But as the laying of turf reduces the space available to Redwings on the Parade Ground, their numbers have fallen.
A Robin was sadly bedraggled.
The female Peregrine on the barracks tower stared down at me from over 400 feet away, able to see me much better than I could see her.
Feral Pigeons sheltering under the canopy of the Dell restaurant discovered a large piece of cake. It didn't last long under the onslaught.
On the roof directly overhead, the pigeon-eating Lesser Black-Backed Gull and his mate waited for them to come out.
The heavy rain died down to a drizzle, giving the Mute Swans at the Dell restaurant a chance to preen. They like to gather on the edge of the terrace, where the fence screens them from dogs.
Great Crested Grebes are not in the least disturbed by rain.
There was still a Moorhen on the sketchily made nest on the rock in the Dell stream.
But the Mallards a few feet a way have an unfortunate habit of turfing it off when they want to stand on the rock.
The Coots at Peter Pan persisted in building their foolishly sited nest ...
... while Death stood on the next post.
The Grey Heron nest that was successful last year is now being built up again for reuse.
A fine picture by Cindy Chen taken in better weather: a Treecreeper on an oak next to the leaf yard.
I visited the park this afternoon and saw 2 Great Created Grebes doing the weed dance. They were the far side of the Long Water from Peter Pan
ReplyDeleteThey start dancing early, but don't expect a successful nest for months. Not enough small fish at this time of year.
DeleteYou'd think after repeated encounters they'd learn to identify the peril gulls pose. For a bird Coots are remarkably, well, bird-brained.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how very much like some students of my acquaintance those pigeons are.
Going to miss the lovely Redwings when they finally depart.
It is sad to see Coots' apparently complete inability to learn from experience.
DeleteI hope you don't have a student-eating gull -- or in Extremadura probably an eagle.
Is there any special time that the peregrine is active? Or maybe I focus on the wrong tower. I've been there many times but still not lucky enough to see it.
DeleteI don't think so. Maybe the Peregrines' arrival on the tower is random, but perhaps not: the last two times I saw them was on a nasty wet windy day, possibly suggesting that their other day roost on the Metropole Hilton hotel in the Edgware road is more exposed.
DeleteWell maybe. I often went on windy sunny days. Thank you
DeleteLuke, please see the map here. But I'm deleting your comment as you should't be broadcasting your telephone number.
ReplyDelete