Wednesday 26 February 2020

This turf on the Parade Ground was laid only yesterday and the worms in the soil underneath haven't surfaced yet, but it seems to be full of little creatures that a Mistle Thrush was picking up.


There were three other Mistle Thrushes in the trees ...


... and all the Redwings were in trees while I was there. You can hear them chattering in the video above.


A Carrion Crow turned over bits of leftover turf, looking for worms and insects on the underside.


But the leftovers that crows like best are those at the restaurants. Here's a scene at the Lido restaurant, now reopened with smart new tables and chairs on the terrace.

Looks like a hamburger bun and some purple stuff.


Is the bun good? Yes, soaked in greasy meat juice.


We'll have that. [Takes it away and hides it.]


And the other bit.


Now what about the purple stuff? No ...


... we'll leave that for the Starlings.


A Grey Heron gathered twigs for a nest at the west end of the island.


The pair of Lesser Black-Backed Gulls that have been moving around the Long Water were on the ruined swan island. I don't think they intend to nest in the park.


However, I am fairly certain that the pigeon-eating pair do nest every year on the roof of the Dell restaurant, where unfortunately they can't be seen.

A Great Crested Grebe started a nest on a branch of the collapsed willow next to the bridge.


The pair of Moorhens in the Dell have started making a nest on the rock in the stream. But, as in previous years, they will probably find a better place. They have succeeded in raising some chicks every year for some time.


A solitary Moorhen can constantly be seen standing on the same post at the reed bed east of the Lido.

5 comments:

  1. I wonder what that purple stuff is. It cannot be any sort of flower, I hope (Spanish saying: "¿eres tonto o comes flores?", "are you a fool or do you eat flowers?", to call anyone a fool). However if the discerning taste of a Crow will not have it, surely it is not worth eating.

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    1. I think it's coleslaw with some red cabbage in it, or possibly beetroot. Crows don't like salad, but maybe the gluey, sugary fake mayonnaise dressing that they put on this stuff might have interested it for a moment.

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  2. Definitely trendy red cabbage coleslaw. No wonder the crow resisted.
    Nice sequence of images.

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    Replies
    1. Red cabbage is honest enough stuff but the dressing they put on it is unspeakable.

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