiting to be fed.


The pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull had moved to the shore below the Triangle car park, a good hunting ground because people feed the birds here in a messy and indiscriminate way and attract a lot of Feral Pigeons.


When he had eaten his fill he washed the blood off his face. He is very particular about his appearance. He is now in winter plumage, with dark streaks on his head.


He left the remains for a couple of Carrion Crows to finish.


A Black-Headed Gull had to be content with a bit of bread, but seemed quite pleased with it.


Behind them on the grass people were doing the Downward Dog.


The moored pedalos at Bluebird Boats shelter a mass of small perch. Six Cormorants were fishing under the boats.


So were the Great Crested Grebes from the east end of the island, catching a fish every few seconds to feed their three hungry chicks.


A pair of Gadwalls dipped for algae at the edge of the Serpentine.


Joan Chatterley was in St James's Park, where she got a good picture of the young Black Swan with a parent. Its little wings now have stripy feathers. Swans' wings develop very slowly and are not usable until the bird has grown to adult size.


The young Mute Swan on the Serpentine is four months old and can now fly competently.


Wasps were walking all over the top of a rubbish bin. Probably someone had spilt a sugary drink over it.

2 comments:

  1. I love the devotion and love with which the Grebe parent looks at its chick.

    Gulls are so fastidiously tidy. No matter what they help themselves to, be it the contents of a dustbin or blood and guts, they always come up spotlessly clean.

    Marvellous picture of the Black cygnet showing its stripey feathers.

    ReplyDelete