... and Dunnocks put up with it ...
... but only Blackbirds seem to really enjoy rain, and come out to feast on the worms it brings up.
A Chaffinch poked about in the bushes near the bridge ...
... and the usual Coal Tit was waiting in the holly tree.
This is a picture by Michael Johanssen of a Great Tit taking a pine nut from my hand.
People on the Lido restaurant terrace often can't resist hand feeding the thronging Starlings.
The pampered Rose-Ringed Parakeets don't always get it their own way. Sometimes squirrels steal the apples that visitors put out for them.
Someone had put down some mixed birdseed on the edge of the Serpentine, and a Common Gull was making the most of it.
The two young Great Crested Grebes from the nest near the bridge are now able to look after themselves. They are still with their parents -- one with each parent -- and begging occasionally, but I don't think they're being fed any more.
The three at the island are younger and still need feeding. One of them prodded its sleeping father to get some service.
It was the day of the Hyde Park half marathon, and a band of drummers did their best to gee up the tail enders as they plodded painfully past.
When the last one had gone by, three young Egyptian Geese thought it would be a good idea to lie down in the middle of the road.
This is one of four reliefs of children in the Italian Garden. They are playing at shepherds and shepherdesses.
In 1860, when the Italian Garden was built, there were sheep in the park, used to keep the grass down. The shepherd lived in the Shepherd's Cottage in Shepherd Market on the other side of Park Lane, which was just a lane then rather than a busy main road. Sadly, the cottage was destroyed in the Blitz.
Sheep are still used to keep grass down in the dehesas here. Some farmers even use them to mow grass down to prevent fires.
ReplyDeleteI must confess both my husband and myself are green with envy seeing the Great Tit and the Starlings tamely coming to the hand.
Sheep were reintroduced during World War II, to save petrol. But I fear that today's feral dog owners would make it impossible to do it again, even with temporary fencing stronger than the wattle hurdles originally used.
DeleteAn interesting ambiguity in your comment as to whether the dogs or their owners are feral, possibly both!
ReplyDeleteI meant the owners. The dogs simply mirror the humans' personalities.
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