Monday 16 March 2020

A male Reed Bunting perched in a tree to the east of the Lido before flying to the Diana memorial reed bed.


A few days ago I got a momentary glimpse of a female flying into the same reed bed. There was a pair here last year.

Now that the main structure of the Long-Tailed Tits' nest in the Rose Garden is complete, the birds are bringing feathers to make a comfortable warm lining. The larger feathers are a bit difficult to get in through the entrance.


A lot of work is still to do, and they are coming and going every few minutes.


There's another Long-Tailed Tits' nest in the Rose Garden, in a broom bush. It's very hard to see and impossible to photograph, but here's a picture of one of the birds perched in the bush.


The nest at the Lido is advancing, but you can't get a clear view of the work going on.


A Green Woodpecker preened high in a tree beside the Long Water. The shy bird was disturbed by the rattling of a child's tricycle on the path below and retreated round the back of the trunk.


A Magpie had a wash in the Serpentine.


The female Little Owl in the lime tree near the Henry Moore sculpture came out in the morning ...


... and the male in the oak near the Albert Memorial in the afternoon.


A Treecreeper was climbing higher up in the tree.


A Great Crested Grebe mooched peacefully on the Serpentine ...


... while two Coots enjoyed a fight.


A pair of Coots on the Long Water restarted work on their desperately unsuccessful nest in the dead willow tree. They still haven't managed to make any twigs stay in place.


Gadwalls are discreet ducks and have a very quiet quack. They were interrupted by the much louder snort of a supposedly Mute Swan.


The Black Swan on the Round Pond was looking very fine in the sunlight.


This pair of dolls hanging on a magnolia flower is a martenitsa. Bulgarians traditionally wear these from Baba Marta Day, the first of March, until they find a blossoming tree to hang them on.


Tom was at Rainham Marshes, where he got an interesting picture of a Grey Heron eating a Common Newt.

6 comments:

  1. Poor newt. Herons are weapons of mass destruction.

    The black swan is looking particularly fine, indeed. But the gorgeousness accolade must go to the LOng-Tailed Tit perched in the bush.

    Wait, that snort belongs to a mute swan?! Whoever christened them as "mute" wasn't paying much attention.

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    Replies
    1. Mute Swans don't just snort and hiss, they actually have a fully vocal contact call which Collins describes as a 'rather loud, somewhat gull-like "ga-oh"'. Africa Gómez has a good article on Mute Swan sounds here.

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  2. What a lovely day yesterday! Hope your Reed Buntings hang around to breed.

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    Replies
    1. Last year's pair didn't succeed, but there's always hope. One pair of Reed Warblers were successful.

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  3. The Grey Wagtails are back in Notting Hill Station
    Mario

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